Dubroom Website Review: CULTUREDUB.com

CULTURE DUB
DUBROOM WEBSITE REVIEW

WWW, July 2014 - French speaking/reading? It's not everybody's ability but in days of Google Translate it is possible to check out a website even when you don't read the language. In this case, a website that does make you positively envious at those who don't need such a tool because of the wealth of information alone. Presenting CULTURE DUB presenting the dynamic French DUB/Reggae scene!

It's a label. It's a Radio Show. It's even a stricktly vinyl show that's recorded on video. It's an ongoing series on the history of DUB Music. It's filled with reviews of new releases and updates about upcoming live events. It's a website. It's in French. For the French speaking and based tribe of DUB. A very vibrant and active part of Europe when it comes to the Roots Dub Reggae scene. On the Internet for example, where French based Net Labels are no minority.

This is the situation where we find the website CULTURE DUB and the first thing that comes to mind is: heavyweight, both in quantity as well as quality. The webmaster is writing an ongoing sequel about l'histoire de Dub, for example. That's not to hard to translate, right? The title that is. You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but this looks pretty academic and therefore in-depth.

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SINGER TEMPA - CUT MORE COLLIE

SINGER TEMPA - CUT MORE COLLIE
DUBROOM MP3 ALBUM REVIEW

WWW, July 2014 - In this May 2014 release from the Maltese Net Label DUB KEY, we are getting introduced to Singer Tempa inna Showcase Stylee! UK DUB and Roots Reggae as authentic as it can be, from the top to the very last (DUB) drop. Skillfully played by the MessenJah Music Players, mixed by Apocalypse Dub Faction's Rod Chaplin, and skillfully voiced by a veteran in conscious Roots Reggae. Read on and download this gem for free!

First things first: this is Singer Tempa's debute album. He is the house MC for the Lion Heart Sound System, while he voices for MessenJah as well. Yes, he is based in the UK where a culture of Roots Reggae Sound Systems dates back decades. It is in this culture that Singer Tempa was born and where he grew his vocal talents by continually performing with sounds.

"Cut More Collie" is a ShowCase album. You will get the vocal tracks but the dub versions as well. Niceness fe true. Four vocals, four dubs, one Discomix long. Everything in the UK Roots and DUB Tradition, which simply means a massive piece of work that cannot be absent in your collection of better and higher quality free/legal DUB Reggae Music. 

A crucial release by DUBKEY once again! 

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BRYAN ART - FRESH START EP

BRYAN ART - FRESH START EP
DUBROOM REVIEW

WWW, July 2014 - The first thing you should avoid is to take the title of this EP serious. You should take the name Bryan Art serious, though, and the four excellent musical works of this release even more. Why? Well, that's the four dollar question you will see answered in this review of Fresh Start, the EP.

First, the music. Four excellent contemporary Jamaican Roots Reggae tracks, perfectly recorded into the multitrack by Bryan Art's FILE13 Band. This is the kind of Roots Reggae that counters the slackness and emptiness that is the majority of (Jamaican) Dancehall. This is the kind of Jamaican Music that brings blessings to the whole world. 

With special appearances by none other than Sizzla and Queen Ifrica accompanying his evidently talented and skilled voice, "Fresh Start" is an essential introduction to this multi-tasker in Reggae Music as well. The name Bryan Art, namely, should need no introduction and the fact that it might is a shame. So in a way, Fresh Start is a proper title. It's a fresh start for us as listeners, a fresh chance to get ourselves familiar with this very interesting brethren.

Bryan Art is a guitar player, song writer, band leader, and a singer. Among other things. He has toured all over North America and Europe, sometimes as part of a backing band and sometimes in a different setting. He has been the guitar player of the Fire House Crew, that is King Tubby's House Band personally formed by the Godfather of Dub himself, band leader for Bushman's backing band, the list goes on and on. The music of this Art is not to be ignored or underestimated!

So, what's this with a four-dollar question? Isn't that just a tip on a meal? Well, yes. It's also the price you pay for the four excellent musical works when you CLICK HERE. Get your Fresh Start now and if you must, you can also listen to this quartet of excellency before you do below.

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MAD PROFESSOR'S REEL TO REEL REGGAE PART TWO

MAD PROFESSOR'S REEL TO REEL REGGAE PART TWO
STUDIO DUBROOM SOFTWARE AND SOUNDWARE REVIEW

WWW, JULY 2014 - In what could very well be the first review of the product, we take a look at Mad Professor's Reel to Reel Reggae Part Two as it was just released by Loopmasters. They've been visiting the Professor in his Ariwa studio once again and came back with some very, very interesting material. Read all about it, at least download a demo for free and find out how your productions can be served and improved by the package.

Without a doubt, part two goes further than it's predecessor. It has several things that you could only crave for and probably did, which gets clear at the beginning. So let's start there. Unlike part one, you can choose to buy certain segments rather than the whole pack which can come in handy when you're not able to purchase everything in one go or when you're simply just interested in certain aspects. Here they are:

• Drum Loops
• Bass Loops
• Music Loops
• One Shots (with sampler patches)

For this review (and of course for the Dubroom's musical productions) we've purchased the Music Loops and the One Shots. For the drum and the bass, we simply took a listen to the streaming demo's and dived in the downloadable 55 Mb free demo pack. In the the knowledge that we're dealing here with stuff from Mad Professor's Ariwa Sound Studio, and with reference to Part One, we find ourselves having a solid foundation for our examination.

