reggae, dub & soul

I have infinite respect for Joan Wasser’s songwriting but I’ve always felt that The Classic was a swing and a miss, with its stronger soul themes not really landing for me. But hey, this is entirely subjective, and there is no way I could argue that this album is bad; the production is fantastic and the songs sound amazing, I am not just not able to personally connect with any of them.

Please pardon my lack of useful terminology around this type of music but fuck, this is class. I love how the smoothness of the jazz elements work so well with the more repetitive, almost-ritualistic throb of the more afro beat parts. The 40 minutes positively flies by and repeat listens are mandatory (often in the same session!).

North of the River Thames is album I have come to address here several times, but often fail to find the words to describe it. One should except dub reggae, of course, but there is an extra-low quality to the bass that really works well here. On the other hand, there are some repetitive natures to the melodica and / or keyboard lines which act less like a leitmotif and feel more like you are…

Quite possibly this is one of the greatest dub albums of all time. Quite possibly there is also the fact that I am heavily biased, as it was the first album in this style that I ever heard. I am surely one of many who first heard this album when playing GTA III on the PS2. The horror theme plays right into my sensibilities, but its easy to forget all of that, just throw this…

A great album, filled mostly with irresistible soulful tunes, that don’t always hit the mark but when they do, be they acoustic pieces or more fuller big band works, really cannot be beaten. Unfortunately, for my personal tastes this only really lands for about half of the album – so please take that into account when you see the rating of this one. Extra points can be given for the frankly gorgeous production. It feels…

What a thoroughly charming and endearing set of songs. The beautiful, sun-drenched production (as in, it sounds like the tape was left in a Walkman which in turn was left out on a pavement outside the Black Ark studio for two whole days) provides a warm and comforting listen, with Perry’s homely and down to earth lyrics only reiterating this feeling. Truly, this is a pleasure to listen to on almost any occasion, and has…

As a white man in a western country I can only empathise with the themes of this record. That’s not to say Kuti’s music isn’t for me, as music is for anyone who is willing to listen. Knowing the sensitive political situation around Kuti and the severity of the confrontation between him and those that were in power, one can really feel the weight of every word in these epic, sprawling tracks. On top of…

A bit more interesting than the Gethsemane Dubplate purely because it really feels like a set of brand new songs have been created from the original work, rather than just being a remix EP. Alpha and Omega transforms “Addis” from Advaitic Songs into a whole entire new entity.

“Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub – yay God!” Never thought a Family Guy quote would sum up Al Cisneros’ Om so perfectly, but there we go. “Gethsemane” is possibly the best song on Adviatic Songs (it’s been a minute since I heard that album though), but these dub remixes perhaps expectedly remove the startling urgency with which that beautiful song closes after 8 minutes of pensive meditation and bass groove. Instead, said…

When I first brought this thing into my circulation I had no idea that it was one of the first dub records. As in, one of the ones that pulls together Perry’s reworkings from other Upsetters releases. Either way, I fell in love with this before realising it was as important as it is the world of dub reggae (and music in general as a whole). You cannot beat the warm, analogue sound on this….

This is the third Pain Killer full length album to date (although its kinda weird to call the first two full lengths such, because they aren’t all that long). Execution Ground breaks the mould, entering far, far spacier territory. You can really feel the influences that Mick was experimenting with at the time; dub, ambient etc. (let’s not forget Laswell has albums in this territory too). The album is a far cry from the jazz-grind…

This is a release that is definitely not for everyone, especially in regards to the wide range of people that Killing Joke are lucky to call fans. However, there is a subset of folk who will be well aware of Youth’s producing history, and of his penchant for electronic music and of course, the art of dubbing. This is far from the first “in dub” collection we’ve had of Killing Joke classics, and it definitely…

Laika Come Home is a stunning remix album that accompanies the band’s equally stunning debut selftitled record. Everything here is done in a dub reggae style, which permeated the selftitled in its own way. So, it is super cool to have guest mixers Spacemonkeyz come in and really push that vibe further. I can’t really pick individual favourites (well, I could), but this thing works best as a whole. Chuck it on, sit back, and…

The Bug has collaborated with Warrior Queen many times now, but this EP is one of the earlier efforts. Backed with the tune “World War 3”, “Aktion Pak” itself is a fair ol’ banger. The rest of the release contains extensive dubs/remixes of the title track by The Bug himself, as well as a completely unrelated track at the end. A strange one.

Probably high time I reviewed this as today I got the news that Betty Davis had passed on. RIP. (This review was written in February 2022 – Ed). Her voice is something else, really pushing that cracked, strained and from-the-soul delivery, even if most of her songs are about getting dicked down instead of having a broken heart (perhaps both? Haha). Honestly though this thing is absolutely dripping with style, funk and passion. I bet…

I’ve heard the name Jah Wobble many, many times, but have never had the pleasure of partaking in any of his music. Thank the dub heavens then, for this collab with the legendary Bill Laswell. A Dub Transmission takes you on an hour of ticking, chill-out beats underpinned by intense, fat sub-bass. It won’t blow a hole in your speaker cone, but you can definitely feel its presence, which is fantastic. A bit later on,…

Where Dub War met its end, Skindred rose from the ashes, sailing to new heights of popularity and success. Babylon would go on to sell extremely well, and whilst maybe it hasn’t aged all that well, stand out tracks like “Pressure”, the title track or “Selector” remind you why this brand of ragga, dub and metal was so infectious.

Man, this is some good shit. Thick, dense production is the order of the day, which really really lends itself to the dub sound. I’m no expert, but my experience with dub reggae sounds is the same as metal: lots of scooped mids, fat bass and tickling highs. This fucking thing is fat across the middle, just like the ape on the cover. Serious big tunes here, so kick back and enjoy.

