Artist : JUNIOR MURVIN / DANNY VIBES
WINSTON FERGUS / DUBWISE PRODUCTIONS
Title : ROOTS CONNECTION
Label : DUBWISE PRODUCTIONS
Format : C.D
Roots
Connection is Dubwise Productions debut C.D release. Following in the footsteps
of their ever successful vinyl outings of the past couple of years. Roots
Connection is made up of a combination of remixes of the vinyl outings and
new tunes. Dubwise provide the tunes, then collaborate with a host of Singers,
Players and Remixers to bring us this rounded affair. With mixes by Gussie
p, Conscious Sounds, The Disciples and Digidub.
And vocal showcases from Danny Vibes, Winston Fergus
and Jnr Murvin. Roots connection features uplifting
sub sucking U.K digital roots super-fit for the new millennia.
Think Steppers,
Think Shaka, Think Dubwise.
A wicked C.D, well worth the effort of a full track breakdown.
LEOPARD / VERSION:
A new
vocal from veteran reggae superstar Jnr Murvin. Recorded with Dubwise Productions
at Native Studios, Jamaica. Leopard has a uplifting carnival feel. Complete
with jubilant horn lines and a stepping rhythm cut. The version as you might
expect leads with the horns gently warped out and dubbed up to great effect
with the warm sub B-line brought to the fore. An excellent up-beat opening
to the album.
NAH GIVE UP / GIVE
THEM DUB : Is
the first cut to feature the vocal talents of Danny Vibes. A man whose lyrics
and vocal performance feature a maturity not usually found in a singer of
such comparative youth. Nah Give Up is tale of survival in the face of adversity
and apathy. A positive message to those struggling in a up-hill battle.
Set within a powerful one drop rhythm this one is a personal fave. The version
brings the powerful one drop forward to provide us a truly sublime deep
in Dubwise’s yard affair. Remixed by Russ D of The disciples. This one a
massive.
GANJAH DEFENDERS
/ PRESSURE DUB :
The vocal cut was originally released on a ten inch cut (DW007) with the
dub being released on a seven inch plate (DW005). I’m not sure if these
versions are the carbon copies or slight remixes but they kick all the same
so who gives a .... A welcome addition to the digital format Mixed by Russ
D.
WHERE ARE ALL THE
WARRIORS :
Deep subsonic, lifting four to the floor digital roots dub mixed by Lee
Digidub. A breather yes but by no means filler. A Smart monkey top tune.
ROUGH TIMES / ROUGH
VERSION : Veteran
Roots-Reggae singer Winston Fergus deals with the pressures of living in
a capitalist society. The instrumentation on the vocal version is tight,
restrained and laid-back - making this head-noddingly good digital roots.
If I’m not mistaken this tunes version is even heavier than the one issued
on the vinyl edition. Which is already a Free Radical Sound System top tune.
Mixed by Dougie ‘Conscious Sounds’ Wardrop.
REVELATION TIME
/ MILLENIUM DUB : More
rich textured consciousness from this talented new singer. Versioned inna
deep in a dub style. Opens with a beautiful horn refrain then goes all subterranean
on us. The ricocheting vocal stretched out adfinatum. To give us a taste
of what’s in store within this massive mix. Mixed by Russ D.
PRAISE H.I.M :
Winston
Fergus’ tribute to H.I.M Haile Selassie. A beautiful, gentle thought provoking
piece and one for the sub-bass-bins.
FIGHT THE WICKED
MAN : A
personal fave and the last vocal cut to feature Danny Vibes The title sums
up the message. A series heavy weight tune. Play both the vocal and dub
cut in row and watch them lap it up. After two teasing false starts the
version kicks off into a percussion-driven hard and heavy steppers masterpiece.
Mixed by Dougie Wardrop.
CAN’T TAKE NO MORE
:
A storming deep-dub-cut which still features regularly on the U.K Sound
systems, well over a year after its release. Here we're provided with a
spanking new mix that is probably heavier still than the previous vinyl
version (if that’s possible). All the stops are pulled out on this the penultimate
cut and the last strictly Dubwise excursion. This one a rip up the joint.
Mixed by Russ D.
