Reggae
Collectors, and Dub Historians, this is a
good addition in your musical collection.
Even crucial because this CD marks the
beginning of an era in which DUB really
evolved itself, in my opinion.
"Who's playing the drums?",
someone asked Larry Marshall when they were
recording the track that is known as
"Watergate Rock" on this album. It
was a young guy, named Sly Dunbar. Another
nice thing to know about the opening track
of Motion Record's "I Admire You in
Dub", is that this was one of the very
first versions that are officially labeled
"Mix by King Tubby".
This disc has historical value, to say
the least. Some mixes have been made as far
back as 1973! So if you are only looking for
real spaced out Dub, this is not your
choice. There's not so much echo's, but the
dub mixing is definitely there. You hear
Tubby (and others) playing very subtle with
the reverb device, turning instruments lo
and hi in the mix, et cetera. It's a thrill
to hear them experimenting, knowing where
they will eventually come. Like the
painter's first paintings. You see the roots
of his later work. Most tracks sound very
lo-fi as well, but I feel this only
increases the historical feel that this
album already has. Sometimes it's like I
hear Studio One a wilder style.
And please, don't think that the music is
low quality. When you hear the bass and drum
playing together, this alone will make you
move and groove. Beautiful horns, a little
melodica from Bobby Kalphat, tight guitar
licks from ones like Chinna and Peter Tosh
(!). Because the mixing is not that wild,
you can get a clear "view" on what
the players of instruments are doing.
This is the first time, that the DUBs of
I Admire You are being released as a whole.
The Album comes with an extra, more spaced
out Dub that sounds like an early Scientist
version. Also, a very beautiful 12"
version. I rate this album two stars out of
three. One Star for the tightness of the
playing, another star for historical value!
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