Ten to One : Dillinger

This is a 2 Disc set with the second disc being the straight dub crossover of disc one. I'm reallly hooked on the dub set on disc 2 rather than the original vocal chant performance of Manchester, England's own Dillinger. This seems to be some sort of value pack offering from "Classic Reggae" by Secret Records in 2007. This set is produced by Niney the Observer and you can tell, the production work on the dub tracks is excellent. There are 14 tracks on each disc, I tend to favor the dub CD and my favorites on that one are: #5 (My Dub Leads the Way), #9 (Dub Jamboree), #13 (Foreign Dub), and #11 (Hurry Dub) which is a pretty tough "Stir It Up" version. The Bass is a clean and heavy as lead. This is great for the ride or the sound system. A lot of familiar beats including the stir it up version. Credits indicate this material was recorded at Channel One, Tuf Gun, and Joe Gibbs and engineered by the legendary Scientist & Errol Thompson. All tracks are backed by the Soul Syndicate band featuring Sly & Robbbie. Although I mainly talk about the dub set, some of the disc 1 vocal have killer lyrics. The best of CD 1 tracks are #2 (My Address) and # 5 (My Sound a Boom). You should be able to score this disc on the used internet market for less than $10 USD.

Dread at the Controls Dub : Gussie Clarke : The Revolutionaries

This is an original LP released on Gussie label back in 1978, my CD copy by Auralux and Gussie in from 2007. This is classic roots but with very little vocal interruptions. - tracks total 10. 5 listed as side A and the second 5 as side B. Not to be confused with Mikey Dread's "Dread at the Controls". My favorite tracks on this one are : #2 (Michael Campbell Theme), #4 (Mixed Up Stuff), and #9 (Midnight Clappers). This whole set is full of nice clean solid bass with new tracks and rhythms that I've never heard. Gussie adds the triangle and various percussion instruments reminding me of the style of classic dub album, "Macca Rootsman Dub" also by The Revolutionaries. The booklet has some nice notes by David Katz on the story of Gussie and his role in the growing Jamaican reggae sound wave emanating from the island. The last couple pages of the booklet notes get in to this specific album and explains more about certain selected tracks. Overall, this is a great selection to help highlight the dubwise section, of your collection.

Production Something : Culture

For fans of Culture and Joseph Hill this disc should be in the top two or three albums in their collection along with International Herb : Culture . This disc is set up so you get the dub version of each track mixed straight in to the end of the original vocal version - excellent. Apparently this is Joseph Hill's example of how patience and thoroughness in the studio and at the mixing boards paid off. The first few tracks are the prime examples of the Culture sound with clean instrumental roots dubs laced on to the end. My favorites on this one are : #1 (Too Long in Slavery), #2 (Garvey), and #7 (Dog A Go Nyam Dog). There's also an eleven minute version of Pyaka (#6). Only nine tracks total on this one, but they're all extra long chunky dubs. All the studio musicians involved are the highest ranking and the production of this disc is another solid effort from Heartbeat (1998). The booklet on this one explains quite well how this album came about and how this has affected the path of dub that culture began to integrate in to their musical path through the years.

Open the Iron Gate : Max Romeo

This disc is a greatest hits catalog showcasing Max Romeo's work from 1973 through 1977. This is a more recent Blood & Fire production of "Revelation Time" sharing many of the same tracks and adding the extra version and extended tracks here and there. I think there are 12 tracks total on this one and they are all roots classics that should be heard. The sound quality is nice and clear on this 1999 release. The booklet has a brief biographical story of Max Romeo that correlates the time line of political events with his songs. He collaborated with Lee Perry and many other producers so his work is scattered across the reggae landscape, but this is a nice compilation. This is reggae fueled by the bad feeling and hard times of the populous in Jamaica and Max Romeo is known for speaking his mind through hard metaphors delivered with the smooth voice of an soul superstar. If you are looking for just one disc to represent Max Romeo in your collection - this is a pretty good choice.

Nuh Skin Up : Keith Hudson

This album is known as a classic Keith Hudson take on the seventies roots dub out. There are 9 tracks on the original LP released by Joint International and 11 tracks on the newer CD release by Pressure Sounds. The Pressure Sounds CD edition includes a nice booklet that will help guide you in to the world of Hudson's music and explain his relationship with Junior Walker. The Nuh skin up CD release is from 2007. The producers are Keith Hudson and Junior Walker, who is a little heard of talent scout and producer from the seventies. Backing credits are given to The Soul Syndicate : Fully Fullwood, Santa, Robbie, Chinna, Tony Chin, and a few others. The CD release of Nuh Skin Up is a little different then the original LP with some original tracks replaced by dub tracks and the order of the tracks are shuffled around a little too. My favorite tracks on this one is #2 (Troubles) and #9 (No Commitment). Both of these tracks are fine examples of the Keith Hudson style, but he's presented a ton of work that is hard to find on CD. Check out what you can find from Hudson and hope they continue to reissue his past albums.

The Roots of Dub : King Tubby

This is a classic set of 12 roots dub tracks from the mind of Tubby. It was originally released by Total Sounds on LP back in 1975, but I recently picked up a CD copy released by Jamaican Recordings. This disc has a nice combination of familiar Tubby cuts with some different tracks mixed in. It's nice to find some different Tubby beats, rhythms, and versions. Jamaican Recordings does a good job putting together a quality disc with nice sound quality ; produced by Bunny Lee and the backed by the Aggrovators. And of course mixed at King Tubby's in Kingston, JA. The booklet is really only a two page semi-history of Tubby that includes a brief statement by Bunny Lee. Over all I would say that this disc is a good representation of Tubby's approach to roots dub from the seventies - a good look at the past.

