Paolo'Dubfiles' Baldini has been a valued and style-defining figure in the flourishing Italian reggae scene for over 20 years.Dub-Scene. He was a founding member of the BR Stylers and The Dub sync He also played bass for a few years for the Africa Unite, which I value very much. During his creative phase to date, Baldini has worked countless times with a wide variety of artists. The last few years in particular have been extremely fruitful. His collaborations with Dubblestandart from Austria and currently the English label Pressure Sounds made an extremely positive impression on me. His current work on Pressure Sounds, "Al Brown & Inner Force: Dub Cutsmixed by PaoloDubI particularly like files' Baldini.
Born in 1934 in Kingston, Jamaica, Al Brown is a relatively unknown reggae artist and much information about him is hard to find even on the web. How could it be otherwise, he also made his first recordings for Coxsone Dodd. A little later he teamed up with the Volcanoes, which then formed the Skin Flesh & Bones, of which Brown also became a member. The Revolutionaries then recruited their cast from the Skin Flesh And Bones. Al Brown released a single album in 1974 entitled Here I Am Baby, a version of Al Green's song of the same name. The title song "Here I Am Baby" was also successful in England and became a minor hit. After that, things got very quiet around Al Brown for many years. A few later singles were "Caribbean Queen" and "No Soul Today", which, however, could not build on the success of the debut album.
It wasn't until 1991 that Al Brown reappeared with his new band, Inner Force. The five musicians and one singer played only one album together with Al Brown: "Al Brown & Inner Force: Be El Ze Bub" a. To date, this album is only available on cassette. Paolo Baldini chose these recordings for his Pressure Sounds project Dubs selected. Seven of the original ten songs – one of them twice – were re-transformed into a psychoactive sound experience. As we did from Paolo'Dubfiles' Baldini are used to, everyone became Dub live at Alambic Studio, no overdubs or post-processing created. Inspired by the analogue techniques of the "Godfathers" of the Dub, King Tubby, Lee Perry, King Jammy and Scientist, Baldini goes to work with great empathy. Fortunately, he builds enough vocal fragments into his remixes, which gives the tracks that certain extra and also ensures the recognition of the soul-heavy original songs. As Paolo Baldini aptly put it himself in the interview: “The main ingredient for a good Dub-Album is, long before Dub-Master, the right songwriting.”
real Dub-Reggae fans will do very well with this album. Paolo Baldini knows how to masterfully edit the tracks artistically without falling into artificial mannerisms. The sound is crisp and clear, exploring dark lows and delicate highs, and refined with echo and reverb where necessary.
Addition: As shown above, the vinyl LP contains a total of seven tracks from the original Be El Ze Bub cassette. One track - Ghetto Situation - was used twice by Paolo Baldini. Not included on the LP were Be El Ze Bub, Here I Am Baby and Daily News.
The CD version of the album was released on January 27.01.2023th, XNUMX and it contains the eight original tracks Dub Cuts from the LP, five additional tracks.
That's why my attention is now on the five new tracks of the CD release. Track 9 “Liquid Dream” – in the original: Mass Liquidation – immediately catches the eye with Mitsuhiro Toike playing the vibraphone, which evokes memories of Augustus Pablo. Mitsuhiro Toike was the keyboardist for the Japanese reggae band Dry & Heavy, formed in 1991. All added to the CD Dubversions are really worth listening to what the Dub Cuts continues to make a thoroughly entertaining and entertaining album. The two are particularly noteworthy Dub-Versions of Daily News. Even if the Italian Dub-Maestro two Dub-delivers versions of the same track, which he does here multiple times, it never gets boring and stays varied. The Dub Cuts end as they began. With "Dub me again part 2” Paolo Baldini sets a beautiful conclusion.
Note: Some of the "new" CD tracks were already released in May 2022 as "Tribulation on the LandEP released.
6 Responses to “Al Brown & Inner Force: Dub Cuts "
Where can you buy the new album Al Brown & Inner Force – Dub hear cut?
hi tomcat,
just follow the link in the review (highlighted in red).
