Record Rack

*** Dr. Israel, “Inna City Pressure,” Mutant Sound System. Drawing on a deep understanding of classic dub and reggae forms, this Brooklyn-based dub poet blends them with jungle, ska, funk and rock to create a liquid collection of truly global grooves. Though his postmodern hybrids sound fresh, his lyrics celebrate such highly traditional Rasta values as Jah love, justice, ganja and dreadlocks.

Dr. Israel, the leader of the group Trumystic Sound System, has for several years been a celebrated member of an insular movement that’s loosely united around the independent label Wordsound Recordings.

But his latest solo venture makes a bid for the mainstream, as shown in his pairing with punk-rockers Rancid on the Bad Brains-esque dub/punk single “Coppers (Brooklyn Version),” which appeared in a different form on Rancid’s “Life Won’t Wait” album.

The good doctor riffs on another dub custom with his psychedelic jungle freakout “The Doctor vs. the Wizard,” layering whip-sharp beats and dissonant vocals around the guitar lick from Black Sabbath’s “The Wizard.” But for all his mad-scientist moves, Dr. Israel also displays a serious soul and a devastating way with musical irony, as the sweet strains in his trip-hop ballad “Life in the Ghetto” frame a grim recitation of the “ordinary” fates of ghetto denizens.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.