Who believed the evolution of the Dub would be finished with the “Natural Selection”, wrong, because Greensleeves now presents us with the “Missing Link”, that is Vol. 5 of the “Evolution Of Dub“CD box series (Greensleeves). Despite advanced evolution, we are still in the middle of the 70s of the last century with the musician and producer Ossie Hibbert. He contributes two of the box's four albums: "Earthquake Dub" and "Crueshal Dub" (Sic!).
"Earthquake Dub" appeared on Joe Gibbs' label after Ossie gave it to him in exchange for a car (Errol Thompson's car!). In “Reggae: The Rough Guide” it is referred to as a “more militant continuation of the“ African Dub“Series” describes what hits the nail on the head. You can hear the classic, well-known and universally popular Professionals / Aggrovators / Revolutionaries sound, dominated by Sly Dunbar's repeatedly fascinating drum patterns. Uptempo, light and yet also determined, determined and straightforward. In keeping with the style of the times, there are mainly re-editions of classic rhythms to be heard like z. B. "Pick Up The Pieces" by the Royals or "Declaration of Rights" by the Abyssinians.
The box's second Ossie album, "Crueshal Dub", is so obscure that even Ossie himself can hardly remember how it came about. In terms of sound, it is clearly ahead of “Earthquake Dub“And focuses on reviving old Studio One rhythms. Less strong and independent than "Earthquake", but knows it through beautiful, artistic ones Dub-Mixes to convince.
The other two albums in the box are a novelty in the series, as they are used to venture into England: "King Of The Dub Rock Part 1 "and" Part 2 ". In this respect, the boxing title “The Missing Link” has been chosen very cleverly. Both albums are produced by British sound man Lloyd Blackford aka Sir Coxsone Sound. In the sixties, many British sound systems named themselves after their Jamaican models. And since Blackford's worst adversary was named after Duke Reid, Blackford consequently chose the name of Clement Coxsone Dodd. "King Of The Dub Rock Part 1 ”was released in 1975 and contained rhythms by Dennis Bovell and Gussie Clarke. Blackford mixed those Dubs itself and gave the very different sounds a certain uniformity. For historical reasons the album is quite interesting as “Missing Link”, but in terms of listening pleasure it lags far behind “Part 2”, which was released seven years later (and thus made the leap into the 1980s). I bought the album in the year it was first released and on the one hand was fascinated by the rich sound, the strong brass sections and the beautiful melodies, but on the other hand I was also quite irritated by the Space Invaders 8-bit sounds that randomly entered the Tracks were mixed. Fortunately, these were overdubs now removed, leaving the original Dubs can be enjoyed here in all its unclouded beauty. The old school was to my liking Dub at the time of this album's creation at its artistic peak - only to die out a short time later in Jamaica. I am curious to see whether the boxing series will continue with Jah Shaka and Mad Professor in England. "Escape To The Asylum Of Dub"Would be a perfect sequel ...
How about a little Dub from Australia? Brian May, who was born in Britain, tinkers down under on various styles of music that all have one thing in common: Dub. He now has the album under the pseudonym Beam Up "Terra Sonica" (beamingproductions.com) published on the he Dubs, which stylistically cannot be grouped into a single genre, but which all comply with the laws of Dub to obey. The spectrum ranges from world music to reggae Dubstep. To my taste, cross-genre experiments are in principle exciting, but the spark doesn't really want to jump out here. The mixes are brilliant, the rhythms alone are lacking. They could use a little more groove.
On the other hand, Al's new album is pleasantly traditionaldubb to: "Aldubb Meets Ras Perez " (MKZwo Records). You know what you have! Beautiful rootsDubs, very calm, without claim to an innovation award, just fat basslines, big echo chambers and a nice old-school sound. The recordings were made during many rehearsal sessions in Al's in-house Berlin studiodubb. He has drums and percussion Dub-Master himself recorded, Ras Perez took care of the rest. An album that was made unintentionally. While jamming, the two simply let the tape run along: “At some point there were so many Dubs that it just had to be put on CD. ”Right decision! It turned out to be a good album.
Dubstep shouldn't be missing - especially when it comes from Kanka, the French steppers king who recently released his album “Don't Stop Dub“Catapulted our neighbors out of bed. Under the pseudonym Alek 6 he now has that Dubstep album "Inside" (Hammerbass.fr), which uncompromisingly delivers what we promise from Kanka, namely bass, bass and bass. However, unlike usual, only a few offbeats can be heard around it - instead of Warrior style there is dark electronics and rigid minimalism. Occasionally a few jungle breakbeats flare up, but otherwise the wealth of ideas is limited. But who needs ideas for a deafening bass drone? The main thing is that the pants flutter.
Finally something slightly obscure, namely a Polish one Dub-Album by a band called DUP !: “Dup! Session In Something Like Studio ”(dupmusic.com). The entire press release consists of these two sentences: “We are called Dup and proudly present our first album. We play Dub-Music and our main influence is the old school sound of old Jamaican recordings ”. Concise but precise. "Old school-Dub"Hits the point quite well: Dubs that sound almost played live, full of atmosphere, with virtuoso percussions and really beautiful bass lines. And of course with tubby-style mixes and an extra-clean sound.