LONE RANGER - OTHER SIDE OF DUB

LONE RANGER - OTHER SIDE OF DUB
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



If you want to know what the other side of Dub is, you might as well check out the other side of Reggae too.

What is the other side? What are the other sides?

Well, at least one of them is a side that is not easily recognized by people in the western world, the so called first world.

And that is, that Reggae Music is first and foremost a Sufferer's Music. It's born in Jamaica, under the most heavy conditions. Many tunes were produced while bullets were flying around studio's in what was just another gangster war.

How do you think you think you play under circumstances like that?

Another, yes yet another side is the musical technology that was used in the days when Reggae was developed.

Studio's like Channel One and King Tubby's DUB Laboratory were created by technical experts who were able to create sound equipment with material that musicians in the West felt too good for. Yes, even the school-bands who can't even get a single tone right.

What many perceive to be the "charm of Reggae" (especially the older recordings), is directly related to all these conditions. The rough sound, and the heartical vibes come out of the soul of the sufferers.

Perhaps the most extreme example of this is the legendary STUDIO ONE. Many of the basslines that make Reggae Music were born in that studio.

Decades later still going strong!

With nothing more then a two track, and later a four-track Coxsone Dodd literally recorded the start of so many of Reggae's legends.

You name them, they started at Studio One.

And you hear it. Because the sound of Studio One stands symbolic for the fact that Reggae Music is first and foremost a sufferer's music.

And that's the other side of Reggae. And with that, the other side of Dub.

It's a great album, a classic among the classics. In a nice combination of versions (dubby instrumentals) and Toasting Tunes, you hear how only true masters managed to get a sound like this under conditions like that.

And the Lone Ranger? He was the Toaster or DJ at Studio One.

Toasting is Reggae Rapping. Or actually, Rapping is R&B Toasting. Just another side of Dub.

On The Other Side Of Dub you can hear the Lone Ranger toasting. And while you do, you can rightfully wonder why you perhaps know so little of him. Because the Lone Ranger is just as good or better than toasters like Dillinger and Trinity.

So there you have a lot of reasons to buy this album.

First, it is a proof of the fact that Reggae is a Sufferer's Music. No doubt about it when you hear this one.

Second, it is an impressive document of the technical skills of players, vocalists and producers at the legendary Studio One.

Third, Lone Ranger simply is one of the top toasters of Jamaica during the 1970's.

Do It!

MIKE BROOKS & FRIENDS - JUST THE VIBES

MIKE BROOKS & FRIENDS - JUST THE VIBES
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



This is a really great sampler of Jamaican Reggae Music as it was played in the late 1970's, early 1980's.

Almost a decade worth of music on one album, and every track has his own story, relevance and niceness. Good for friends, connaiseurs, music lovers and dj's. Mmm... Someone did a very good in compiling this album!

Many different styles are presented to the listener, all of them based around the production skills of Mike Brooks.

Long parts of stricktly drum and bass with vocals on top. Early dancehall or Rub a Dub style Solid drum and basslines!

Deep Roots freaks you to every corner of your mind because of the deep phasers, accompanied by lyrics sung from the heart.

Straight up Rockers in the classic Revolutionairies Style: militant and forward. Guaranteed to make everybody move and Groove To The Riddim.

And if that doesn't convince you, simply take a look at the All-Star list of vocalists and know they are all backed by the classic groups that CREATED the music we now know to be a part in our souls.

When you take a look at the list of friends with whom Mike Brookes made the vibes during the period of 1976-1983, it becomes clear that the word "just" not only a mere understatement, it's totally misplaced!

Barry Brown. Don Carlos. Jah Lloyd a.k.a. Jah Lion. Errol Dunkley. Man oh man, this really rocks hard!

HORACE ANDY - LIFE IS FOR LIVING

HORACE ANDY - LIFE IS FOR LIVING
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



Horace Andy. One of the most remarkable vocalists within Reggae Music fe real.

As a young boy, he's singing tunes at Jamaica's Studio One as a natural talent. Decades later, he is a top-class singer who rides a digital riddim with big ease. Many will recognize his voice as the singer in the world famous Massive Attack track "One Love"!