Black Ark is (was) the name of the studio that Lee Perry constructed himself at his home in Jamaica. It’s – apparently – primitive gear and set up (compared to other big-business owned studios in Jamaica at the time) could easily have been the laughing stock of the record cutting elite, but instead what Lee Perry did with so little is now part of musical history. The dubs on this record seem to include cuts…

G-Sides is a collection of tracks from the Gorillaz self titled era, and asides from the (frankly, pointless) single version of “Rock The House”, is rammed to the gills with excellent content. I always loved the dub undercurrent to the group’s early work and there are plenty of odd tracks here catering in this regard, “Dracula” and “Left Hand Suzuki Method” spring to mind as favourites. G-Sides is not as good as the album that…

This is really an intriguing album. The title alone promises something mystical and exciting, unknown and terrifying. The art, well, strip away three of those things, leaving terrifying. I think that word is probably the best way to describe this entire album. Like, who on earth allowed this to happen? If the man himself isn’t crooning out awkward ballads or pop numbers, he’s lending his “guitar” “skills” to a bevvy of lukewarm reggae / dancehall…

Blacks and the crackers! Brothers and the whities! Everyone has heard “Move On Up” but I only got into this record after falling in love with the opening track after it was used as the theme for season 1 of HBO’s The Deuce. Honestly, my knowledge in this era and in these genres is severely lacking so I’m probably going to struggle describing this record, but it sounds fantastic. It’s funky, soulful and pumping with…

Too Experienced is a chilled out journey through some tight, head-nodding variety of reggae. I’ll be honest, I’m more well versed in the spaced out, dubby strains of the genre, so this is a refreshing change. And what great tunes there are, from the bigger hits to the lesser known entries. Either way, a solid record.

This is the record that angered the Nigerian government so much that the army stormed Kuti’s compound and threw his mother out of a third story window, resulting in severe injuries which led to her death. The title and overall theme to proceedings seems to call out those blindly following orders before they went and did just that as the result of such a calling out. Like, what the fuck Nigeria? Way to prove the…

Dub War, for those that don’t know, were the group that more or less became Skindred. In the 90s they released two or three albums of increasingly diverse ragga/dub infused rock, and whilst – to Earache Records at least – they ended up on the Wrong Side Of Successful, they are still highly regarded. Sure, it all sounds a bit dated now (but so does the first Skindred album), but in a cool way this…

Like, who the fuck actually listens to this shit? I love Lee Perry, but this compilation is a fucking bag of shit. Rushed, thrown together jumble of half-assed dubs is the order of the day. Absolutely, definitely, totally, utterly, AVOID at all costs pointlessness. (PS – I read on Discogs that this isn’t actually Scratch Perry at all… who knows what the fuck is going on with this B.S.). I would also like to quickly…

What a trip! Laid back, seriousllllly heavy dub vibes. It is nice to come across some King Tubby shit that hasn’t been rehashed into some piece of shit compilation.  King At The Control actually flows, like a real album (despite the nature of dub), and whilst there is a similarity between the tracks, especially in the first half or 2/3, it doesn’t get tired or boring. I absolutely love dub music, but the genre is…

King Midas Sound is a beautiful collaboration between Roger Robinson, Kiki Hitomi and Kevin Martin, which (I think, correct me if I’m wrong) began life as a track for Kevin’s much more wider known project, The Bug. I find it hard to describe and categorize KMS simply because my exploration into this kind of music is incredibly limited (I got here through Godflesh, Techno Animal, etc.), although I can say that this is a incredibly…

This has to be one of my favourite releases ever, and the best thing is that it is completely out of the ballpark in regards to the music I usually find myself listening to. Despite my best efforts to listen to everything, and as much as I love dub reggae, it isn’t something I find myself listening to all that often, anymore at least. This insanely legendary collaboration between a few greats of the genre;…

I like Killing Joke and I like dub (be that dub reggae or the same remixing technique applied to other genres) but I’ve got to be in the mood for both, so there’s no surprise that I aurally inhaled this gargantuan release in one entire sitting. It took some doing as In Dub is 3 hours long, and contains several remixes of the same few songs. I’m not sure when I’ll actually ever come back…

Totally and randomly got a bunch of reggae records for Christmas 2012, which is great because I love reggae but spend so much time on other types of music that I never get around to buying any. Talisman are from Bristol and play nice dubby reggae, with lots of original groove. The songs aren’t dubbed as such (as far as I can tell), they just have a lot of characteristics of the dub reggae sound,…

This 12″ marks my first Record Store Day purchase, even though it was accidental. I decided to visit Cardiff on Record Store Day this year, which was fairly disastrous, but I ended up in Catapult browsing where I picked up another King Midas 12″. When I took it to the counter to pay for it, the chap at the desk kindly informed me that the band had put another 12″ out on Ninja Tune just…

So, Nirvana. A touchy subject. Well, not touchy but a hard one to define. Awful? Maybe. Terrible? Maybe. Over-rated as fuck? Definitely. The thing with Nirvana is that the songs were fantastic. The songwriting was spot on, it’s just when the songs unfolded into real entities they were boring, nauseating grunge numbers. But, it would seem, a lot of people like Nirvana’s music, and that includes dub legend Little Roy, who for some godforsaken reason decided…

Before there was Skindred there was Dub War. I was always attracted to this band because of their awesome name. A war of dub? Sounds like my kind of party. Unfortunately I found Dub War a bit wet, not too shabby but very disappointing considering what I built them up to be in my head. My love for them sadly does not extend any further than this cheeky little single pressed by Earache (when they…