dub gone crazy

The second release for new revival label Blood & Fire, again featuring some vintage Bunny Lee productions, this time dub instrumentals from the years 1975/9. All the tracks were mixed at King Tubby's studio in Kingston, either by the late dubmaster himself or one of three engineers who graduated in turn from Tubby's academy of dub on Drumlie Avenue with flying colours. Dub was then exploring brave new frontiers, soon reaching unparalleled heights of innovation and execution. Whilst its origins have recently been brought into question by certain elements of the reggae press, few would dispute that King Tubby was at the heart of its development. In his hands the raw rhythms laid by musicians such as Sly, Robbie, Carlton and Family Man Barrett, Earl 'Chinna' Smith, Jackie Mittoo, Santa Davis, Winston Wright and other Jamaican greats were transformed into spiritually charged panoramas driven by pounding bass and wracked by shuddering delay, fizzing hi-hat and searing horn lines as fragmented vocals swooped eerily through the mix like an angelic host. Here lies the power and the glory of reggae dub at its magnificent best.; accept no substitute because in these few short years Tubby and star apprentices 'Prince' Phillip Smart, Prince (now King) Jammy and later Scientist set the standards for the world to follow. Two decades later their influence on modern popular music is incalculable. For proof listen to 'No Love Version', Leroy Smart's soulful wail echoed to infinity over the Agravators' sublime cut to 'Zion Gate'. Or the woodwind cut to Dillinger's 'Jah Love', even a hitherto little-known dub to Johnny Clarke's 'Rastafari'. You'll find several of the vocal cuts on Fatman's "Barry Brown And Johnny Clarke Sing Roots & Culture' in fact; 'Peace & Love In The Dub" is Johnny Clarkes 'Peace In The Ghetto', 'Step It Up In Dub' is an instrumental to Barry Brown's 'International Step'. 'Dub To The Rescue' is a stripped down version of the Wailers 'The Sun Is Shining' but is a different mix to that found on Jammy's 'Lion Dub' and the King Tubby mix on 'Dub Fi Gwan' is previously unreleased. Throughout the quality of mastering - and in some cases remastering from vinyl - is superb, as is the overall presentation (and timing!). Revival album of the year, so far. John Masouri - Echoes, May '94