The premiere will take place on TODAY Thursday, December 3rd, 2020 at 12 noon EST (New York / Jamaica) and 6 p.m. CET (Spain / Central Europe), 5 p.m. GMT (UK). The 27-minute film documents a live performance, recorded on October 2, 2020, in support of the release of the Record Store Day vinyl box set Xterminator – Earth Feel It. The performance, produced by Kareem “Remus” Burrell and filmed by Sameel “Samo” Johnson, includes seven songs by four artists featured on the box set, including Nadine Sutherland, Turbulence, Chezidek, and Gott-Yo, backed by the original Firehouse Crew band (Melbourne Miller, Donald Dennis, Paul Crossdale) and Dean Fraser. The event will be broadcast 9 years to the day after the passing of Xterminator founder Philip “Fatis” Burrell. “For years, I have been wanting to film a concert and release a box set in honor of my father’s legacy. I want to thank Chris Chin at VP Records, the Executive Producer, for making this possible. VP Records distributed some of the best of my father’s catalog, helping it find a global audience, and Chris Chin worked with him closely over the years. For the concert, I was able to bring the original Firehouse Crew members as the backing band, Donald Dennis, Melbourne Miller, Paul Crossdale, and Dean Fraser, as they had been on so many of my father’s classic recordings. The band and each of the performers stepped up and showed the same artistry that made them keys to the Xterminator legacy years ago. I’m proud to have this concert premiere on the Rototom Sunsplash YouTube channel, known as one of the top live reggae events in the world.”
Released for Record Store Day, August 28, 2020, Xterminator – Earth Feel It is a 7X7-inch vinyl box set of deep cuts, rarities, and previously unreleased recordings from Fatis Burrell’s iconic reggae and dancehall label Xterminator. The collection, which spans 1993-2009, was drawn in part from XTM.Nation’s two-volume digital releases, Fatis Tapes In The Oven Vols. 1 & 2; from unissued recordings in the VP Records archives; and also includes several deep cuts not previously available on the 7-inch format. The title is taken from the topical track “Earth Feel It” by Chezidek and also features Dennis Brown’s rare 1990s remake of his Studio One hit “No Man Is An Island,” Marcia Griffith’s deep roots burner “Jah Is,” Luciano’s heartful adaptation of eden ahbez’s “Nature Boy,” Beres Hammond’s “What A Gwan” (from Full Attention); plus tracks from Sizzla (“Hail Selassie” and “Distance Away”), Turbulence (“You Never Been There” and “True Story”), Nadine Sutherland (“Don’t Throw Pearls”), Gott-Yo (“Jah Protect Me”), and Singing Cologne (“Do Some Good”). While five of the seven singles are double A-sides, two feature signature Xterminator / Firehouse Crew dub mixes.
This set was compiled by vinyl specialist DJ Carter Van Pelt, curator of VP’s acclaimed Down In Jamaica 40-year retrospective box set. The deluxe album package was hand-illustrated by Costantinos Pissourios and includes a 14-inch by 14-inch poster of the original cover art, plus liner notes. Phillip “Fatis” Burrell (1954-2011) was a key producer of the digital era in Jamaica music, largely responsible for breaking artists Luciano, Sizzla, and Turbulence in the 1990s and early 2000s. His career started in 1985, the same year “Under Mi Sleng Teng” shook up Jamaican music. In a recording career spanning from 1985 to near the time of his death in 2011, he released well over 1,000 tracks. The majority of his catalog was distributed through VP Records, including tracks such as Ini Kamoze’s original “Hot Stepper,” Cocoa Tea’s “Good Life” and “She Loves Me,” and key tracks in the career of Luciano (“One Way Ticket,” “Sweep Over My Soul”), Sizzla “Praise Ye Jah,” and Sanchez, “Never Dis The Man.” His Beres Hammond release, Full Attention, distributed by VP, is a landmark in the singer’s career, boasting tracks such as “Love Means Never To Say I’m Sorry” and “I Want To See You Tomorrow.”
