The "Various" aka "Various Artists" in the title of the review is quite an overstatement, especially since only the riddims/Dub Versions of the dominions Sly & Robbie, the Roots Radics and Peter Chemist are involved. The latter in turn uses the first two as instrumentalists in his role as producer. A circle closes, so to speak, even before you have heard the first note.
The recently released album "Dub Masters' (Reggae Library Records), comes across as cheap in terms of cover artwork, and in a sense it is: here's a few Dubs of different acoustic qualities thrown together for no apparent reason; Mastering obviously (obviously if the word existed) didn't take place. Quasi a product for final use at the digital rummage table, brand K-Tel. All in all a grace star, thanks for the interview.
A different approach to the review emerges when looking at the tracklist: there is a small but impressive collection of excellent ones Dubs or tracks by Black Uhuru, Earl Cunningham, Barrington Levy, Jimmy Riley and Sly Dunbar himself; plus a few classic ones Dub-Outings of no less classic riddims: Cuss Cuss, Level Vibes or Breaking Up (here erroneously called Real Rock Dub listed). So the album is a little "powerhouse" and the blemish of the lack of mastering suddenly adds to the authenticity of the tracks - even if fiddling with the volume knob is quite annoying.
And so deliversDub Masters” takes a look back at the 'good old days' – I would say plus/minus the year 1980 – and reminds you of what Dub Jamaican character at that time: The absolute supremacy of drum & bass and the clever fading in and out of the (already sparse) other soundtracks. This concentration on the essentials works acoustically excellently and shows that one can definitely do without the sometimes limitless echo & hall orgies today: A few accents here and there do the trick. If the blank – that is, the riddim – is of quality, it doesn't take much to produce ear gold. Well done, Dubmasters – and by that I mean the real stars of the album: the sound engineers and mix masters who celebrate the art of omission. I guess someone at Reggae Library Records forgot to mention her by name.
One Response to “Various: Dub masters"
Yes, just lie down on the couch and enjoy the Dubs admitting becomes difficult. At the very least, you should always have the equalizer to hand.
The Dubversion of "Shine Eye Gal" is actually perfect but already in the "Jail House Dub' you don't just have to fiddle around with the volume control to make it halfway enjoyable. Unfortunately, I also find the effect on the snare on "Shine Eye Gal" too crass. Since the snare is too much overemphasized, if I'm not mistaken. Anyway, it annoys me a little bit. On the one hand nice that there is a complete one here Dubversion, because otherwise I only get the "leftovers" from the showcase version. Then again, I was with that DubPart in the showcase version always completely satisfied. So once again I didn't really need it. I've loved "Love and Devotion" by Jimmy Riley from the beginning of his time and here it is DubGetting "served" a version of it is of course well thought out, but unfortunately it wasn't done well here. They almost completely forgot about the bass. So here, too, you have to urgently and directly adjust the bass button so that you still get a reggae feeling.
It's a good thing that the error in the review with the "Real Rock Dub“ was cleared up, because especially with the “Real Rock Riddim” I don’t understand how to joke anymore.
What remains for me is the Cuss Cuss Riddim, which still fascinates me like on the first day. But here it comes across – for my taste – much too dry. Feels a little like trying to slide down a not particularly steep slope with a sled on sawdust. Kinda doesn't flow right and I'm very apt to this one DubTo spice up the version here with the reverb and echo controls of my own mixing ult.
I'll put it this way, if you don't know anything better or are used to it, then these versions here are much better than nothing, but I don't think they can flow further towards the oceans from now on, since I haven't discovered anything new, earth-shattering.
It's not quite clear to me whether I'll call this exquisite DubVersions or rather as the rest of the rest.
It was still worth a recommendation ………………. lemmi