Slum in Dub

by Stephen CookPresumably these are rhythm tracks that Gregory Isaacs and his backing band the Revolutionaires used on past recordings. Other than the fact that his name is on the CD, though, Isaacs is almost nowhere to be found on the songs within, save for the snatches of vocals treated with echoes on "Tam Tam." For those looking for more of Isaacs' smooth vocals in a dub setting, there are dub versions of his songs "Night Nurse" and "Material Man" on various compilations. That said, this is still a fine dub release. The slightly slicked-up roots sound that Isaacs favored on albums like Night Nurse and More Gregory comes through fully here with Prince Jammy's fine production and parsimonious use of studio trickery. If you like your dub to have just a lot of reverb sprinkled with a bit of echo, then this is a CD to get. For more elaborate and hazy production values, though, check out dub releases by Scientist and Mad Professor.