WISEMAN :
Jnr Murvin
is chosen to close this awesome CD with a Killer tune previously released
on a ten inch vinyl cut ( DW007 ). Another super A quality tune with a message
of conscious for us to dwell upon. A fitting close to this excellent debut
album from Dubwise Productions.
Think Roots, Think
Steppers, Think All-nite Reggae Sound-systems , Think Dubwise.
Respect.
bimble@freeradicalsounds.com
Artist : BOBO BLACK STAR
Title : JAH GUIDANCE
Label : ABT
Format : CD
Bobo Blackstar is indeed a bright new star who’s light will (I hope) shine
on and on. Already a hit with the seven inch single market. Bobo now turns
his tunes over to the digital masses with this his debut CD entitled Jah
Guidance. Think uplifting, Caribbean flavoured, deep meditative, roots-reggae.
Bobo Blackstar is
one of a new crop of U.K based roots singers currently gaining recognition
for their fresh outlook and tunes of consciousness. His mature voice of
rich timbre defies his comparatively young years.
So to Bimbles top
tunes from the Jah Guidance CD : -
GUIDANCE : Both
the vocal and the dub version.
CLEAN HANDS :
Both the vocal and the dub version.
HIGH GRADE :
Rousing conscious Dancehall style ‘omage to da ‘erb. This one will get the
dance jumping. All these tunes have previously been available on seven inch
single and have been hot favourites with The Free Radical Sound -
System
and are future classics for sure.
So Bobo Blackstar
then a fresh new voice for these Babylonian times and if this CD is anything
to go by, will go far. The worlds stage beckons, Peace And Respect
bimble@freeradicalsounds.com
Artist : Various
Title : Step Foward
1 & 2
Label : Dubwise Productions
Format : Zine
Price : Issue one
- £1 ( Sterling )
Issue Two - £2 ( Sterling )
Ruff Roots Zine from the London posse that recently brought you "Wise man"
featuring none other than Jnr
Murvin.
Issue one has the full story of how this collaboration came about and is
probably the most indepth article on the man called JNR Murvin.
Issue Two is twice the price and at least four times as thick. It has articles
on Dr Alimantado, Jah Shaka, Conscious Sounds, The Disciples, Gussie
P, Digidub
and more. Plus at the back of the mag is stashed 30 plus pages stacked full
of reviews of all the latest and revive releases currently available. This
alone is well worth the entry price. Grab one now while you still can.
bimble@freeradicalsounds.com
Artist : GUSSIE P
Title : ORIENTAL
DUB
Label : RIVERBANK
RECORDS
Format : VINYL ONLY
L.P
A strictly limited edition this one. Apparently limited to 500 copies only.
Making this almost impossible to get hold of outside of London, never mind
the UK. Rumour has that it’s been suggested that to Gussie that he should
press up more copies of this fine L.P but he’s having none of it. Read on
…
These days most
of the best contempory Dubs I come across seem to only be available as B-sides
to very sought after seven inch vocal cuts. So it’s nice to come across
a strictly Dub L.P of such quality.
Produced by Gussie
P with J.A’s Mafia and Fluxycutting
the rhythms. Oriental Dub brings us ten tracks of heavy weight stepping
dubs from the far side. Complete with para-metric sweeps, rockin’ sub bass
lines and heavy weight rhythms. Added to this are some awe-inspiring Congo
work-outs of the highest order, making it a deeply, mesmerising. This L.P
is truly awesome and for fans of heavy weight dub
styles, is simply a must.
There’s not a duff
track on it but if I had to choose three standout tracks they’d be as follows
:-
BOSNIA ROCK
: For
it’s hard hitting one drop rhythm and richly textured keyboard lines.
LEVEL HEADED DUB
:
A deeply hypnotic sub driven steppers masterpiece. Which teases us with
lots of drop-outs and Rub a Dub breakdowns.
UPSETTING LICK
: This
one opens with solo uplifting horn refrains before leaping off into an upbeat
steppers rhythm, complete with breakdowns, marching snares and percussion
frenzy.
I was struck by the 20 / 20 quality of the mixes on each and every tune.
