King Tubby: The Best of King Tubby

King Tubby again! It feels like an album by the grandmaster appears every other week - with always the same material, only differently combined according to topic. I'm convinced: each of his mixes has been published twenty times by now. Discogs.com lists 145 albums under his name alone - not counting the rereleases, EPs, singles and bonusDubs on publications by other artists. Okay, the man is a legend, his work is famous and generally Dub - which, as is well known, he invented - the basis of all modern types of instrumental music. But does that justify this inflation? Well, as long as money can be made with it, probably already. And maybe the double CD "The Best of King Tubby“(Trojan) now the attempt to bring out the ultimate Tubby compilation and finally to draw a line. Does the release have what it takes? The CD at the junk price brings together the supposedly 40 best tubbyDubs from the huge Trojan bundle and spans an arc of "Dub Organizer ”about“ Stalag 17 ”,“ Roots of Dub"," A Ruffer Version "up to" Dancing Roots ". The underlying productions are from the time between 1973 and 1976 and come from top producers at the time such as Bunny Lee, Niney Holness, Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo, Rupie Edwards, Clancy Eccles, Derrick Harriot and others. Only the Linval Thompson production “King Tubby at the Controls “is from 1978 and closes the album - it was probably chosen because of its appropriate title, because it is not one Dub. Nothing has been remastered here, but the sound is absolutely okay. So what speaks against this compilation? Perhaps that one of the so-called tubbyDubs just tired? Certainly, I would hardly voluntarily pull a Tubby album off the shelf. But if I suddenly fall into one Dub get into the master's (z. B. when I review a best-of album again), then his music suddenly casts a spell on me. Then I am fascinated by Tubby's elegant, light-footed and yet somehow radical style as well as the rich, analog sound of the still young reggae. It's a bit like going to a museum: I go to see a spectacular exhibition of contemporary art and in the end I spend most of the time in the room of the old masters. Would a “Best of Rembrandt” inspire me? “The Best of King Tubby” succeeds against all expectations - even if the compilation without Tubby's signature tunes such as “King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown”, “Waterhouse Rock”, “King Tubby's Rock” or “In Fine Style”, its cocky Title ultimately can't quite do it justice. The good thing about it: There is still potential for many, many more Tubby compilations.