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What happened to the last 4 dancehall entries? If I don't see Capleton's Reign of Fire on here I might just die.
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I'll be getting the ball rolling again in the next few days by posting another couple of albums. It's just that me and Jackhammer have had busy weeks, so it's not that we're gonna leave this thread to rust or anything.
As for Capleton, you'll see :D |
Richie Spice- Di Plane Land (Unofficial Compilation 2000+) http://drchartscom.googlepages.com/richiespice.jpg Richie Spice straddles the Dancehall scene with elements of Pure Roots and Lover's rock evident amongst his distinctive vocal style. Beginning virtually every song 'Na Na Na Na Hey' his music is pure sunshine on a rainy day. his lyrics have a lot more range than many similar artists and he can be as politically charged as he can be weetly romantic. He may not be a name that many are familiar with yet his reputation is ever growing and he has so far resisted the urge to dilute his sound for commercial gain. Just one review with my final two on the way this week. |
I remember that guy! Pretty sure I've got that album on CD somewhere - must remember to have a dig around for it a bit later.
I'll get my last pick for this list up a bit later. If anyone's wondering yes, there'll be another mixtape after we've done this section :) |
http://drchartscom.googlepages.com/richiespice.jpg
He looks a lot like Mutabaruka. (see picture below) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/lapeste/muta.jpg A local man in Jamaica once told me, " This is an island and everybody is related, mon. |
Dennis Brown - Stagecoach Showcase (1982) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl60MqlBAD...coach+Showcase Dennis Brown was another oddity of the dancehall era of reggae in the 80s, given that he was another one of the few who began his career as a singer and not as a dancehall DJ. Having recorded many hits, including the UK top 20-busting Money In My Pocket in 1979, Brown became a superstar in Jamaica and had the honour of being included on Trojan Records' Jamaican Superstars album along with the likes of Gregory Isaacs and John Holt (which was released in 1998; the year before Brown's death from a collapsed lung). For me, his 1982 release here ranks as his finest achievement, which not only is littered with prime-time lover's rock lyrics, but the pulsating basslines are very typical of dancehall and, interestingly, in a lot of places we hear some very dub-esque percussive reverb, all of which makes for a fascinating, three-pronged assault of a reggae album. So, in essence, you're looking at a classic in those three sub-genres of reggae. |
Despite the terrible cover that seems to have been knocked up cheap PC software the music within is much more palatable. Turbulence (Sheldon Campbell) is a highly prolific artist who proved his worth in 2003 whilst teaming up with German producer brotherman. A return to Brotherman producing after a couple of lacklustre efforts gave us Do Good. A hotpotch of one drop, nambo horns and calypso influenced tracks. Turbulence seems to be taking a much more relaxed vibe on here with 'Bright Eyes' and 'Pursue' big stand outs. Although not strictly a Dancehall/Lover's Rock album per se, it's gentle rhythms, soul tinged vocals and gentle horn work earns it a worthy place. Wayne Smith/Prince Jammy-Sleng Teng/Computerised Dub (1986) http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...i666/sleng.jpg Despite the title, this double album is a perfect example of the electronic beats that fused with Reggae that contributed to the Dancehall vibe. Wayne Smith's sleng teng is an infectious mix of electronic beats providing the music with various styles with the lovers rock of 'Hard To Believe' and the bass heavy skank 'Sleng Teng' providing an album not easy to pigeonhole and also one that some Reggae purists not liking due to the Electronic work. Prince Jammy's 2nd half is Dub dominated but again the use of Electronic's sounding like a casio keyboard going haywire, the music is still dancehall friendly and not like the bass heavy, reverb usually associated with Dub. A dated album for sure but enormous fun. |
The rise of King Jammy's sleng teng riddim ended the 12 year rule of the one drop riddim in the dancehalls with the digital (or digi) riddim. Reggae mutated into another subgenre under the amophous umbrella of "worldbeat" music which blended elements of hip hop,international, socca, reggae and even synth pop.
