Watermelon

That whole thing where older singers relaunch their careers with a well chosen batch of 'serious' covers and a sympathetic producer has been done enough times since Johnny Cash's 'American Recordings' that it's become a bit of a cliché in itself and certainly no guarantee of quality (hands up, Tom Jones!) That said, Jimmy Cliff's 'Rebirth' album, recorded with Rancid's Tim Armstrong of all people, is a fabulous, joyous, rootsy thing - a perfect soundtrack for the summer, if we ever get one, or to my weekend at least, in the meantime...! You would think that the Clash's 'Guns Of Brixton' would be pretty much uncoverable (albeit far from unsampleable) but Jimmy's version is great - his veteran ire referencing his own earlier appearance in 'The Harder They Come' and suggesting there's still plenty out there to get fired up about. I believe he's doing some festival dates this year - that'd be something to see, I think...