New Jerusalem Dub (ROIR, 1990)

Believed to be the first recorded dub poet, Oku Onuora's background as a social activist imprisoned for robbing a post office in order to fund a community education project is well-known and approaches the status of legend or fable.  Like something out of a movie, Onuora's prison term inspired his poetry career and raised enough public support  that he was granted an early release (Nonetheless, he had spent 7 years in jail.) in 1977.  I'm not a big dub poetry fan (and if I was, there certainly isn't a ton of it available), but Oku Onuora is the one artist that I can really get into.   That said, New Jerusalem Dub isn't his best work by a long shot.  This album represents his first attempts to record without a backing band.  As such, the tracks -- all dubs with no vocals whatsoever (and thus not really a dub poetry album) -- have a plastic sterility that will likely prove disconcerting to fans.  Many of the tracks have a disturbingly generic digital dub sound, and "generic" is not a term generally applied to Onuora.  Most of the bass lines seem derived more from dancehall -- a style in which he seems awkwardly out of tune here -- than from his more rootsy earlier material.  Although there are 16 tracks here, the second 8 are merely mixes of the first 8 (in order), the first ones being more bare bones, little more than drums, bass, and keyboards.  Thus, the first half is fairly mundane, while on the second half, Onuora finally gets to flex his creative muscle (It turns flabby if you don't flex it now and then.).  Riding the same basic bass and drums as the first half, he throws in some playfully jazzy synthesizers on tunes like "Seven Seals" and "Two Beasts," along with flutes on "Vision" and African drums on "Fall of Babylon."  The best of his mixes, though, is "Message," which utilizes sweeping, grandiose organ riffs that drown out the fairly dull bass.   Onuora almost cancels out this rousing track, however, with "The Lamb," which features the melody from Billy Ocean's "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" in chimes (the hell...?).  Needless to say, although the second half improves on the first, New Jerusalem Dub isn't worth the effort unless you're a huge Onuora fan, and even then, it's doubtful.

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I a Tell: Dubwize & Otherwise (ROIR Europe, 1990)

I a Tell collects many of Oku Onuora's early singles and dubs, recorded at Tuff Gong Studios (and backed by the likes of Carlton and Aston Barrett), including "Reflections in Red," the first dub poem ever recorded.  As hard as it is to find most of these great songs (some weren't released until this point), this is certainly a welcome compilation.  Compared to the more popular dub poets Mutabaruka and Linton Kwesi Johnson, Onuora's voice isn't as deep or forceful, but he is more charismatic, fiery (Indeed, his nickname is "Fia," or "Fire."), and edgy, with a beat poet's sensibility.  His on-again, off-again rhythmic shouts create their own unique sort of "melody."  What truly sets Onuora's songs apart from many other dub poets', in my opinion, though, is his music.  Onuora is one of the most overlooked dub artists, as the "poet" portion of the term "dub poet" tends to gain the most attention.  His music, particularly evident on dub cuts like "Echoing Dub," is rich, funky, layered, and eclectic, easily rivaling (and often overshadowing) his enjoyable vocals.  I a Tell has a classic rootsy dub sound that overpowers most of today's modern so-called dub.

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Bus Out (Zola & Zola, 1993 [orig. released 1990])

Another strong effort from this underexposed genius, Bus Out is hard to find, but worth it if you can.  Although a good amount of this material -- 8 of the 19 tracks (3 of the 8 being short poems, not songs) --  is available on the ROIR collection Dubbin' Away, there are still 9 songs and 2 poems to enjoy that you'd be hard pressed to get elsewhere.  In particular, if you enjoyed the Bus Out dubs on Dubbin' Away -- "Dub Out," "Untitled Dub," "Dubble Trouble," "Dub Can't Wait," and "Sun Dub (Solar Dub)" -- you should be intrigued to hear the vocal versions -- "Bus Out," "How Long," "Trouble," "Can't Wait," and "Sunshine," respectively -- all of which are first-rate (save perhaps for "Trouble").  These tracks and their dubs are the best of Bus Out (a testament to the astuteness of the compilers of Dubbin' Away); the rest of the album is mediocre (keeping in mind that this means only 3 songs), or in the case of the overly experimental '80s rock-fest "Tell Me True," unbearable.

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Dubbin' Away (ROIR, 1999)

A great companion to I a Tell, which covered Oku Onuora material from the '70s and '80s, Dubbin' Away covers songs from the '80s and '90s.  Like the tracks on I a Tell, the tunes here aren't very readily available elsewhere, taken from the albums Bus Out (from about 1990), A Movement (from about 1997), as well as Pressure Drop and the dub of I a Tell's "Wi a Come."  The best dubs from Pressure Drop are here -- "Dub Pressure" and "Dub Sketches" -- and while the other tunes aren't quite as good as these (the first two in particular), they certainly hold their own.  Dubbin' Away is a superb showcase for Onuora's dub talents, as he pushes the boundaries of the music with a daring bravado.  The improvisational, jazzy elements he throws into songs like "Fia Dub," "Sun Dub," and "Dubbin' Away" (the latter a piano-led instrumental of Bob Marley's "Running Away") add a soothing, dreamy feel, while "More Dub" features a Latin tempo, and the bouncy dancehall-like bass of "Untitled Dub" and "Dubble Trouble" add a remarkable variety of sound.  Admittedly, a couple of tracks -- most notably the generic dancehall of "Ruff Dub" -- aren't quite as experimental or fiery as we are used to from Onuora, but Dubbin' Away provides a rare look into the mind of a dub master.

Overdub: A Tribute to King Tubby (ION, 2000)

*GUEST REVIEW*
I understand the history of dub and that it comes from version, but despite this, I tend to prefer my dub with vocals -- or at least hints of vocals bouncing through the echo chamber. I think vocals -- in all music, not just dub -- ground the music and bring a human element that I just personally enjoy. Being as Oku Onuora is known as a dub poet, I thought this album would hold more vocals. In this, I was disappointed, but I realize that may be my own quirk. With this under the reader's consideration, I find Overdub, originally recorded in1988 with additional material added at various times up through 1997, is a good, not great, album. Many of the same backing tracks are used here again and again. If anything, it's a testament to just how creative Oku Onuora can be, to make so so much new blossom from the same seed. However, sparse use of dub effects make this almost a straight version album, though, not the bubbling psychedelic brew that the best dub offers.

- Crowfeather