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Mute Beat in Dub (ROIR, 1996 [orig. released 1986]) Reggae has long been an underground favorite in Japan, but not only are there a significant amount of fans there listening to reggae (although it's dwindled since the late '90s), there has been some quality reggae music coming out of Japan since the early '80s. Dub seems to be the sound of choice of the best-known of these Japanese performers, with acts like Dry & Heavy, Pecker's 21st Century Dub, and Mute Beat honing a unique and engaging style. Like the 21st Century Dub album, Mute Beat in Dub (and all of the group's albums, I suspect, but I wouldn't know, since it's not easy to find them in the US) is a distinct, seamless mix of dub, roots reggae, and jazz. Led by trumpeter Kazufumi "Echo" Kodama, the music is horn-dominated, often incorporating both trumpet and trombone intertwining in a harmonic ballet, as on "Landscape." While you might think that strictly horn-led dub may have its limitations, it never gets stale, from "Metro" to the distant, vintage sound of "Still Echo" to vocal track "Mixed Up" to the Spaghetti Western-style music of "Fiolina," my favorite track here. There's certainly a sense of avant-garde experimentalism on Mute Beat in Dub (again, like 21st Century Dub), as evidenced by the sounds-like-it-was-recorded-in-a-well percussion-fest "Dee Jay Style." If you're a dub fan, you definitely owe it to yourself to know this album. |
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