As reggae, the culture around it and the Jamaican political landscape changed through the end of the '70s and into the '80s, performers, musicians and singers moved in one of two ways it seems. Either folks shifted from a conscious roots style into a carnal dance of excess or the over politicism of Bob Marley enveloped them thereby prompting people to become as outspoken as possible. Much in the same way the excess during the '70s and '80s in the States were in reaction to what predated those times during the protest laden '60s, the '80s in Jamaica was the same.

The first crop of famous Jamaican performers and producers was quickly disappearing. There was a huge migration to Toronto and the UK, but also some folks simply disappeared or passed on. Jamaica is, after all, a third world nation despite its physical beauty. But the poverty inherent in nations like this inspired some folks. Mutabaraka, Gregory Isaacs and Third World all became more and more politicized as time progressed. A less well known singer was amongst their ranks - Triston Palmer. His name might not be as well known as those aforementioned singers, but his voice easily matched the sweetness that came from the lungs of Isaacs.

The majority of Palmer's recorded output was during the '80s, but a handful of dates were released during the following decade. It would be more than difficult, though, to hear some of his earlier efforts and not guess that they were older. The pretty traditional backing that Palmer worked with sported some trappings of dub, but it could still just be considered a roots stylee. Perhaps because the singer wasn't all that well known - despite his political works - in 1982, Palmer teamed up with Toyan to release Nice Time.

The disc isn't a duo vocal effort - nor is it in a showcase stylee. Out of the eight tracks, six of them are Palmer's with the few Toyan efforts coming at the tail end of the album. The latter's tracks are more tied to dancehall, with his deep vocals getting chatty over the sparse production values of the Roots Radics. These two tracks from the toaster, while not political at all, aren't love songs - as opposed to the tracks from Palmer. It's an odd round-up of tracks considering the climate that it was recorded in. But Nice Time holds together as a unified disc - partially due to the Radics band.

As the album begins, Palmer goes in over a Horace Andy track, copping some of the other singer's high pitched vocals. It's somehow difficult to pick out a highlight from the selections that Palmer gives us - it's all of the highest quality. I suppose the only complaint might be that the slight lyrical content could have been beefed up a bit. There's another fifteen years in Palmer's recorded catalog after this effort, but few discs from any backlog of work are able to match the value here. This isn't a definitive recording for the genre, but it should be more than welcomed amongst any stack o' wax.