Dub the Millennium (Hollywood, 1996)

If you, like me, felt the song "Absentee" jump out at you from the excellent dub showcase Time Warp Dub Clash, then chances are you've longed to check out Dub the Millennium.  A collaboration between British dubsters Nick "Manasseh" Raphael and Jeremy "The Equaliser" Armstrong, this album features as its cornerstone the modern dub classic "Absentee," with its rumbling bass and rootsy vocal chant, courtesy of Danny Red.  As I listened to the album, I was a bit bummed to discover that everything else pales in comparison to this standout track, although "Shakout" has a similarly powerful sound.  Dub the Millennium plays like a blueprint for standard modern dub -- sometimes more reggae than electronica, sometimes more electronica than reggae (while "Souljah" is just straight jazz funk), always crisply produced (sometimes at the cost of sterility), and with a tendency to drone repetitively at times.  All in all, it's a mixed bag that may nonetheless satisfy fans of the modern dub sound.