Pick a Dub

by John DouganIn his excellent book England's Dreaming, Jon Savage refers to Pick a Dub as "the greatest dub album ever, twelve cuts, all fantastic." It's easy to concur with Savage's assesment, with the lone caveat that there are some Lee Perry and King Tubby sides that might be as good. That caveat notwithstanding, Pick a Dub is sensational, arguably the crowning achievement of Hudson's career. In fact, coming as early as it did in the development of dub -- it was originally released in 1974 -- Pick a Dub is seminal work, a landmark in progressive remixing on a par with early King Tubby, Augustus Pablo, and Rupie Edwards. What makes this record so scintillating is the intensity of the bass and drums, as well as Hudson's relatively naked production. There are not a lot of goofy sound effects and studio screwing around, just buckets of blood and sweat all rolled into a seductive slab of percussive heaviness that will rattle every filling in your head. Once a forgotten obscurity, Pick a Dub was rescued by the folks at Blood and Fire, who re-released it in 1994. Go buy it today.