Black Roots
On The Ground In Dub
Sugar Shack Records/Nubian Records (CD/DL – FOD093CD)
4 March 2013
I’ll never really understand why anyone doesn’t like
dub. It’s like saying that there isn’t
at least one Abba song that you really really like. I’ve even witnessed Hells Angels strut their
stuff to Dancing Queen before today, so, everyone lkes a bit of dub , yeah?
My introduction to dub was at the age of 13 when UB40,
(ironically, a group that I now have almost no time for), released a dub
version of their Present Arms album. I
remember being lost in awe at the genre.
Unfortunately, the release of The Labour Of Love marked a furious
decline in my admiration of the Birmingham boys.
Forward wind to 2012, and Black Roots release their
first new album in over twenty years. On
The Ground received superb reviews (one of which was on Louder Than War) and it seemed as though they
had never really gone away. Now, ‘due to
popular demand’, a dub version of the album is with us. Mixed by Louis Beckett (Misty In Roots, Primal
Scream, Adrian
Sherwood), it’s an album in true dub
style, concentrating on full horn sections and the mixing methods of the
classic 70s dub style. It’s easy to see
where modern day dub geniuses like The
Breadwinners take the influence.
From the opening I Believe, this album is wonderful
stuff – starting the proceedings with a tight horn section and instant dub
sounds, it’s simply scrumptious. Working
as a standalone album away from the full vocal version, On The Ground In Dub
manages to comfortably succeed with tracks that are worthy in their own
right.
Landscape
Dub is an absolute dream. Instant dubbed
keyboards with sparce percussion leading the way to a floating horn in the
background. The sound drifting in and
out to make way for the occasional vocal insert. It’s the perfect relaxation track.
Come
And Sing Dub starts with a lovely piano and gorgeous saxophone. Slavery Dub has an awesome horn section to
start and then completely falls to a dub break before hitting back with the
reggae hook. Again, the odd vocal thrown
in now and again, but the dubs are perfectly done and move from left to right
speakers with dazzling effect.
With
all the tracks in either the three or four minute bracket, this album is able
to make way for a mighty fifteen tracks.
My only criticism, if it’s possible to make one, is that maybe a couple
of extended versions might have been a worthy addition – it’s a lousy
criticism, I know.
I’ll
never really understand why anyone doesn’t like dub.
9/10
Published on Louder Than War 03/03/13 - http://louderthanwar.com/black-roots-on-the-ground-in-dub-album-review/
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