Three Greatest Dub Albums

King Tubby and Prince Jammy - Dub Gone 2 Crazy

Phase Selector Sound - Disassemble Dub

I'd second the recommendation for "Super Ape," although it's sort of an oddity in some ways in that it's more a heavily dub-influenced avant-garde record than strictly a "dub album" - but who cares about labels; it's genius.

My vote for the best dub album is "Earthquake Dub." It's from the mid-70's and was reissued recently on the Hot Pot label - should be easy to find. Bonus tracks too.

Any of the four (especially #3) "African Dub Almighty" series are great - #3 is the one that the Slits, Clash et al are listening to on the bus in Don Letts' "Punk Rock Movie," and there is a CD series that pairs 1 + 2 and 3 + 4. These (as well as "Earthquake Dub") are Joe Gibbs / Ossie Hibbert related.

I also love the Revolutionaries' self-titled album, the white one with the picture of Che Guevara on the cover - wonderful stuff.

Those Prince Far I "Cry Tuff Dub Encounter" albums (most of which are now on CD) are mighty fine too.

also love the On U comps (better than any of the albums i have). i got a box w/In Dub Daze, The Dread Operators and a Party of Dubbers & Toasters. all three are pretty impressive non-traditional dub.

Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown

Can't think of a third of that magnitude right now..

Recent releases, no problem: recent productions however....

the souljazz studio one comp is great too.

Just this monute I'm listening to The Skatalites 'Heroes of reggae in dub' which deserves an honourable mention.

And that Augustus Pablo album mentioned upthread.

Lee Perry Arkology box set seconded and Mad Professor's No Protection for more recent stuff.

ditto

From "Version Therapy" in the February 1995 issue of The Wire.

21 Dub Salute: guaranteed boom shots

1. Herman Chin-Loy * Aquarius Dub (Aquarius) 73
I have MP3s but nto a CD copy (out of print) available in Australia, but shipping is $17!

This is one of the first ever dub recordings, the sound is fantastic and full, and they version many classic rhythms here including “Jah Jah Dub(1),” a super heavy affair that preceded the more famous “King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown” version. Cross-genre hunters and break-fiends? Also a lock. Check out the version of Donny Hathaway’s “The Ghetto” called “Oily(2)” or Dennis Brown’s cover of “It’s Too Late Baby” called “Rest Yourself(3).” I heard they also use bits of “Heavy Duty(4)” on the new Jaylib album, if that’s of interest to you. The whole thing is like this. It might sound a bit sparse at first, but shake it off and let both sides ride a few times. You can only hide from these albums for so long- it’s like being a funk collector and not owning any JBs records. 10 tracks total.

2. Lee Perry * Blackboard Jungle -- reissued as part of Dub Triptych.
3. King Tubby/Bunny Lee * Dub From the Roots (Total Sounds/Moll-Selektra) 75

Now this is a real find. I was browsing through Virgin's fairly large reggae section when I discovered this. I don't usually buy anything becaus they're overpriced, but at $20.99 for 2 discs and instant gratification, it was a steal. I've been looking for these albums since Barrow's article came out in '95 when he ranked them #3 and #5 on his top 21 boom shots. What threw me is that he listed them under Bunny Lee's name, who was the producer. However, the actual album sleeves credit only King Tubby, the engineer, and ultimately the one responsible for the dubs.

Tubby remixed hundreds of songs for Bunny Lee from 1973-1975. Most appeared on B-sides of singles. But these two albums were his first that took the cream of the crop and engineered them specifically to flow on an album. And check this out -- Bunny Lee's house band was none other than The Aggrovators (Robbie Shakespeare, Carlton Barrett, Ossie Herbert, Augustus Pablo and Aston Barrett).

On first listen, I've heard a few cuts before, and they're definitely some of the best dubs, including John Holt's "A Love I Can Feel," "Man Next Door," Cornel Campbell's "Queen Of The Minstrell," and Johnny Clarke's "Rock With Me." The Rosetta Stone of dub indeed. The liner notes claim Tubby was the singular pioneer of dub, first applying the technique in 1968. There are conflicting accounts of this, and though Chin-Loy's Aquarius Dub and Lee Perry's Blackboard Jungle Dub came first in '73, these are essential.

4. Clive Chin * Java Java Dub (Impact) 72 or 74
5. King Tubby/Bunny Lee * The Roots of Dub (Total Sounds/Moll-Selektra) 74
6. Errol Thompson/Joe Gibbs * African Dub All Mighty (Gibbs Record Globe) 75
7. Keith Hudson * Pick A Dub
8. Maurice Wellington * Dub Me Baby/Morwell Unlimited Meet King Tubby's: Dub Me (Morwell/Blood & Fire) 75
9. Augustus Pablo * King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
10. Harry Mudie * Harry Mudie Meets King Tubby In Dub Conference Vol. One (Moodisc) 76 - just picked this up at Dusty Groove. Love the use of strings, no wonder he's the Barry White of dub.
11. Jo Jo Hookim * Vital Dub Strictly Rockers (Well Charge) 76
12. Yabby U * King Tubby's Prophesy Of Dub
13. Tappa Zukie In Dub
14. Augustus Pablo * Africa Must Be Free By 1983 (Rockers International) 79
15. Sonia Pottinger * Treasure Dub Volume One (HighNote) 77
16. Trevor Leggo Douglas * Leggo Dub
17. Prince Jammy * Jammies In Lion Dub Style (Jammy's) 78
18. Clement Dodd * Juk's Incorporated (Forward) 78
19. Michael Campbell * African Anthem Dubwise (Cruise) 79
20. Jah Screw/Ranking Joe * Dangerous Dub (Copasetic) 80
21. Horace Andy * In The Light Dub

