[peel] Dub reggae

[Alasdair Macdonald]

I can't immediately think of any Peel sessions that are specifically
dub, although there are of course a healthy number of vocal reggae
sessions.

And I'm not even sure that I can think of online resources at this
time of day - but I can offer some buying advice:

Firstly the big names:

Lee Perry - there are many "unofficial" albums that carry Lee Perry's
name; supposedly sometimes the contents aren't as Perry-releated as
they imply. However, if you at least start off with the box sets -
Arkology, Lost Treasures Of The Ark, the Trojan Upsetter Singles
Collections (volumes 1 - 4), you can't go wrong. There's are also an
incredible number of 3-CD box sets on Trojan (and some of those 3xCD
sets are packaged into 9-CD boxes comprisong 3 of the 3xCD sets);
there are Dub and Perry titles in this series and it's hard to fault
the quality of the music or the price. Once you start looking at
standard Lee Perry CDs, try to establish if they're "canon" or
compilation and focus on the canon / sanctioned releases of at all
possible. I must admit I'm not terribly fond of his most recent
releases, although the newest, which I don't yet own, is produced by
Adrian Sherwood. Don't miss out on Super Ape, and don't miss out on
"Heart Of The Congos" (by The Congos) - it is to reggae music what
Smile is to pop music - that is to say, a rich tapestry that
transcends genre. Note that most regular Lee Perry albums aren't dub
per se, although they may contain dub versions in addition to regular
versions. But with Perry, there's no such thing as conventional, so
even the records he created for the pop/chart market have his own
special touch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Box_Set

King Tubby - I don't have more than a handful of King Tubby
compilations, I can't offer any advice here, except of course you do
need to have Tubby in your collection.

Augustus Pablo - Watch out for the same material endlessly repackaged.
The ones you need are Meets The Rockers Uptown and East Of The River
Nile. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Pablo

Adrian Sherwood / ON-U Sound. Material on ON-U sound falls into at
least 2 camps - twisted reggae and twisted funk. On the reggae side
you have New Age Steppers, Creation Rebel, Singers And Players,
African Head Charge, Dub Syndicate (and Bim Sherman, but less dub
there). You can't go wrong with NAS, Creation Rebel or S&P, although
the first couple of African Head Charge albums are more
"experimental", before they settled down to becoming a real band. On
the funk side you have Tackhead, who are steeped in dub and
occasionally very noisy. Suffice it to say you can't go wrong with
anything on ON-U sound, or with Adrian Sherwood's name attached. His
own "solo" album may be a place to start.

Prince Far-I : Buy ANYTHING by Prince Far-I.

Mad Professor : has released many albums under his own name but also
does remarkable work for others, Massive Attack in particular.

Some less familiar names:

Alpha & Omega - a UK duo that have made around 20 albums. Get Dub
Plate Selection Volume 1 or 2; if these aren't to your taste, move on,
but if you enjoy them (and I can't think why you wouldn't), try the
rest of their releases (although the aforementioned are their best).
The only one I have have qualms about opens with a reggae version of
the X Files music, which I think is too obvious and frankly spoils the
whole album for me. I think that is "Serious Joke", but I could be
wrong.

A few album recommendations:
Lee Perry - Super Ape
Dr Alimantado - Best Dressed Chicken In Town (lots of Lee Perry on this)
Any of the Cry Tuff Dub Encounter series (some or all of these may
carry Prince Far-I's name).
The Mad Professor dub versions of Protection
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Protection_(Massive_Attack_album) and
the Ruts (Rhythm Collision Dub)
Congos - Heart Of The Congos (don't feel you have to buy the 2 CD
edition, the extras are quite redundant) - but let's be honest about
this it's not necessarily dub.
http://www.smokeyroom.net/albums/heartofthecongos.htm
Burning Spear has/have a few Dub albums.

An honourable mention should go to Jah Shaka, whose show you shouldn't
miss if you ever have the opportunity, but I know nothing about his
commercial releases. http://www.jahshakasoundsystem.com/

http://www.infinitewheel.com/infinite_wheel.html


Others here should be able to add more.

2009/1/18 John Gray <jt.gray@...>:
> Hi Guys - I have developed an interest in dub reggae, and am trying to
> learn more/hear more, but buying CDs has been a bit of a hit and miss
> business.  Could anyone recommend any particular Peel sessions - or
> any oyher online sources for a newbie, for that matter?
>
> In return I offer you this link - to the online version of a fine
> magazine, of which no doubt some of you may already be aware:   http://www.biguntidy.com/