|
|
|
|
Click pic to buy! |
|
Hi-Fidelity Dub Sessions Presents Roots Combination (Guidance, 2001) You never know when you'll come across a great album. This one caught me by surprise, turning out to be one of the best contemporary dub albums I've ever heard (of course, what is "contemporary" is always changing...). What sets Roots Combination apart from other modern dub music is its rootsiness and its freshness. Rootsiness isn't so hard to accomplish, but freshness is often the stumbling block (for me, at least) when listening to dub. The sense of "been there, done that," however, never really hits me when I listen to this album. Producer Victor Axelrod (AKA Ticklah) -- who also mixed and wrote or co-wrote all of the tracks -- deserves a large amount of the credit for this novel sound, which blends elements of funky so-called "acid jazz" with the rootsy dub vibe. The jazzy edge not only makes the music seem evocative, but it keeps it busy, never resting in the monotone, repetitive rut that plagues some of the weaker, more generic examples of dub. Practically every cut on Roots Combination is solid, if not killer; be sure to check out "Oh Lawd!" featuring Ruff Scott and Rob Symeonn (both featured on Easy Star Volume One), "C.B. Stories," the melodica-driven "The Dub and the Restless," "Painful Dub," the smooth "Spoony Bill," Sluggy Ranks' "Nah Bow Down," (one of two vocal tracks on this album, along with Ruff Scott's old school "Greedy For the Dollar"), and perhaps my favorite, "Horny Dub." It doesn't really matter which artist is credited with which track, because they all carry such a similarly entrancing sound that they could've been performed by the same act. Roots Combination goes a long way to revitalizing my enjoyment of dub music and strengthening my faith in modern dub in particular. |
|
Track Listing |
 |