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Dub Reggae Essentials (Hip-O, 2000) While I would stop short of calling all of the material here "essential," there are some excellent dubs to be found. Perhaps the nicest thing about this collection is the fact that it doesn't contain a lot of the standard dub tracks found on typical "greatest dubs" compilations, "King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown" and "Pit of Snakes" (dub of "Social Living") aside. Also nice is the wide time span covered, from 1970 and the DJ originator U-Roy to 1998 and the up-and-coming UK dub act Butch Cassidy Sound System. Of course, variety doesn't necessarily translate to quality, so not everything here is great, but there's enough to satisfy your dub palate -- particularly the stuff you might not have previously been exposed to, such as the rootsy Butch Cassidy Sound System track "Coming Storm," the ska/punk energy of The Selecter's "Last Tango in Dub," or the bluesy harmonica sound of the Impact All Stars' "Last of the Jestering." Part of what turned me off about Dub Reggae Essentials, though, is that there are several blah toasting/DJ tracks included, which isn't my favorite style (but if it suits you, hey, do your thing), and furthermore, although there is a variety of music here, oddly there are 3 tracks from the same album, Dubmission 2: The Remixes, one of which -- "Ion Storm" -- is not dub so much as it is drum 'n bass or jungle. |
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