The Five Apostles of Dub
by Aaron Johnston
All music is sound but not all sound is music. What better describes the soul of dub music? Dub is about "space" – a double entendre for its cosmic presence and roomy confines. Much of what we now revere in the electronica genre owes its debt to dub. Both are styles anchored by rhythm. Both use beats and bass as ballast allowing composers to experiment with sounds without fear of wandering too far. Dub is about two channels – blunt rhythms that draw you in and transient melodies that you are forced to chase. The rhythms are simple, predictable, and cerebrally relaxing. The sounds thrown on top of them are erratic, elusive and nomadic. While listening, your left and right brain cave in on each other and the conflict keeps you interested. Given this admittedly kaleidoscopic description of the music, is it any wonder why dub is so popular with pot heads? A better question would be: if this music has such an affect, what use is pot to dub heads?
If dub had a prodigal son, Alpha and Omega would be it. When bassist Christine Woodbridge met reel-to-reel magician John Sprosen in 1989, the English dub scene was an energetic embryo fighting to escape underground culture’s womb. When they completed recording "Tree of Life" in 1996, they were subordinate only to Adrian Sherwood’s On-U-Sound Productions and the crafty Mad Professor. In that short span, A&O has amassed a catalog of more than ten full albums and numerous vinyl platters. What sets these releases apart from most dub plates is A&O's masterful junction between the mystic roots of Jamaican dub and the electronic precision of modern "ambient dub." Listening to A&O is usually a crossed affair that splits you down the middle with a double edged sword of traditional dubwise feel and layered modern production. Their Stateside debut, "Sound System Dub," is highly recommended.
Augustus Pablo was the first Jamaican dub artist to truly capture my attention. To this day he is one of few that can still send a chill down my spine. His is a dub unlike any other. Sure, the trademark reverbed drums, echoed vocals and cut 'n' paste production elements are center to his work. Augustus' soulful balancing of the spectrums is his prime talent, though. With him it’s more about feel than process. When Augustus gets down, his dubs epitomize the haunting mantra of Jamaican blues in a way that only an bullet through your head could compete with. Within his melodica fueled fugues it's almost as if he steals the air from your lungs while robbing the ground you stand on. When he's up, he gives it all back – wrapping it around your feet to the beat of a downtown Kingston dancehall buried deep in the heart of summer. No recording showcases this transition better than "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown."
Lee "Scratch" Perry is reggae's wild man turned the doctor of dub. Nowadays he’s also the juggler of jungle (yeah, "drum-n-bass"). No matter how far Lee has gone – mentally or physically – his presence will always fuel arguments spanning from the dawn of dub to the roots of rap. Perry, a strong proponent of African roots in Jamaican music, is the all knowing one. He’s the voice in your head. He is the almighty upsetter. If you really have it in for your speakers, check out Perry teamed with Mad Professor on "Super Ape Inna Jungle." This album is what the phrase "drum-n-bass" should have originally eluded to.
Scientist, or Overton Brown, is a fiendishly inventive man indeed. Taking over where the early masters left off, Scientist came into promise around the dawn of the 1980's and staked his claim as dub kingpin of the decade at a young age. As a student of dub forefathers King Tubby and Striker Lee, Scientist sewed the seeds of a life that took him from the engineering helm at Tuff Gong to a prime spot in dub folklore sooner than it takes most producers to perfect their initial tracks. As you might expect, his style is a racy one that combines the blunt(ed) tip of reggae with the acid-tongued "space dub" antics later reinvented by Mad Professor. The Blood and Fire release, "Dub in the Roots Tradition," is an excellent example of his truly Scientific might.
While much of Israel Vibration's catalog consists of straight reggae jams, their dub discs are divine. What makes these offerings so unique is their very literal combination of time and space. Where most old-time dub classics are self-undermined by an incessant need to keep the music shackled to reggae traditions, Israel Vibration charged cosmic waves decades before modern dubsmiths such as Twilight Circus were old enough to surf. If absolute control of the studio is the essence of dub, albums like "Israel Dub" should be called its soul. If the supreme bond between music and the farthest reaches of imagination is the vision of dub, albums like "Vibration in Dub" should account for its eyes. Sit with these albums for a while. You may not like each other immediately, but soon you’ll be good friends.