School me on DUB
prof_rockwell
2,867 Posts
i got a pretty paltry collection and wouldn't mind some recommendations. what I got:
- King Tubby - roots of dub & answer the dub
- creation dub
- escape from hell
- roots radics - scientist and jammy strike back
- treasure dub
- aggrovators - reggae stones dub
- dub specialist - better dub
Also, in NYC what's better for dub: Jammyland or Deadly Dragon??
Comments
I'd say you got a good start- you've covered most of the major producers so buy albums by the dudes you like the best maybe get some of joe gibbs african dub series but some people think theyre kinda gimmicky (toilet flushing in dub sounds). I dig all the dub specialist albums on beatiful old silk screened studio one sleeves, get a nice old copy of blackboard jungle, upsetter meets king tubby (grass roots),dennis bovell and like somebody else in the last thread Macka dub is pretty heavy. Keith hudson if you like shit kinda buggy, I've been digging the dub to the desiree 12" and the joint whole album although not strictly dub. If your not only looking for dub but more dubbed out sounds start checking for "showcase" style reggae albums and like in every other reggae thread I've said jamaican music is all about singles.
And for the other question Jammyland for new represses- deadly dragon for everyhting else, and dont forget ebreggae.com
King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown
Scientist - Heavyweight Dub
Joe Gibbs is kinda cool but lacks depth.
Also The Arabs, King Jammy, Mad Professor, Tappa Zukie, Jah Shaka, anything on the Wackie's label, Trojan, Pressure Sounds..they all have reissued so many lost dub sessions and so much of it can be ordered on vinyl online. What's great about 45's is that most B sides will have the "Version" aka a dub or instrumental track and they often are as tough as the A side track.
Unfortunately Jammyland is closing or will close this week, sadly they can no longer afford their rent in the East Village, see this article from the NYtimes 2 weeks back: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/arts/music/18reco.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=jammyland&st=cse&oref=slogin
But in my opinion they never really had a dope vinyl selection, they had mostly cd's.
A lot of Germans and English especially have co-opted the Rasta culture (big surprise coming from 2 places with squeaky clean imperialist histories) but they have ended up really putting out tons of reissues which is a good thing.
In nyc most of the heavyweight used record stores always have a selection of reggae orig pressings like A1, and Gimme and Academy.
And every for every seminal Reggae artist from Bob to Ken Boothe has been remixed in dub at some point so you can research what you want if you have certain Roots reggae favorites.
Dub is beautiful and that usage of overlayed tape and delays and winding tape backards was a very under-credited midwife that gave rise to using 2 turntables and a mixer. Many early hip hop figures like Herc and Grandmaster Flash were of direct Jamaican descent, raised amidst dub culture.
yo, and you know my boys Reaganomics and Alex F and you are asking this board?
both of them can school you plenty...
Jammyland = house of reissues... not bad, but not that deep deep stuff...
Deadly Dragon = that real shit, at a price... the amount of times i walked in there to just pick up one record for 10 bucks and walked out dropping at least a bill....
Very popular dutch pop band with reggaeinfluences. They did an LP with dubbed out instrumentals from their early period. Doesn't come near the heavyweights mentioned above but still a fairly enjoyable record.
Good advice on the production front but I'm not sure you can say the English have co-opted Rasta culture. I'm guessing you're aware of the big wave of Jamaican immigrants to the UK from the 50s through to the 70s? Reggae in the UK has always been a primarily Jamaican industry - there are a lot of people here from the Caribbean. Unless you're talking about Ginger Mick and his Blood and Fire label.
As for Germany, I don't really understand why reggae is so big there, considering they don't have the historical links, but it is and it's all good if it means these gems get reissued.
Didn't know that about Reaganomics, and Alex has been on this whole breaks/big beat/grime/dubstep kick that I never really got the impression he was that deep into roots dub.
I like some of that dubstep stuff, but frankly I ain't really trying to eff with that right now.
Guess I'll have to head to DD, but was kinda intimidated the first time I went there cause I felt like a black dude at a KKK rally - totally out of my element.
def not implying neither are DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP into it, but Reaganomics def has some good shit and can file trade w/ the best of 'em...
DD has plenty of everything, your best bet is to maybe mention the dub stuff you like and they can steer you towards stuff...
oh and my picks:
blackboard jungle dub
augustus pablo- rockers meets king tubby inna firehouse
scientist- scientific dub
mad professor- dub me crazy vol 1
joe gibbs- africa dub almighty vol 2, 3
Alicia Banks- I Want To Thank You Jah (version)
Love all The Scientist ones (heavyweight champion, vs the zombies, vs pacman etc etc etc)
probably a long shot - but I wonder if any of the crazy nerds in here have heard this acetate I read about - it's the FiveStar album (yeah that 80s horror pop synth band) but apparently they had Mad Professor in the studio next door - who did a dub version - it's apparently boogie/modernsoul/dub. and amazing.
thanks for this, and all the other input from everyone...
http://www.roots-archives.com/release/2182
I got the title track off this, would this be considered dub? I mean, it's not all delayed out and whatnot, so does that just make it instrumental reggae? Or am I missing some of the finer distinctions of this genre?
A dub version is just a reworked instrumental. It doesn't necessarily have to have effects. "Dub style" generally refers to reggae instrumentals, but there are many different sub-genres as jamaican music post-70s. So a dancehall dub will sound little like blackboard jungle dub or augustus pablo.
There are delays, drop-outs, etc. on this record, but it would be a dub record even if it didn't imo.
It does get nit-picky, especially between 'version' and 'dub' and also will change depending on who you ask.
I don't really hear instrumental reggae used to describe anything, an instrumental ska or rock steady side would be ska or rocksteady.
Some records are hard to categorize for me - like the Upsetters who can be a lot of things - is it dub? rock steady? ska? the all-encompassing reggae?
Gregory Isaacs "Slum In Dub"
Augustus Pablo "Ital Dub"
Jah Lloyd "Herbs of Dub"
The Upsetters "Blackboard Jungle Dub"
Scientist "Scientist Meets The Space Invaders"
I'm not that well up on dub either though, just have a few LPs and singles but no doubt huge gaps. Big fan of the Trojan boxsets though can get em really cheap too.
Lee Perry - Kung Fu Meets the Dragon
This one is more modern but really good (sly and robbie)
Black Uhuru - Dub Factor
Phase One Dubwise (on the want list)
This one has vocals (soul covers) but really dubby warm production. My favorite Lee Perry prod.
George Faith - To be a Lover (there is a black ark release of this too I think with a different cover)
Here are some dubby dancehall / DJ albums:
Title track has a dub dunno about the rest. LONG ASS TUNE.