I'm listening to the album for the third time in a row. I am particularly impressed by the lightness and substance at the same time. The basses gallop like a foal at the first run. What a joy! The interspersed vocals come with a lot of soul and soulful melodies.
The only Al Brown I've ever heard of is Here I Am Baby, which is stylistically (and chronologically) a far cry from the material he later recorded and Baldini edited here.
Awesome piece, I'm looking forward to the vinyl release! (So far I could only discover the numbered, limited and already out of print version)
Hi Claas,
that's how it happened to me too. This album is also on my mind every day.
I have to admit that while I know the original Trojan album Here I Am Baby, it's not one of my favorites from the period. The title track, on the other hand, should be familiar to anyone who is also interested in the history of reggae. "Here I Am Baby" is a reggae evergreen. Al Brown is a real grooner and his soulful reggae is really great. Paolo Baldini has now turned his attention to the even less well-known 1991 album "Be El Ze Bub". This also speaks for the Pressure Sounds label, which in the mid-1990s was mainly paying attention to lesser-known albums. Pressure Sounds: Then as now, a true treasure trove.
I was particularly happy about "Dub Of Books", a version of the Heptones classic "Book Of Rules" from the 1976 album Night Food.
I asked Pressure Sounds: Unfortunately, it won't be available on vinyl until the beginning of next year.
hey ! Goes down like the finest Olio De Olivio ;-) …… :
"Real Dub-Reggae fans will do very well with this album…. "
I see it the same way. Sometimes, in terms of reggae and Dub almost always, it's no longer a matter of taste, it's just a fact!
This Dubs here are terrific! There are no more unanswered questions for me! I could do the first one alone Dub "Dub Me Again” in an endless loop
listen again and again and each time merge into one unit with this charming riddim. The BassLine seems very simple to me, but it hits the nail on the head.
Paolo Baldini thinks that the first thing you need is “the right songwriting” to create a good one Dubto "serve" the album, which I don't want to deny but can't immediately understand. Because for me it's just the riddim and especially the bass line, which is the foundation of a good or very good reggae / Dub tunes. However, the riddims here are consistently of the finest quality and Paolo Baldini makes them always fresh and never aging
Riddims even fresher. There is music for eternity and these riddims are timeless and therefore eternal.
When I heard the Heptones' "Book Of Rules" for the first time a long time ago, I realized again that music can also evoke the highest emotions in a person. "Book Of Rules" rules !
It's also clear that "Dub Of Books” also massaged the soul. Just like “Ghetto Situation”, where the “never get weary – bassline” from the CussCuss riddim grooves all the wrinkles out of my face. Each of my old scraps of skin gets its old elasticity back. Is unfortunately only temporary, since my skin is aging compared to the timeless Riddims and even if I use all the effect devices in the Dub Being used, being sanded through, I look very old again, especially the next morning. It doesn't matter, the main thing is that it grooves! What I also really like here is that the CussCussBassline is interrupted here by a greatly expanded improvisation, which - for me - reinforces the effect of the bassline even more when it finds its way back to the CussCuss and sends me back through the wave tunnel exactly, where you can Well known to be the best at riding waves.
After that, the album lives on for me, especially thanks to Paolo Baldini's excellent mix.
Yes, I have to admit it to myself. My thirst for knowledge has always been somewhat limited. Nothing interested me at school except sports. reggae and Dub was not taught there. So what the heck. But my general disinterest didn't prevent me from being completely ignorant of Al Brown and his music. I've also read books that deal with the history of reggae, but Al Brown didn't stick with me. It's always difficult for me to follow when the genesis of reggae is unraveled using music examples. Most of the tunes and cornerstones that are mentioned there were just too long before my time and I find it difficult to google it all again.
Well, if I have one thing, it's the courage to leave gaps.
But it would be a shame if this beautiful Dubalbum would leave a gap on my shelf. It would be a shame if this cool Dubs would seep away in the swamp of data. A disk would not sink, because it would remain on the surface much longer or forever due to the area and the inertia of the mass. Vinyl doesn't get lost in the swamp of data, at least for me.
And the Dub goes on ……………………….. lemmi