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Sites For Your Musical Productions: Messian Dread Reports For Studio Dubroom

SITES FOR YOUR MUSICAL PRODUCTIONS
MESSIAN DREAD REPORTS FOR STUDIO DUBROOM

WWW, July 2014 - During these last months, the Dubroom has been releasing new original music in a new original sound. This music has been put on the Dubroom website, and equally -without too much noise on the Dubroom about this- put on a variety of sites that enable producers, artists and/or labels to present their music online. Why? Just to see what these sites are doing in themselves for your average online (DUB) Reggae artist. Messian Dread reports how over 10,000 of ads on sites only led to 8 free downloads...

Let's call them free Online Music Distributors or OMD's for the sake of this article, shall we? For that is what websites like SOUNDCLOUD, REVERBNATION and others we're going to take a look at, actually do. You upload your MP3/WAV file(s), some pictures and write a little bit of info and voila, there's your page. Ready to be viewed by what many sites call "fans", your music available for download and/or streaming and/or purchase.

This is exactly what I've been doing during these last months. I've been uploading the new Dubroom music to a number of sites, just to see what would happen. An experiment, of which some results are not yet available which in itself makes a point. Yes, that first. There is no website that will instantly give you "fans" or even views. You'll have to use the OMD's as part of your own route, like they do with your music. You see them as distributor of your music where they see you, us, as content provider for their websites. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing to overlook either. 

Indeed: gone are the days where just one website could boost an artist and could even become a threat for established musical industrialists. Gone are the days where you could reach out to that large audience by committing yourself to one OMD. This here is a scattered Internet, where listeners have to look for the good music using all kinds of websites and we, music creators, have to do the same. We have to use all the websites or at least three or four, and we have to have a website for ourselves as well. Even a facebook page won't do. 

With all this in mind, I took a look at some websites. Just because I hadn't released a track in years, even the websites where I already had an account needed some serious work. It was kind of an opportunity to see the various websites through the eyes of a new artist. Other websites needed me to make an account, so there was my chance to get a quick discovery look at them. Here they are, in a particular order:

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AYSHA LOREN - KEEP IT LIKE IT IS

AYSHA LOREN - KEEP IT LIKE IT IS
DUBROOM REVIEW

WWW, June 2014 - She's been involved somehow with "Destiny's Child" back in the days, but since this is a thing that is completely irrelevant for the promotion of (DUB) Reggae let's deal with what is. After she's livicated time to be with her family, trained and skillful singer Aysha Loren is now working with John Holt, Frankie Paul and even Luciano while she has just released what can only be described as a true, authentic Lovers' Rock track called "Keep it Like it Is". Yes, please do!

Lovers' Rock is that other side of UK Reggae which may have nothing to do with heavyweight Roots and Dubwise but is nevertheless very much a part of the many styles the big island in front of the European continent has provided the world with. Lovers' Rock: Smooth and silky, yet with a tight riddim or skank section (the guitars etc) and a solid drum and bass line. In other words: Reggae for lovers. Nothing to do with Dancehall and it's outbursts, just niceness and a very pleasant rhythm.

Well, it's a description of Lovers' Rock and it is a description of Aysha Loren's new single "Keep it Like it Is". This sistren has a beautiful voice that suits the silky style of Lover's Rock perfectly. Keep it like it is, indeed, keeping Lovers' Rock exactly like it is. Because it is the way it should be.

The single in fact is taken from an upcoming EP called "Back to You" and when it's representative of this EP, you can say that UK Lovers' Rock has been given an impulse that will help making the genre known to a wider audience, which it should. And for which we pay respect to this sistren.

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DUBDROPS SOUND SYSTEM VOCALS PARTS 1, 2 AND 3

DUBDROPS SOUND SYSTEM VOCALS PARTS 1, 2 AND 3
STUDIO DUBROOM SOFTWARE AND SOUNDWARE REVIEW

WWW, June 2014 - Just like the previous SoundWare review,  this Dubroom review of the excellent Sound System Vocals by DubDrops (not coincidently sounding like DrumDrops) also comes with some practical sound illustrations in the form of released Dubroom productions. So you wondered where the recent releases featuring Horseman and Dennis Alcapone came from, because you're a producer/selector/whatever yourself? Now you know, without apology. 

Consider all Dubroom productions carrying the works of Horseman and/or Dennis Alcapone to be unofficial promo's for the Sound System Vocals series by DubDrops. Yes, they are completely free and legal musical works representing the current state of the Dubroom Studio and musical phase of it's engineer and can hopefully enjoyed by those that will never read bother to read a review about soundware because they just love (DUB) Reggae Music: the audience, the ones for who ultimately all of we do it. But the music is also partly the result of purchasing the series, for which we make no apology. 

Quite the contrary.

So, when you're a producer, selector, or otherwise interested in reading about the DubDrops series, you might want to check out the Dubroom's three-part in-depth review and decide for yourself if this is something for you as well.

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MAD PROFESSOR: REEL TO REEL REGGAE SAMPLES AND LOOPS

MAD PROFESSOR: REEL TO REEL REGGAE SAMPLES AND LOOPS
STUDIO DUBROOM SOFTWARE AND SOUNDWARE REVIEW

WWW, June 2014 - Those who have been listening to the first Dubroom productions in the new 2014 sound, have been recognizing very familiar elements. At least, to those who know their (DUB) Reggae music. Yes, there were two releases carrying horns that unmistakably came from Mad Professor's ARIWA SOUND Studio's. So, what was the case? Yes, they were the result of a purchase of Mad Professor's REEL 2 REEL REGGAE, a loops and sample pack that gives you enough material to fill several albums.

Read a Dubroom review of the sample pack, download/listen to an MP3 track with just some loops and standard echo/reverb plus a little bit of moving sliders on the REX players which already gives a pretty decent taste of the quality and potential of REEL TO REEL Reggae.

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