On Oriental Dub,
Gussie
and his cohorts have pulled out all the stops to bring us one of the best
and most consistent dub L.P’s I’ve heard in a long time. What’s also worth
mentioning is the quality of the actual vinyl platter. This thing really
is heavy weight and is twice as thick as yer normal L.P platter. This has
obviously been done so as to facilitate a deep sub cut into those micro-fine
grooves.
The only down-side
to all this gushing praise is the sheer lack of availability of the thing.
It seems insane to go to all the effort of producing such a masterpiece
of dub works like this and then strictly limit it’s availability. Still
I’m sure Gussie has his reasons. A ten out of ten L.P for sure.
bimble@freeradicalsounds.com
Artist : THE TASSILLI PLAYERS
Title : ATLAS WORLD
OF DUB
Label : UNIVERSAL
EGG
Format : CD / LP
Celebrating the global spread of all things dubtastical. The new Tassilli
Players album opens with the aural cleansing that is United
Kingdom which segues nicely into Germany
a tune that has saw a previous release on the very limited edition ‘Firestarters’CD
on the Continental Drifts label. There it was
called Ever Expanding Dub and credited to Zion
Train. This is explained by the fact that ‘The Tassilli Players’
is in fact the studio project of various unnamed members of the Zion
Train posse. The tune itself sounds like vintage quality Zion
Train with the addition of live drums, probably provided by the one
time Ruts sticksman Dave
Ruffy.
Further highlights
of this Dub-minimlist / almost ambient-dub set would include : - The skiptastical
Belgium. A tune that begs to be heard outside
in the sunshine, through a very loud and hard sound system. Also the sublime
Holland whose intro reminds me of the wonderful
‘Prowling Lion’ by The Disciples, which is
no bad thing. Holland features a nice ‘Clavinet’style
sound and will work wonderfully as a set opener.
The one low point
of this otherwise quality CD would be the sometimes overlong and indulgent
intros. Though maybe thats just my not partaking in the correct chemical
enhancement.
To sum up I’d say that while Atlas Of Dub is
not as strong as either Zion Train’s recent
‘Love Revoultionaries’ album or the awesome new Vibronics
album ‘Dub Italizer’. Both of which are also available on the ‘Universal
Egg’ label. This is still a quality release from a stable we have come to
trust. An album particularly suited to late night chill out or smoke up.
bimble@freeradicalsounds.com
Artist : TWILIGHT CIRCUS
Title : DUB VOYAGE
Label : M RECORDS
Format : CD
Dub Voyage is an 11 track CD recorded and mixed down
between the Netherlands Canada and Berlin. Ryan Moore
going out under the moniker of Twilight Circus
has the unique ability to blend classic militant roots
rockers riddims with the contempory digital styles of the last few
years.
If you want an example
of where old school and new school Dub styles successfully fuse then this
is as clear as it gets. At times reminiscent of Adrian
Sherwoods ( ON U Sound ) heavier weight dub workouts. The title track
Dub Voyage is also available ( through Free
Radical Sounds ) on a recently released Dubhead promo seven inch
single backed by the wonderful Set A New Course
from Dubclash
Smart Monkey
Artist : HYDROPONICS IN DUB
Title
: LET THE LIGHT SHINE
Label : DUBHEAD
Format : CD/ VINYL
The evocative cover depicting a shed full of homegrown skunk gives some
idea as to the direction we are heading in here yup dubdome.and dolops of
it too. This 13 track album displays just what the Concious Sounds crew
( for it is they, under yet another guise ) do best with a plethora of hard
edged dub riddims that both embrace the new skool digital steppers
scene as well as a knowledgeable backward glance to the UK and Jamaican
roots scene
If you have been fortunate to catch the 7 inch pre-releases then you will
be familiar with the opening track Let
the Light shine. Which kicks off the album with outer-world
vocal effects and deep Sonics. Shackelwell Rockers
has a distictive ska-rockers feel to it combining with a sweet melodica
refrain.
There’s very little given away as to who plays on the tracks but from hearing
the album I would say that there is a more than even chance that alongside
Hydroponics
that there has been input from Hughie Isaacher
and other Concious Sounds regulars. This is
an album that works as well in the home as it does in the sound-system domain.
Smart Monkey