Digi riddims refer to riddims created around the time that Jamaican producers began to use the drum machine and the ubiquitous Casio synthesizer. Three major digi riddims, sleng teng, ragga (or raggamuffin) and raggaeton began to displace Carelton Barrett's organic one drop to the snare riddim he developed with the Upsetters. Producers, instead of performers, became front and center with the rise of digi riddims and skilled musicians playing old school roots reggae became irrelavant to both the production of and the performance of music. I don't like the post reggae era (from 1986 and beyond) any more than I like post rock and roll era. Nearly all of the real authenic roots genres of popular music have devolved into digitalized parodies of the real thing. Even electronica and dub music have become subgenres of "dance music" in the music marketing nomenclature. |
Dub http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul0...bMixing1_l.jpg The idea of dub as a form of musical expression can be traced back to the studio antics of reggae producers Osbourne 'King Tubby' Ruddock and Lee 'Scratch' Perry in the late 60s and early 70s. This basically entailed remixing already-existing and complete songs to make up B-side material for the artist in question. The consequent dub mix would usually involve the removal of any vocal tracks in order to put an emphasis on bass frequencies and drum tracks, or the 'riddim', mostly by turning up the echo or reverb on them and overdubbing snippets of lyrics and/or guitar or brass from the original mix of the track. Basically, dub music started out as an early form of remixing by deleting any existing vocal tracks and manipulating the riddim in those ways. This use of the mixing desk as an instrument in itself can easily be seen as a prelude to the electronic dance music which would blossom in future generations, as on top of this rhythm-centric backbone producers could overdub all kinds of sound affects to create a more vivid sonic picture - bird noises, water flowing, thunder striking and so forth. All this still gave room for sound system DJs to rap over a sparse musical backdrop with improvised, heavily-rhymed lyrics (in reggae terms as opposed to hip-hop, the DJ would take over the vocals, while the Selector would be in charge of the vinyls). Lest we forget, in the early days, the main purpose of a lot of Jamaican reggae was to be played at sound systems (aka dancehalls). So what you're looking at with classic dub was the earliest form of big-shot producers creating instrumental remixes of singles not only to make up for B-side material but also to put to good use in dancehalls as individual pieces of music in their own right. Upon the music industry recognising the market there was for dub music, this would lead to the first dub albums being recorded in the early 70s. Over the next few posts you'll find out about ten of the essential albums to represent one of the most important revolutions in all music history. I'll be getting started with a couple of picks of my own shortly. So, stay tuned! |
King Tubby - Crucial Dub (anthology, 2000) http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2M5dT2yzPi...074%5B1%5D.jpg Basically, the review's in the compilation's title. This is, as the said title suggests, crucial dub. For a start, as I mentioned in the above introductory rant, King Tubby was one of the pioneering producers of the genre. The 22 tracks which make up this anthology, while not containing samples from all areas of the man's work behind the mixing desk, do contain some essential examples of dub at its most spaced-out, laid back and riddim-heavy. The CD contains the works of folks such as Bunny Lee, Fatman and Phil Pratt, which alone makes for a fairly diverse mix of sounds all revamped by King Tubby in the archetypal dub style. This was the first dub CD I ever came across, and I couldn't have chosen a better one to get me started on the genre. Highly recommended. Augustus Pablo - East Of the River Nile (1977) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uo_eC6uZlu...r_nile_big.jpg Augustus Pablo here is another one of the early names in the music industry which is basically synonymous with dub. Pablo was basically canonised within the culture of reggae for his use of the melodica - a mouth organ of European origin (which you can see him having fun with on the sleeve cover there) - in his music. The way it seamlessly fits into the sonic picture gave this album iconic status and would influence countless acts to follow. That and the fact it was recorded in Lee Perry's legendary Black Ark Studio, mixed by the aforementioned King Tubby and had its riddims provided by the legend known as Robbie Shakespeare does a lot to give this album the reputation it has. This here is one of the universally-accepted classics of dub and therefore an absolute must given the fascinating dimensions the piercing notes of Pablo's melodica adds to proceedings. |
My apologies for not putting the next 2 Dub albums up. Reviews up tomorrow.
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An update for this thread will be up within 24 hours.