Weakheart Fadeaway : Ranking Joe

Greensleeves and Ranking Joe released this 10 track set back in 1978, yet Joe's roots dj messages stay relevant in today's world. This seems like a short album when you look at the length and number of tracks, but each one is an excellent example of 70's roots dj at it's finest. My favorites on this one are #3 (Dread Earthquake), #4 (Natty Dread is a Trademan), and #6 (Weakheart Fadeaway) which is Joe version of Junior Byles "Fade Away" famous from the Rockers Soundtrack : Various Artists. This has got to be one of Ranking Joe's top 3 albums and with talent like Ansel Collins, Sly, and Robbie - I consider it a classic for sure. The studio engineering was done at Channel One by Ernest Hoo Kim, Maxie, and Barnabas - produced by Joseph Hoo Kim. I think the most recent release of this disc is a Greensleeves "Reggae Classics" CD from 2004. You should be able to pick it up for about $6-$8 on the used CD market.

Rockers International 2 : Augustus Pablo

This CD is a Greensleeves 1992 release with 15 tracks total. This roots, dub, and vocal material was recorded at various places all over Kingston : King Tubby's, Randy's, Channel One, and Dynamic Sounds and includes tracks by Hugh Mundell, Augustus Pablo, the Pablo All Stars, Jacob Miller, Earl "Sixteen" Daley, and a few more. These tracks are a really a good set of Pablo versions you might not have heard before especially the one's from Hugh Mundell (Selassie I Veranda) the other standout track to me on this album is Junior Delgado (Away with your Fussing and Fighting). The engineering credit goes to King Tubby, Prince Jammy, and Philip Smart on this mid-seventies compilation. I think this is a pretty good album, but these are a little more obscure tracks that should be paired with earlier Pablo discs such as Original Rockers : Augustus Pablo, This is Augustus Pablo - Rebel, Rock, Reggae : Augustus Pablo, and Who Say Jah No Dread : Jacob Miller. This is a harder CD to find these days and all your usual reggae vendors might not have it - your best bet is to get a hold of a used copy. I'd say overall this is a pretty good CD, I definitely like some tracks a lot more than others.

Willow Tree : Gregory Isaacs

This is a ten track set from the Jamaican Gold label collection. Classic 70's Gregory Isaacs roots vocal selection. My CD copy is a 1992 release and I noticed some similarities between this album and My Number One : Gregory Isaacs . They share a couple tracks including No Speech No Language and Lonely Teardrops. They also seem to share the same photo shoot for the album art. If you want to put one album up against the other head to head I would have to favor My Number One because of the extra Lonely Teardrops versions and the Border track with U-Brown. Willow Tree has outstanding quality tracks as well (#5 Everything is Going Alright) and really it's best to have both albums to give yourself a comprehensive look at Gregory during this great time in his career. The studio is at Channel One Kingston and the engineering by Ernest Hoo-Kim. The Producer is listed as Alvin Ranglin.

The Icebreakers with The Diamonds : Planet Mars Dub

This is a dub set from the Virgin Frontline series of discs, the material was originally released in 1978. Ten tracks total on this one. All the tracks are solid and dub fans can listen to this one straight through. Track #2 (Sweet Answer) and track #6 (Grand Rock) are the standouts. This one's nice and mellow, just nice cleaned up dub with a little Diamonds vocal in the background. The Mighty Diamonds meet up with the Icebreakers backing band. This is a heavy crew featuring Sly Dunbar, Chinna, and a few other regulars. An interesting note to this one is that was recorded and mixed in the Bahamas at Compass Point. Total Jamaican reggae with a little Bahamian flair perhaps. I dig the album art on this one - the "speaker flying saucers" arriving on the scene to perhaps share some fat bass lines with the dreads. This is one of my top ten PURELY dub albums.

Top Ranking Dub : The Revolutionaries

This CD review is a shot back at Rasta Dub ' 76 : The Aggrovators, from the latest HB Reggae Blog. Top Ranking Dub is a 10 track set from 1978 Duke Reid International productions (European import). Both of these roots dub selections are from the mid to late seventies and both are solid to listen straight through. Ansel Collins, Sly Dunbar, and Robbie Shakespeare take the lead on this instrumental set. The dub engineering and mixing by Crucial Bunny seems more like audio management as he just puts the finishing touches on a great instrumental effort by the Revolutionaries. The rear album sleeve says this album is volume 1, but I can't seem to track down any following editions and I don't even know if they're out there. The album art gets a quick mention for the totally seventies zombie gorilla German soldier - I'm not sure what to think of this choice for the cover, but I am entertained by it.

Rasta Dub ' 76 : The Aggrovators

This disc is from the Attack record label 2006, the original LP release is from 1976. It's 12 tracks of solid roots dub from producer Bunny Lee. The Aggrovators lay down the tracks that later got mixed at King Tubby's. Along with The Aggrovators, the Attack label is also known for working on releases from Errol Dunkley (Darling Ooh) and Johnny Clarke. This album contains dub versions of Ites Gold and Green and None Shall Escape. Other notable tracks on this one are #10 (No woman No Cry) and #11 ( Small Axe). Overall this is a pretty good listen. You can go straight through it and not have to skip over any sour tracks. This is a dependable, solid, roots dub CD usually found at a reasonable price.