Alborosia: Dub Pirate

The Dub-Alborosie's albums have rarely convinced me. Of course I admire his technical skills and his fixation on analogue equipment also earns me recognition. But his previous Dub-Albums seemed too textbook to me. They lacked creativity, excitement and, above all, the intention to override the rules of good taste. Perhaps the Dubs underlying productions are not strong enough. That is exactly what Alborosie avoids with his latest Dub-Plant: "Dub Pirate” (Evolution Media), because it is based on the outstanding album “Soul Pirate” from 2008, with which he made his breakthrough as a reggae artist. And rightly so, because it is still a brilliant album, but to this day there is no Dubversion. Crazy, since Alborosie is a big fan of Dub and studio work. We don’t know what prompted him now, 18 years later, to grab the old tracks and Dubs from it - of course with his historic studio equipment, which previously belonged to King Tubby or Coxsone Dodd. Alborosie not only uses the equipment of these legends, but also cultivates the aesthetics of his great role models. Therefore, it is not surprising that "Dub Pirate” was mixed in the style of King Tubby. Generous use of echo effects, masterful manipulation of high and low pass filters, virtuoso switching on and off of various instrumental tracks as well as some heavy sound manipulation. On “Dub In his new album “Pirate”, Alborosie is much more aggressive, even radical, with the original recordings. There is no comparison to his later Dub-albums. Perhaps the historical distance to the material was needed to deal with it “destructively”. Dubs of "Dub Pirate” are all remarkable, all killer, no filler. Nevertheless, some stand out. For example, “Still Dub Blazing”, with the strong echo effects on the guitar that create a surreal and gripping atmosphere. Or “Precious Dub“, a piece that cleverly focuses on the wind section and its powerful, extremely creatively manipulated sounds are fascinating. A particular strength of “Dub Pirate” is undoubtedly the creative deconstruction of Alborosie’s greatest hits. Always nice to recognize echoes of well-known songs and their Dubreconstruction. Fortunately, Alborosie largely avoids the use of vocal snippets. The album particularly shines with “Natural Dub Mystic”, the Dub-Reinterpretation of his collaboration with Kymani Marley. This strong riddim was predestined for a Dub-Treatment, and Alborosie executes it absolutely masterfully. The heart of the track lies in the driving bass line and the recurring brass sections, which are enveloped by crazy swirling, spatial sound effects. A fascinating Dubexperience – like the album as a whole.