As if the professor was just waiting for King Jammy to deliver his "Destroys the Virus With." Dub' album out! Just a week after its release, Mad Professor responds with "Covidub Illusion' (Ariva). Here you will find such illustrious titles as “Fake News Dub' or 'Herd Immunity'. But the Prof. doesn't follow the concept as consistently as the King, because unlike on his album, the other titles don't pay into the Corona account. But the cover makes up for it all the more! Here the professor appears – at least in the mirror image – as a green alien with a corona of spike proteins. He stands in the middle of a world that has gone mad, in which a Boris Johnson is partying, Abba of Waterloo is singing and Vladimir Putin is riding on a bomb. That's nice old "Dub Me Crazy” cover tradition. I feel beamed straight into the 1980s. Also musically - which is actually usual with Mad Professor. Because he has – at least felt – always remained true to his style. Wild polyrhythms, hard, sharp sound, exuberantly virtuoso mixing and a cornucopia of effects. I still like that. However, he does not always have his Dubbase material that does justice to mixing qualities. Some productions are simply too boring for him. Great art doesn't make good art out of that Dub distill. Not so on the Coviddub-Illusion! Perhaps the psychedelic-looking cover cast a spell over me, perhaps the dry spell was remarkably new Dub-Albums too long since the end of the year, or I'm listening carefully to Mad Professor for the first time in a long time, but on "Covidub Illusion" I can't see any failures. Boredom does not arise. On the contrary: I really enjoy the album. Unlike Jammy's Virus work, by the way, which leaves me strangely cold.
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7 replies to “Mad Professor: Coviddub Illusion"
In my opinion, this is one of Mad Professor's better albums. There's already far too much criticism, but it's probably the case that with a big output in the course of life there is sometimes something weaker. Even a mad professor needs “a good riddim to make a good Dub“!
The riddims ( especially the bass melodies ) get into my blood without exception. All riddims always trot forward through time and space and don't let the slightest boredom arise for me either. But there is still room for improvement. I still compare the riddims with the Dubdisc by JAH 9, a few daring but nevertheless very successful musical “experiments” are missing here, as well as DubEffects that distinguish a 4 star album from a 5 star album. This is of course again criticism from the very top and for me it should actually only explain the "lost" 5th star. I immediately noticed a bit negatively that these are mainly steppers riddims. Or should I rather write "4 to the floor" because they are hand-played after all and therefore appear and appear much more accentuated and varied. And so "Dance when you are free" is my top favorite here on the disc, both in terms of the "lyrics" and the entire instrumental range, what the Dubs with a continuous bass drum. But then there are still Dubs like “Emancipation Dub“ and “Tricks Of Babylon”, which enchant me even more with magic due to the less driving but much more mystical rhythm. Whereby “Tricks Of Babylon” is my favorite overallDub on the disc, because I haven't found anything to complain about until now. Especially this effect, which sounds or feels to me like the communication of rock falls on two opposite mountain peaks somewhere between the Eiger and the Matterhorn. And I'm sitting in the valley, like little Ottili, and enjoyably letting this sound swing back and forth from left to right in my head. ( If you know what I mean ?! ). At the "Emancipation Dub’ the percussion could annoy me a little in the long run or in the course of the coming years (if Putinski doesn’t begrudge us a few more years), since it runs fairly consistently and without improvisations and could seem a bit monotonous to me. That will then be the case with “Crazy Bantu Dub“ really bad for me. The simple, simple change with two hits is really too dominant and at the same time too monotonous for me to do it all the way through Dub should have kept. If anything, then the professor had to take this percussion to his chest and messily through the Dubsend wolf, no rather hunt, so that it from monotony to the necessary DubMagic can be transferred. But hey, what do I always have to complain about?! I like the disc! Let's see if the disc also has a correct feel ;-)
"Panic In Babylon" ……………………….. lemmi
Surprisingly better Mad Professor album...even the notoriously annoying bongo freak is holding back. And am I wrong or are there no bass farts of the very massive kind this time?
