Album: King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown
Artist: Augustus Pablo
Born: Saint Andrew, Jamaica
Released: April 1976
Genre: Dub
Influenced: The Clash, Leftfield, Massive Attack, Burial
+++Message+Shanachie+F.jpg)
So how to define dub. Like most creative leaps, accident was the mother of invention rather than necessity. Recording engineer, King Tubby, who was famous in Kingston for his hi-fi system that produced distinctive echo and reverb, was one of the early dub innovators working for producer and DJ Duke Reid in the late 60s. When the vocals were accidentally left off a mix of a recording, creating a "double" or "version" of the original, the seeds of a new reggae subgenre were sown. In essence, by cutting the vocals, putting emphasis on the instrumental track and tweaking the whole with echo or reverb, dub was born. The word dub also has a wider resonance in Jamaica, both sexual and spooky (a "duppy" is a ghost of someone killed suddenly and Lee Scratch Perry refers to dub as the "ghost in me coming out"). King Tubby's finest moment was teaming up with Augustus Pablo to create this album, a cornerstone of the dub sound. Pablo and his melodica were inseparable from a young age and he uses it to haunting effect (owing to heavy use of minor keys) throughout the record.
Most kids nowadays are more likely to experience dub and King Tubby's music through Grand Theft Auto, with the title track of this album one of the songs on repeat on radio station K-Jah West. Perhaps more than any other song, King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown defines the dub sound. What was so revolutionary was letting that hypnotic bass and percussion groove dominate the track, with guitars, keyboards and vocals all relegated to the back of the mix, and only let back into the mix in a weird and distorted fashion. The minimal melodica playing and its ghostly reverb also add to the unique sound. More than most other albums on this blog, the whole is much more important than the parts and it's not easy to pick out particular highlights, but I do like the more spaced out feel of 555 Dub St and the hypnotic Satta Dub, Augustus Pablo's version of the huge Abyssinians hit from the same year, Satta Massagana. Every dub collection should start here.
So how to define dub. Like most creative leaps, accident was the mother of invention rather than necessity. Recording engineer, King Tubby, who was famous in Kingston for his hi-fi system that produced distinctive echo and reverb, was one of the early dub innovators working for producer and DJ Duke Reid in the late 60s. When the vocals were accidentally left off a mix of a recording, creating a "double" or "version" of the original, the seeds of a new reggae subgenre were sown. In essence, by cutting the vocals, putting emphasis on the instrumental track and tweaking the whole with echo or reverb, dub was born. The word dub also has a wider resonance in Jamaica, both sexual and spooky (a "duppy" is a ghost of someone killed suddenly and Lee Scratch Perry refers to dub as the "ghost in me coming out"). King Tubby's finest moment was teaming up with Augustus Pablo to create this album, a cornerstone of the dub sound. Pablo and his melodica were inseparable from a young age and he uses it to haunting effect (owing to heavy use of minor keys) throughout the record.
Most kids nowadays are more likely to experience dub and King Tubby's music through Grand Theft Auto, with the title track of this album one of the songs on repeat on radio station K-Jah West. Perhaps more than any other song, King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown defines the dub sound. What was so revolutionary was letting that hypnotic bass and percussion groove dominate the track, with guitars, keyboards and vocals all relegated to the back of the mix, and only let back into the mix in a weird and distorted fashion. The minimal melodica playing and its ghostly reverb also add to the unique sound. More than most other albums on this blog, the whole is much more important than the parts and it's not easy to pick out particular highlights, but I do like the more spaced out feel of 555 Dub St and the hypnotic Satta Dub, Augustus Pablo's version of the huge Abyssinians hit from the same year, Satta Massagana. Every dub collection should start here.
Comments