Various - Dub Meet Dub

Various - Dub Meet Dub
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



Long time ago Bob Marley released a song which was not being positively received by everyone. The song was called "Punky Reggae Party". Marley was one of the first to recognize the connection between the sufferahs from jamaica and those in europe and the usa. Reggaebands such as Steel Pulse have started their musical career within the Punk movement.

DUB MEET DUB, a release of Winsuck/Black Spine Records, takes the spirit of the Punky Reggae Party into the next century with a compilation of 13 very different tracks that range from roots reggae to drum and bass to undefined underground music. The cover is in serious PUNK-style to once more stress the Reggae-Dub-Underground connection. This is a document of the influence that DUB has got on so many styles in the underground: most of the tracks are not DUB in the strict sense of the word but there are effects galore.

Let's have a look at the tracks.

The CD starts of with four skankin' contemporary Dub tracks: from the rather militant "Angry Dub" by Internet Artist ROLAND Z. to the dreamy "Too Much Freetime" by Louie Fleck. MP3.com artist Dubware is also included with a nice blend of old and new DUBBING techniques. "From old skool to new skool!", I hear at the start of track 5, and indeed, a sudden mood swing, when Muddy Face comes on the scene with a hip hop DUB called Motley. It gets even weirder on the next track: industrial minimalistic, drums and distorted bass. After this the CD moves into a different direction once more: two meditative tracks with nuff world-music vibes. Reggae Vibes enter again at track 9, an artist called Ras Prophet comes in with another easy skanking tune, slightly reminding me of Boom Shaka. Followed is another minimalistic underground tune called "Shopping". The last three tracks are from MP3.com artists again. JAH DUB presenting "Zion", roots and acid combined. Track number 12 is reserved for the compiler: EJ Winner. His track "natty" is a minimalist Dub with a lot of background noises, nice to chill out on this one. The last track on this album is Bloodsucker, by Dubroom artist Messian Dread. Conscious Roots reggae with extended Dub version.

DUB MEET DUB surely draws once more the attention to an ongoing debate: what is Dub? Personally I don't think all tracks on the CD fit the description, although it is evidently that drums, bass (in any form) and effects form the spinal colom in the presented music. If you're into the underground, and remember that is in the underground that the trends of tommorrow are coming to exist, this one is for you!