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Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires (1981) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4uBF4Zfzn1...dsTheWorld.jpg Scientist is a Protege of King Tubby (more later on him) who was primarily a producer but who made some classic albums in the 80's with his album titles and covers as legendary as the albums themselves. In fact I had quite a time trying to decide which of the Scientist albums I have to include here. With Scientist Wins The World Cup, Scientist Meets The Space Invaders and Scientific Dub all just as good. Maybe I did choose this on a whim as they are all as good as each other. Scientist's approach to Dub was generally the composition of new tracks as opposed to eleborating on previous material. This means that Electronics play more of a part to get the required sounds and effects so indicative of dub. Some purists bemoan this style of Dub which is understandable but the music is so damn good, I find it hard to complain! Another feature of Scientist's music is the general Groove and the 'Jam' quality of the music with most tunes put down in a couple of days for Scientist to tinker with. |
Another new name to the Dub sound and a band that I have regularly championed on these boards and with good reason. Dubmatix are one of the new breed of self styled 'Electro Dub' artists that use turntables as well as live musicians to create an infectious mix of dub, hip hop and sweet grooves with Bossa and Club sounds. The band who hail from Canada have slowly built up a cult following despite making infrequent sojourns overseas. Their use of huge basslines, horns and electric beats is a sound that I defy anyone not to end up enjoying if heard on a sound system. With appearances by Reggae stalwarts such as Freddie McGregor and remixes for Missy Elliott under their belt, Dubmatix are the new breed of 21st century Dub champions. This is from their later release 'Atomic Subsonic' from 2006 as YouTube is unfortunately light on this great band. |
Dubmatix are a top, top band, so a great pick there. As for Scientist, after a quick check all I've got on my EHD are a couple of tracks by Scientist and the Roots Radics. I have got some Mad Professor though, which is close enough I suppose :D
Speaking of which, I'll post my next two very soon... |
Dubmatix really is fantastic. I checked them out a while back in the Dubmatix thread: http://www.musicbanter.com/reggae-sk...-dubmatix.html, and downloaded the free album that was posted there. I've been hocking it to a few friends of mine and they all love it. Anything else by them that you could offer would be greatly appreciated. :)
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Scientist Rids the World.... Is without a doubt one of my favorite dub albums, And the Dubmatix, who you turned me onto well over a year ago Lee, is just as amazing. Great choices so far. Keep em' coming.
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I've never got round to having any Scientist albums in full but i've always loved those covers :D
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Mad Professor - Beyond the Realms Of Dub (1982) http://cdn.7static.com/static/img/sl...432984_350.jpg Seen as one of the leading lights in the second generation of dub music and thus one of the producers instrumental in seeing a smooth transition for dub through to the digital age, Neil 'Mad Professor' Fraser gets the nod from me here as one of the essentials of the genre. Seeing as after his humble beginnings as a small-time producer of various lover's rock artists on his own label, he branched out to release hundreds of EPs and LPs as well as collaborate with such greats as Lee Perry, Sly & Robbie and Horace Andy, he's well worth a mention too. The clincher for me, though, would be his 12-part Dub Me Crazy series of LPs. Alright, I'm not lucky enough to have all of them myself, but I'd call the main standout of the bunch Beyond the Realms Of Dub. There are a few reasons for this, one of which being that it's basically the sound of dub remixing ethics going into overdrive with the sheer weight of synthesised sounds, studio treatments, percussive reverbs and vocal overdubs which make for stylistic tour de force of dub. Also, the title track in the video below is among my favourite dub cuts of all time. Enjoy! Keith Hudson - Pick a Dub (1974) http://www.boomkat.com/media/stock_images/BAFCD003L.jpg And then there's Keith Hudson, aka 'the Dark Prince Of Reggae', one of the most influential producers being one of the first such professionals to experiment that way with a mixing desk, like his contemporaries King Tubby and Lee Perry. His is also a name that you'll find popping up in various places in early reggae history, from organising concerts with schoolmates Delroy Washington and Bob Marley to producing his first record by a band which would later evolve into the Skatalites, not to mention his classic Flesh Of My Skin, Blood Of My Blood album being among the first genuine reggae albums and not just a collection of singles. That was in 1975, so rewind to 1974 and then we're talking proper context. Pick a Dub here is as highly regarded as a classic as the aforementioned album but, as you may have guessed, for very different reasons, the most important of them being that if this wasn't the first deliberately thematic dub album, it was certainly one of the very first examples of a selection of dubs (among them revisions of the Abyssinians' Satta Massagana and Declaration Of Rights) mixed and stitched together in order to make up a full-length LP of dub music. As a result of the superb production and mixing from Hudson, we have a classic, groovalicious album, backed up in places by the sparse use of his rasping kind of vocal, of unrelenting quality that just fits together seamlessly. An absolute must. |
2 new Dub albums up very soon from myself (Bulldog feel free to clean up these superfluous posts when the reviews are up).
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I'll be looking forward to seeing what you pick - this list's been so long in the making, I've forgotten what it was we came up with together :D |
Bloody hell, we never finished this! Looks like I will be cranking some Dub this weekend and update this thread.
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Funnily enough, I'm in the mood for dub spree too. It's been too long since I last listened to the stuff. I'll get my thinking cap on over the rest of my entries. |
Looking forward to the last few entries.
My dub collection is very small, and needs some expanding. Scientist, Augustus Pablo, Sly & Robbie, Black Uhuru(Dub album) and i think that is about it. |
Moving things on...