To the Crazy Bantu Dub: What worked well once (Steppin' out a Babylon) does not necessarily have to work a second, third, fourth, etc. time.
Yeah right! I didn't become aware of it that quickly, but the "bass fart" is really, if at all, only very faintly hinted at and then disappears stickum into the socket and imperceptibly spreads out in the "room".
Maybe the crazy professor read along here and did us the favor of leaving that out. I found and still find Mad Professor DubIt's so good that I've always put up with his "flatulence" but when the air stays fresh, it's a little better for me too.
When I typed in "Steppin Out Of Babylon" all I got was the version of Prince Fatty with Big Youth and Marcia Griffiths and yes that's exactly how that percussion comes across. I'm really floored now that you could remember it so well. For me, this “Vampires Shadow disc” is really great cinema, but I have to admit that I liked exactly this version (but not because of it).
Marcia Griffiths found the weakest of the disc. I haven't played the tune as often as some others from the disc. Probably
so I couldn't remember. Maybe I don't have as good a memory as you do. I'd have an excuse for that, but that doesn't matter now,
... ;-) ....
Or am I or youtube completely on the wrong track and there are other versions of "Steppin Out Of Babylon" with this percussion? The list of tunes called “Steppin Out Of Babylon” is long enough…………. ;-)
It's not that important, but it kept me busy ……………….. lemmi
"Steppin' out of Babylon" aka "Steppin' out a Babylon" is one of the classics by Marcia Griffiths, I think it was made in 1977/78.
Here is the Spotify link to the original version:
https://open.spotify.com/track/6hwKnQvZrRCNIqllKgnk6U?si=AgFZUhv9RsmrmHjpYsfa6A
YouTube: https://youtu.be/2b6WA-Bg64w
I found that to be a “great link” from you gtk. So I mean, of course, that was a great link from you. Not just because of Marcia, but because the algorithm immediately added this one to the back of my head.
I'll put it here, in case someone is as enthusiastic as I am, at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF-GQr6ymNs
Ok, the keyboard, which was supposed to replace the wind section, isn't my favorite, but overall it's not too bad. The keyboard often plays what I think a keyboard should play.
But for me a very fine discovery!
How long …………………. lemmi
Nice link from you too! Those were the days... when you usually had 2 guitars in the backing band. And the Harmonies by the Itals are great!
Yeah sorry... but I'm over the moon. I also really like the sound here. I know of few live recordings with the Roots Radics that have been so well received. Mostly or very often there is only mobile phone quality even though it didn't even exist back then. The image quality is also terrible, but the Binghy Bunny only reluctantly approved it, or actually didn't approve it. Anyway, the most important thing is good to see. Style Scott's drumstick, held up in the air like a warning, bolt upright like a warning index finger before turning the snare into magical thunder, is clearly visible. The Dub Greetings from Syndicate ;-).
Yes, sorry, but for me that's the greatest thing I've found out for myself from the whole reggae empire. That's why I could go on raving about it for pages, but it could also be the case (although it really can't be) that my crushes on one or the other are not entirely understandable.
Yes, and the two guitars are, in my opinion, almost mandatory. I've even personally complained to an artist on the Internet because he actually dared to perform with only drums, bass and electronically amplified acoustic guitar. There might have been a keyboard, but that didn't tear it out.
That's what I mean so often. It's all just a cheap knock-off compared to what ROOTS RADICS, for example, got up and brought to the stage. You can't lure me out from behind the stove with that anymore. And when there is only one computer on the stage, tears come to my eyes......
Exceptions prove the rule :
EEK A MOUSE made it to the Loreley with only three musicians
( drums, guitar and of course BASS ) to turn the whole festival into a mountain sermon. That was pure reggae magic!!!
Oh and then there was ……… yes yes it’s good lemmi, now come back runta ……..
With a heavy heart I prepare to land ………………… lemmi