RSSNew dub albums and compilations have multiplied since the riseof techno, but almost all have been for specialists. A few recentcollections, however, are bigger than their niche.The Great Pablo(Music Club) cherry-picks '70s tracks by the late Augustus Pablo,foregrounding the simple tunes Pablo created on his flutelike toymelodica, which contrast sweetly with the spacy rhythmicenvironments. Big Youth's three-CDNatty Universal Dread(Blood and Fire)documents the irrepressible wordplay of the style's greatesttoaster. Purer stylistically because it's not logocentric is KingTubby'sKing Dub (Music Club).
But the most compelling introduction to the style isSelectCuts From Blood & Fire (Select Cuts), which does asuperb job of reducing thebewildering catalogue of the biggest contemporary dub label toweird r&b instrumentals. Most do feature tunes, often carried bythe bass; voices singing catch-phrases fade in and out. These areessential to the nonaficionado. But the fun is in the effects--stereozooming, levels rushing and ebbing, percussion clattering orshuddering, horns curdling, bells tinkling. It's all enough to makean ex-president inhale.
Playboy, Jan. 2001
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