Dub: A Journey In Bass Culture CD

The style and indeed the entire culture of dub reggae is so sprawling that it defies encapsulation in one 18-track, hour-long disc. And like many genre compilations on the Union Square family of labels, this one couldn't purport to be a definitive or even wholly representative or balanced best-of. Dub's very sprawl, however, makes compilations such as these about as good as any various-artists dub anthologies out there. And while dub specialists will no doubt bemoan the absence of some of their favorites, this is indeed a good collection of 1973-77 recordings, even if it might not have an apparent micro-focus. As Ian McCann's quite refreshingly (for a reggae comp) witty liner notes point out, it's hard to say who the "artist" on a dub recording should be, as it's more of a collective enterprise. It's fair to say, though, that dub listeners are more interested in who's doing the engineering and mixing than anyone else, and some of the biggest names in early dub contributed to these cuts in those capacities, including King Tubby, Prince Jammy, Bunny Lee, and Lee Perry. On the instrumental side, the Aggrovators (also spelled Agrovators) were the heaviest contributors to this particular batch, playing on no less than eleven of the tracks. It's dub at its best, riddled with spaced-out echo and effects, with a hypnotic (and often minor-keyed) groove that's just as spellbinding as a blast of high-quality ganja, though it's better for you. There's a consistent otherworldliness throughout this disc that makes it difficult to single out highlights, but certainly the opener, King Tubby & the Agrovators' "Brother Marcus Dub," has a throw-in-the-kitchen-sink arsenal that's difficult to top. Elsewhere, Prince Jammy's "Jammy & Shine" has some of the most outrageous oscillating-into-infinity reverb you'll hear on a dub recording; King Tubby & the Aggrovators with Horace Andy's "Dub Place" has an amazing combination of gunshots and a squeezed-through-a-funnel sound; and the vocals, squeaks, hums, and rattles on Prince Jammy's "Jammy a No Fool" float with a distorted serenity akin to a flying saucer disappearing over the horizon. ~ Richie Unterberger

Includes rare and mind-blowing mixes of some of the greatest roots tunes of the 1970s. This is the true sound of original dub - undiluted and raw as a lion's lunch!