Audio Active (Moving Target, 1992 [orig. released 1986])

Although born in the Caribbean, Dennis Bovell has lived most of his life in England, and as such, most of his popularity has been based there.  His backing band is called The Dub Band, but only 3 of the 10 tracks on Audio Active are dubs.  In fact, they could be more accurately described as instrumentals, for they contain little of the echoes and digital effects for which dub is known.  Instead, distinct live instruments are apparent, particularly the old-fashioned piano (as opposed to an electric keyboard or organ).  This creates a unique sound, but the songs are still rather blah.  Bovell doesn't have a classic singing voice, but he sings on most of the tracks here, sometimes half-singing, half-chatting, as on "My Little Girl," where his baritone voice resembles Macka B a bit.  Though the songs on Audio Active aren't great, they have a somewhat refreshing sound, due to the sense of fun that Bovell imbues (Can't you tell by the album cover?).  "Dub Master" and the Zapp-like digital-voiced vocals on "Pow Wow," along with his energy, his slight New Wave sound, and even his poor singing (a la Lee Perry) create a fun sound that partially overcomes the fact that the songs themselves aren't so hot.  The key word here is partially, as little aside from perhaps the lovers rock track "Yo' Love" strikes a chord, and the horrible "Dream" meanwhile is a pure '80s pop ballad crap-fest that represents Bovell at his worst.

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I Wah Dub (EMI, 2003 [orig. released 1980])

Along with 1978's Strictly Dub Wize, I Wah Dub is generally considered to be Dennis "Blackbeard" Bovell's crowning achievement as a solo artist: a hardcore dub experience to balance out his more mainstream reggae band of the time, Matumbi. However, for me, there's a fundamental lack of the dynamism here required to make dub separate itself from mere background music. The one major exception is "'Nough," supposedly a reworking of Errol Dunkley's classic "Little Way Different," although it's so warped, you'd be hard-pressed to recognize it amdist the digi-voices, chirping cymbals, and slinky bass line. "Electrocharge" and the dark melodica of "Blaubart" are the only other tracks with the potential to draw you away from what you're doing to see what's playing on the stereo. There are nice moments in "Reflections" (echoing digital flourishes) and "Oohkno" (a chugging organ), but I can't say that they do enough overall to overcome generic bass lines and been-there-done-that dub wizardry (granted, in 1980, it might've been more impactful). Still, such a short album (less than 30 minutes total) requires little commitment of time or, at the budget price it's being offered at, money -- so it's worth a shot to see if it suits your tastes.