New Adventures in Dub
Trentemøller (left) & Peaking Lights (right) are two modern day electronica artists who incorporate elements of classic dub reggae into their trademark sound.
What is dub music?
The word 'dub' today is used to describe a genre of music that consists predominantly of instrumental re-mixes of existing recordings. These re-mixes radically manipulate and reshape the recording through the use of sound effects. The production and mixing process is not used just to replicate the live performance of the recording artist, but audio effects and studio 'trickery' are seen as an integral part of the music. The roots of dub can be traced back to Jamaica in the late 1960s, where it is widely accepted that Osbourne Ruddock (aka King Tubby) pioneered the style Ruddock turned the mixing desk into an instrument, with the deejay or mixer playing the role of the artist or performer. These early dub examples can be looked upon as the prelude to many dance and pop music genres.
Dub takes its name from the “dub plates” that were cut as instrumental B-sides to the hit ska, rocksteady, and–later–reggae singles of ’60s Jamaica. Producers routinely dropped vocal and rhythm tracks in and out of mixes to test sound levels. Many of the early dub music artists were influenced by the sounds of late Sixties psychedelic music in the United States and refined many of the druggy electronic effects of those bands.
Time Has Come Today by the black psychedelic soul group the Chambers Brothers is landmark song and producer Bob Irwin's use of reverb and sustained echo effects influenced the first generation of Jamaican dub reggae artists. During the '60s, Irwin produced hit singles for a plethora of aspiring psychedelic groups including the Byrds, The Syndicate of Sound, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Standells, Barry & the Remains, Big Brother & the Holding Company & Sagittarius. A good number of the hit singles on the first two Nuggets collections were produced by Irwin & early reggae dub artists were enthralled by Irwin's studio wizardry.
Over the past decade, dub sound–rhythms, bass lines, mixing sensibilities, and vibe is experiencing a massive resurgence that is stretching across contemporary music, from the bass-heavy trip-hop of Massive Attack and Portishead to new instrumental post-rock bands such as Tortoise to the manic, cut-time beats and subsonic rumble of U.K. jungle and even into some punk bands, such as Fugazi. Meanwhile, producers and deejays as Bill Laswell, Tricky, the Orb, Mad Professor, Adrian Sherwood, Dubmatrix, Thievery Corporation, Blackbeard, Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister and others continue to push toward the 21st century and are taking dub along with them.
I'm hoping to use
New Adventures in Dub as a periodical feature in my music blog to bring you some of the electronic dubwave artists who have incorporated the soundboard techniques of reggae dub artists like King Tubby & the Mad Professor into contemporary electronica or indie musical forms.
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Trentemøller
The first featured artist is Trentemøller, a Danish dance deejay who incorporates elements of dub in most of his remixes. This spacey, reverb soaked dub version of Chris Isaac's
Wicked Games (embedded below) has been circulating the internet as a free download for a couple of years now. Trentemøller pumps up the bass line & adds crashing waves of dub echo effects and his remix sounds better that Isaac's original version to my own humble set of ears.
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Peaking Lights
The experimental dub duo, Peaking Lights, establishes an infectious primitive funk groove on
All the Light That Shines from their newly released album entitled
936. Peaking Lights consists of former San Francisco Bay Area natives Aaron Coyes & Indra Dunas who also operate a vintage clothing, vinyl & cassette store in Madison WI. Relocating to the wilds of fly-over country in the mid-west United States proved to be a good career move for Aaron & Indra. They are a music act with a large regional following and the proprietors of a successful vintage curio shop.
Peaking Lights reverse engineers the current state-of-the-art digital technology to obtain the authentic analog sound heard on the late 70s & early 80s recordings of classic Jamaican dub reggae.
I have to confess that I'm in awe of the Peaking Lights' dubwise skills. This hypnotic effect of groove on
All the Light That Shines bores into your brain like a laser beam. It's the best headphone song I've heard in over a year.
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