Amazon.comRas Pidow introduces his set of dub poetics with the sounds of wind and rain fury, a burst of Amharic--or tongue-speak, it's your call--and a CD cover decorated with attractive arcane symbols, both ancient and made up for the occasion. All of this serves to render his kindly old codger voice even more disarming when he kicks in with sing-song rhymes bearing a Rastafarian elder's instruction in righteousness and reason in this era of "Armegedion." Despite the urgency of Pidow's message, his record provides a welcome contrast to faster tempos, especially for roots and culture fans, by taking it slow and loping in the classic reggae dub style. --Elena Oumano