BlackBeard - I Wah Dub (1980) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uo_eC6uZlu...lackbeard.jpeg Born in Barbados and having moved to south London with his family at a fairly early age, Dennis Bovell here's a man who immersed himself in reggae culture in slightly more of an outside-looking-in way than a lot else you'll find on this list. Not only did he, through his obsession with dub music in the late 70s, set up the Jah Sufferer sound system in London, but he also had a hand in his early career in the evolution of lovers' rock, seeing as he was an engineer at the lovers' rock-oritented Dip Records not long before he started taking after idols like Lee Perry and Keith Hudson by releasing albums of his own. Quite an influential figure then, and one that's worked with the artists such as the Slits, the Pop Group, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Madness, Orange Juice, I-Roy and a load of others throughout his working life. Anyway, both of Bovell's first LP releases were published under the pseudonym BlackBeard and, of course, this album is one of them. Strictly Dub Wize was the man's debut, and is perfectly good in itself, but I Wah Dub here is probably my favourite of the two. Absolutely ideal for the beginner too, seeing as it's simply the archetypal dub album which shows off all the strengths of the genre in one tasty and juicy package. The riddims are as good as any you'll hear, comprising of slow, reverb-heavy drum tracks and pumping basslines pushed right to the front of the mix that just get your head nodding all the way. The studio overdubs, samples and synth effects are absolutely spot on too. So, yeah, well worth having. |
Never even heard of this album! PM please :) I have 2 reviews in the pipeline coming very soon.
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Take your time with your next reviews too - gives me more time to think about my albums for the next list :D |
Sly & Robbie - Version Born (2004) http://www.flyglobalmusic.com/fly/ar.../slynrobie.jpg Outside of The Funk Brothers (Motown), Sly & Robbie are probably the finest rhythm combo (Bass guitar and Drums) with a reported 200,000 tracks in their belts (it's not a misprint), with credits including Black Uhuru, Bunny Wailer, Culture and even Madonna. Choosing a dedicated release for the duo is quite difficult as they have made comparatively few albums as a duo and instead lend their hand to other established artists. A few Dub compilations are around of their work and they have done some sterling work with producer Howie B but they did release this album in 2004 that comprises Hip Hop, Trip Hop, Ambient and a couple of Dub only versions of their work with artists such as Black Uhuru. It is not a 'pure' Dub album and that is why I have included it in this list as an example of how the Dub sound permeates many forms of music without people not even realising. Version Born was produced by the prolific Bill Laswell (Matisyahu for a quick reference) and features artists such as Black Thought, Tricky and N'Dea Davenport but this is not a feeble attempt for recognition or to crowd please. It's merely a chance for the boys to make an album for themselves without adhering to their usual employers wants and needs. From the stunning chilled out cover of the Eurythmics 'Here Comes The Rain' to the Rap heavy 'Subzero', it's an album that fits into many genres with ease yet it still retains that organic vibe of Dub that they carry out with consummate ease. Well worth a listen if the initial thought of a pure Dub album is a little too adventurous. |
10ft Ganja Plant are going to be on this right? On my time away Bass Chalice has been a favourite album so i hope it gets a mention, i think it was Bulldog who gave it to me (memory is hazy, i know it was one of you too though). A great thread that i don't think i say i appreciate enough, i've got a few albums from here though and loved them :)
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No it was me :) I passed it on. Awesome band though.
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I am digging this 'dub' section, picking up more and more and as often as I can., especially Sly & Robbie and Scientist.
Any recs for dub-poetry or whatever you wish to call it?, I have been listeing to alot of Benjamin Zephaniah lately and am digging it. :) |
Thanks so far. It was a brilliant read.
I never heard of 10ft Ganja plant but I love what I hear above. I already knew most that was told in this topic, but I realised I missed out on some artists I had already heard of. I missed Lee Perry by the way, so far. He deserves some credit. And about Bob Marley: I agree with you that he is probably al bit overrated, compared to lots of other reggae artists. But I really, really love a song he made possible back in the 60's, named dreamland. That's just beautiful. |
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I don't think Bob is overerrated. To an extent he's a bit underrated, especially as a revolutionary. I think what a lot of people are getting at is that many people's appreciation with reggae/Jamaican music begins and ends with Bob Marley, and that it ends up being to the exclusion of the rest of Jamaican music which has a tremendous amount of depth, history, and diversity. |
We should really update this thread sometime.
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I just noticed not having the urge to listen to bob marley anymore, as much as I loved it.
My reggae experience also started with Bob Marley and it was pretty Impressive back then, that's true. But it's the Madness of the Reggae world, if you know what I mean :). |
Thanx - a great thread!
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