Massive Attack has surely brought Horace Andy to many people's attention. Being the huge Reggae Fans that they are, they probably felt more honoured to have Horace Andy sing for them then vice versa.

And they did Reggae Music a great service by introducing Horace Andy to the general public. And not only Horace Andy, by the way. They have also made excessive use of the services man who holds the scepter in ARIWA studios. Yes, the Mad Professor!

Now take a way the trip-hop beats and leave Mad Professor and Horace Andy do their own thing, and you'll get a product which naturally exceeds any Massive Attack productions in quality and spritual vibrations.

What you'll get is Life Is For Living". Horace Andy singing over Ariwa Riddims, skillfully mixed by Mad P. himself.

Bob Marley and the Wailers, King Tubby, Sly and Robbie - The Ultimate Reggae Dub & Riddim Collection

Bob Marley and the Wailers, King Tubby, Sly and Robbie - The Ultimate Reggae Dub & Riddim Collection
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



When you're browsing through the Reggae CD's at these mega stores, you are bombarded with all kinds of compilation CD's of which sometimes the covers already say enough.
"DON'T BUY ME", they scream.

There's a big change you're going to skip this one too. The picture on the cover isn't really attractive, and we've seen too many albums with titles such as this one to be convinced that it really describes the content.

And this is definitely not the ultimate Reggae Dub and Riddim collection. Obviously.

However, if I were you I wouldn't skip over this collection too soon either. Because it really does give you a good impression of Dub music.

Two discs carrying pretty interesting stuff! Full albums that can really be considered crucial, along with some very nice singles, this collection really is packed to the max.

What to say about the full album DUB ROCKERS DELIGHT, simply presented as a collection of Sly and Robbie dubs on this "compilation"? Tunes which have been sung over by none less than Don Carlos and Lacksley Castell. Yes, that one surely is crucial.

The album is followed by a selection of King Tubby mixes of riddims layed down by Sly and Robbie in the Channel One Studio. Before the Roots Radics became the Channel One Studio Band, Sly and Robbie have been the backbone of two preceding studio-bands: the Aggrovators and the Revolutionaries. Their sound is legendary until this day. Listen to the set of Bob Marley "covers" that they played back in the 1970's, in stricktly DUBWISE STYLE.

The second disc is packed with riddims played by the Wailers and the studio band of Lee Perry's BLACK ARK. This shows a side of Bob Marley's work that has not often been heard by the average Reggae fan.

Many stories have been told about this period of Bob Marley's progression. Not the least one is that all the recording he did with Lee Perry seemed to have been pirated by the latter. At least, according to Bunny Wailer in a documentary broadcasted by the BBC.

But of course that doesn't take away anything from the quality and relevance of the tunes on the second disc of this noteworthy compilation. The music has been played with JAH love and you can hear that.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this compilation each and everyone who is interested in Dub and Reggae, as it gives a really good idea about just three aspects of this great culture.

But "The Ultimate Reggae Dub And Riddim Collection"? Of course not. Because that collection consists out of 100,000's of albums fe true. And sure it must be somewhere, but where?

Yabby You - Dub It to the Top

Yabby You - Dub It to the Top
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



When you want to buy Reggae Music, having a bit of background knowledge can proof to be quite fruitful.

The way albums are presented and credited is often different then how this is done in western music.

Let me give you an example: it might be that you like the singer Yabby You very much. You know his albums One Love, One Heart and Fleeing From The City and you think it's great.

So when you would see this album, Dub It To The Top, you might think it's another album which features this singer Yabby You.

But that's not the case.

Yabby You is indeed a singer, but also a producer. He is the one who discovered one of my all time favorite Reggae singers: Michael Prophet.

The mighty King Tubby has mixed plenty of Dubs for Yabby the producer as well.

And both are present on this album, but you won't see a mention of it in the title.

It's a part of Reggae Culture. Because now Yabby's skills as producers are highlighted and another time his skills as a singer.

Dub It To The Top is an 18 track collection of great DUBS by tracks which Yabby (helped) produce(d).

Many of the riddims are well-known in the inner circle of Reggae enthusiasts.

