Roots Inspiration meets Breadwinner: By the Rivers of Water

Roots Inspiration - a UK sound system/studio or a loose collection of musicians around Hughie Izzachar - create a new one Dub-Album before: "By the Rivers of Water" (Self-published) is the name of the piece, mixed by Al Breadwinner from, how could it be otherwise, Manchester, one of the UK hotspots for "all things Reggae".

I still have Roots Inspiration's 2020s"Organic Roots Vol 1"-Album in good memory: It keeps what the title promises: Wonderful Roots-Dub in sometimes beautiful, rough sound robes, for which Dougie Wardrop is responsible. the Dub-Effects aren't bad either: Mr. Wardrop sometimes lets it rip that the wall shakes. Taking that album as a reference, "By the Rivers of Water" doesn't come off quite as well, primarily due to Al Breadwinner's sound (rather than the Dub-Effects!) seems to lie.

Accordingly, the video track above comes across better than the final version on the album. Apart from that: Is it just me or are the live video recordings from the studios often the better versions? The comparison seems to confirm that with this track as well: The effects are much more beautiful and placed more prominently.

Which brings us to the last topic: the album sound par excellence. Breawinner's Mix is ​​often reminiscent of Mafia & Fluxy albums, which consistently (exceptions prove the rule) throb along in the lower Hz ranges: A super-soft kick drum merges with a no less soft synth bass, so that a bubbling-soft one Sound mass is created. It's hard to identify a bassline here... and it sounds like this:

So long live the rimshot that rips the whole thing out after all. Similarly, albeit to a lesser extent, the tracks on "By the Rivers of Water" fare. Maybe one or the other will Dubhead appreciate this sound - I, on the other hand, prefer a kick drum with punch and a clearly defined bass line.

The reader has no choice but to form his own opinion; for this there are the two Roots Inspiration albums mentioned above as streams on the various platforms, Bandcamp while offering far more material from Roots Inspiration and Al Breadwinner. May it be a listening pleasure!