FRKWYS Vol. 9: Sun Araw & M. Geddes Gengras meet The Congos - Icon Give Thank from 2012 is a heady musical stew mating old school roots reggae with new school experimental hypnogogic dub-infested psych sounds. Think swampy, Lee "Scratch" Perry's Super Ape Black Ark swampy, with lovely harmonies from Roy Johnson, Cedric Myton, Watty Burnett and Kenroy Fyffe (The Congos) layered over thick waves of Gendras synth, propulsive if sleepy bass and processed guitar from Cameron Stallones, and percussion courtesy of The Congos all smoke-infused, echo-drenched, and dreamily heavy with moments of real beauty shining through.

"GED and I made the rhythms, CONGOS wrote the lyrics and melodies, singing and chanting in 4 part harmony." – Sun Araw

If you're thinking, Hey! I like Bob Marley so I'll dig this too I'd agree but please listen before you buy because straight ahead reggae this ain't. I assume that's exactly what people do, probably because it's what I do. Read a review, maybe get interested, listen, and decide whether or not to buy. Once in a while I'll buy something just because, mostly when I'm shopping for used LPs, and I always enjoy the surprise. But if you don't always enjoy the surprise by all means always listen before you buy. After all, complaining about not enjoying music is hardly a complaint in the grande scheme of things.

Here, let me make it even easier:

RVNG Intl.'s FRKWYS series is all worthy of a listen often mating seemingly disparate musicians older and newer creating something...new. You can buy the lovely-sounding FLAC download of FRKWYS Vol. 9: Sun Araw & M. Geddes Gengras meet The Congos - Icon Give Thank from Boomkat. The LP and CD come with a DVD of the making of the album.