The first part is reserved for some crucial and militant Rockers music mixed skillfully by the Master. The second contains brain-smashing dubs from some of the hottest Michael Prophet tunes.

You must buy this album!

The versatility of possibilities within Reggae music becomes apparent when you realize the different vibe in each tune.

Heavy dubbing, jazzy vibes with hornsman Tommy Mc Cook blowing his way over the rhythm. Vocal snippets from singers and deejays echoing on top of essential drum and bass lines.

And the styles are manifold too. Don't ever think that Reggae Music is just another style, no it is a RHYTHM with many styles and varieties. On this album you'll get acquainted with some of these styles.

In a period of just three years, Yabby managed to produce some crucial Rockers music as you can hear in the first part of the disc.

And in the second part you'll be introduced to some early Rub a Dub music, dancehall music before it became the coke headed babylonian style shortly after Bob Marley's death.

All tunes have been used by Reggae Singer MICHAEL PROPHET (One of Yabby You's Discoveries, along with Black Uhuru's Michael Rose) who you can hear throughout the many crucial DUBS that Blood and Fire put on that second part.

In fact it wasn't Blood and Fire who did the selection. They just reissued "Yabby You Meets Michael Prophet: Vocal & Dub". And according to the LINER NOTES that come with this release, the "crème de la crème" of Jamaican Dub participated on it. But you don't have to read these notes to know this: the sound speaks for itself.

Dub it from the top to the very last drop in this essential course how to dub it to the top!

Culture - Harder Than The Rest

Culture - Harder Than The Rest
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



Get ready for a Roots experience, brought to you by true masters of the genre.

An all-star list of musicians playing a skillfully arranged style of Reggae Music that will keep you rocking from the top to the very last drop.

Joseph Hill and his fellow singers riding the rhythms like cowboys drive their horses.

So of course this album will satisfy your hunger for more after listening to other Culture albums.

Just for a while, though.

Because you'll want more, and more, and more.

Culture's raw and engaged vocals have impressed Roots music lovers ever since they marked their permanent place in the Reggae Top with their debut.

And the tradition is continued with Harder Than The Rest.

This combination of truth and right with righteous reggae has proven to stand the test of time. Yes, that's why it's called Roots, you know. It can't dead.

Impressive.

And hard.

Album after album after album.

Culture - Cumbolo

Culture - Cumbolo
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW


If you want to know what is Rockers Music, well, then you can always put this album in the player.

Culture's Cumbolo is a school example of Rockers Music fe true.

And not just, because Sly and Robbie lay down a solid foundation of Drum and Bass for an all star list of musicians to fill with incredible horn themes and tight riddim skanks.

Not just, because when you approach the album in a technical way you will find that this is solid music based on well thought of ideas and themes.

For there is more to Roots Music than just the technical approach. It has to do with the contents of the lyrics as well, and how they are brought.

And that is exactly, where this album enters.

Righteous Rastamen singing truth and right from the depths of their souls.

Yes, this is Rockers. Stricktly Rockers.

It makes you relaxed to fill you with energy again. It makes you strong when you feel weak. It makes you long for more.

And more.

Peter Tosh once called it "Reggaemylitus" and right he was. You'll get hooked fe true by listening to music such as you can find on Cumbolo, truly one of Culture's strongest albums.

Culture - Baldhead Bridge

Culture - Baldhead Bridge
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



There is a reason why so many artists can be very good and never ever will be able to reach to the heart and soul.

There is a reason why vocal groups such as Culture have impressed so many with their debut Two Sevens Clash and the follow-up album Baldhead Bridge.

You guessed it, it has nothing to do with talent. Not really, that is. And it has also nothing to do with getting the best musical education in the world.

There is not a trick in the book to reach the heart.

Or is there?

Well, it's not really a trick.

Or maybe it is.

It might have something to do with the strong conviction that the members of Culture display in their music. An awareness of Babylon combined with a desire to speak out for JAH and truth and right.

Maybe that's why some will always wonder why they love Culture Music so much and yet may never be able to know why.

Baldhead bridge is just one example.

When you listen to the music and meditate over the words, you will feel it and know it.