More:

Horace Andy * In The Light Dub (Blood & Fire) 77
Glen Brown & King Tubby * Termination Dub 1973-79 (Blood & Fire)
Burning Spear * Garvey's Ghost (Dub)(Mango) 76
Creation Rebel * Historic Moments Volume One 1977-1978 (On-U Sound) 78
Creation Rebel * Historic Moments Volume Two 1979-1980 (On-U Sound) 80
Creation Rebel * Dub From Creation (Hitrun) 77
Dub Syndicate * Pounding System (On-U Sound) 82
Impact All-Stars * Forward The Bass: Dub From Randy's 1972-75 (Blood & Fire)
King Tubby * King Tubby's Special 1973-1976 (Trojan) 89
King Tubby * If Deejay Was Your Trade: The Dreads at King Tubby's 1974-77 (Blood & Fire) 95
King Tubby * Dub Like Dirt 1975-77 (Blood & Fire)
King Tubby * Dub Gone Crazy 1975-1979 (Blood & Fire) 95
King Tubby & Soul Syndicate * Freedom Sounds In Dub 1974-76 (Blood & Fire)
Augustus Pablo * Ital Dub (Trojan) 75
Lee Perry & Upsetters * Heart Of The Dragon (Justice League) 75
Lee Perry * Revolution Dub 1974-1975 (Lagoon) 75
Lee Perry * Kung Fu Meets The Dragon (Justice League) 75
Lee Perry * Upsetter In Dub 1974-1979 (Heartbeat)
Lee Perry * Super Ape (Mango) 76
Prince Jammy * Jammies In Lion Dub Style (Jammy's) 78
Yabby U (Vivian Jackson) * King Tubby's Prophesy of Dub (Blood & Fire) 76
Yabby U (Vivian Jackson) * Beware Dub (Prophets/ROIR) 78

And for newer stuff:

Rhythm & Sound with Tikiman * Showcase (Burial Mix)
Massive Attack v. Mad Professor * No Protection (Circa)

1) King Tubby and Friends - Dub Like Dirt (Blood and Fire.) All Bunny Lee productns, but engineered by Tubby,Philip Smart, Jammy etc.

2) Scientist Wins The World Cup (Greensleeves) would have to be in my top 3 - melodies like bubbling liquid on top of some cracking riddims.

3) Yabby You Meets Michael Prophet : Vocal and Dub. (Reissued by Blood and Fire as 'Dub It To The Top'). Involves Tubby and Hugh Mundell also.

There's some stuff I need to get on that Wire list like Dub From The Roots/Roots Of Dub, also the Jojo Hookim set - I wonder if that's been rereleased?

the congos - heart of the congos [perry's darkest, swampiest production; all the songs are biblical]

scientist - scientist rids the world of the evil curse of the vampires [best "kitchen sink" dub album i can think of, lots of creepy sound effects and shit]

bought Super Ape on the recommendation of, er, something (oh, knowledge magazine) and wasn't immediately enthralled by it but it has grown on me a bit. i also have a couple of those Blood and Fire compilations (X-Ray Music etc) which are good as long as you can get over the fact that you're giving money to mick hucknell...

If it's any consolation I doubt anyone's getting rich off B&F - neither Bob Harding, Steve Barrow or Mr Hucknall.

Exactly. I would say that Motion also falls into that category.

I want to switch out one of these and put in King Tubby Meets Harry Mudie, except it's impossible to decide which to eliminate!

Since Sanctuary bought up Trojan they seem to have made a bit more of an effort to be adventurous with their reissues. Sure they've kept rolling out the usual 'best of' comps, but they've also put out some much less obvious stuff that the old management would never have countenanced, e.g. 'The birth of Trojan' & Blue Cat retrospective albums, Nyahbinghi box set etc.

If by 'unfriendly' you're referring to whether they're any better at paying artists that the Trojan of yore, I couldn't say.

Hey thanks Tim! You know I was sure that I'd seen it around. Will look again.

**i also have a couple of those Blood and Fire compilations (X-Ray Music etc) which are good as long as you can get over the fact that you're giving money to mick hucknell**

There's a great Hookim dub on X-Ray Music, 'Moses Dub' - not sure what it's a version of as I don't recognise the vocalist or song, despite feeling that I *know* it.

Three more, if I may :

Niney The Observer - Sledgehammer Dub. (Motion) Sparse and spartan, a bit forbidding at first, but a real grower.

Scientist - Dub in The Roots Tradition.(Blood and Fire) Earlier than the World Cup/Vampires/Space Invaders stuff, this is quite different, maybe even better. Don Mais productions, Roots Radics play, mixed at Tubby's. I love the way that Scientist chisels away under a horn melody or a vocal, building the tension until it caves in on the riddim. My favourite track on this is 'See A Dub Face' - version of Horace Andy's 'See A Man's Face', but it's all great.

V/A - Studio One Dub.(Studio One) You might think that this isn't going to be all that good, but it's a real surprise. Sylvan Morris and Mr. Dodd himself did the mixing, I think and they really did a great job. It ranges from basic, but haunting versions of the likes of Studio One standards like 'Truth and Rights', 'Bobby Bobylon' 'No, No, No' etc to some really unusual stuff like a great version of Delroy Wilson's 'Run Run' (Studio One version obv, not the Keith Hudson remake).

So how long till some sparkling wit comes along and posts a "Three Greatest Dud Albums" thread?

The Scientist albums (Vampire, World Cup, Space Invaders) promise a lot going by their covers, but don't go far enough in adding in horror film, football, and videogame noises.

Even Lee Perry's work I don't find quite eccentric enough.

Soft Cell's 'Tainted Dub' is more like it.

(heretic rant over)

Having said that, I do listen to a lot of dub myself.

I've got a Prince Jammy tape - Osbourne and Uhuru in Dub - where he really seems to be delighting in the play of echo and surprise. And in Augustus Pablo's 'King Tubby meets Rockers in a Firehouse' there are a few tracks where it catches fire.

But most dub to me sounds a bit routine and not experimenting enough.

I have the Vital Dub CD - somewhere.

Who likes UMOJA SOUNDS? I keep meaning to listen to it properly. Also the JA-MAN album(s)

Burning Spear Garvey's Ghost

The Upsetters Super Ape

What a weird way to rate dub albums?

This is all to easy to say 30 years after all the classic dub stuff was released.

Just listening to Yabby You - Dub It to the Top, for the first time, which immediately goes into my top 3. I'm also favourably impressed with the sound quality on Blood and Fire - I've picked up so pretty quiet and muffled reggae cd's recently.

Kit Clayton: Nek Sanalet
Nonplace Urban Field: Raum für Notizen ("Westernized Dub" off this record is probably my favourite digidub song of all time)
Dub Trees: Nature Never Did Betray the Heart That Loved Her (this is apparently by the bassist from Killing Joke plus a few collabourators)

Dangerous Dub has a cool sound. it was early '80s, right? it's like the last moment in 70's-style production where everything sounded huge and awesome, right before things started going digital.

It's Tubby's last dub album period, I think (although Scientist and maybe Jammy would still have few more.)

I'd immediately reserve a spot for African Head Charge's My Life In A Hole In The Ground if I could call it a dub album, but it's more like an unintentional post-punk album(?) Whatever it is, it's my favorite album ever that can be described as "dubby"

Same goes with Mikey Dread's African Anthem, for different reasons.

I don't think of MLIAHITG (or any AHC) as dub (although obv dub effects are used on the record, those tracks are all original productions.) By the same definition African Anthem isn't dub, but African Anthem Dubwise is.

dubby original productions vs actual dubs done after the fact

Actual dubs, although there are plenty of dubby original productions I love (including tons of stuff on the On-U stable.)

oh, like what?

(i've been in the mood for dub lately)

The first five African Head Charge albums are awesome as is everything under the Creation Rebel and Singers & Players monikers. The first couple of Dub Syndicate albums are also good. If you like a steady dose of punk vocals (Ari Up and Mark Stewart) the New Age Steppers are also good.

listening to some random african head charge on youtube now, i'm into it.

original poster asked for some recent ones. only thing i can remember liking is Twilight Circus Dub Plates Volume 2. Wouldn't put it in my top 3, but that's not much of a slight. Any one else heard new jacks they like?

Not really. I have some decent enough Rootsman/Iration Steppas/Disciples stuff from the mid-90s, but that's not exactly recent and none of it's going to set the world on fire.

Popular topic haha:

Digital Dub (Iration Steppas/Disciples/Rootsman/etc other Jah Shaka disciples) S/D

the recent Trojan Dub Massive collections curated and mixed? by Bill Laswell are pretty good. not new material but if you don't have those tracks, both discs are great. the Orb's 2cd mix for Trojan is also super good.

Buy basically anything on Pressure Sounds.

I guess I have that Xterminator dub album which is pretty good, but I paid 50 cents for it so that may be coloring my thinking hah.

ugh laswell

Oh yeah btw Ernie B's is having a Pressure Sounds sale right now. Basically everything is $10. Also if you order before 1/15 and put 10 Dollars after your name on the order you get an additional $10 off. So go to it.

Uh oh, I've fallen into a deep dub hole and I can't get out, nor do I want to.

haha, same since i started reading Veal's Dub book.