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LP
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SOR 010LP
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With recordings dating back to the 1974-1978 period, Universal Dub collects a series of takes at the influential Randy's and Channel One studios in Jamaica, then later mixed at King Tubby's studio. The tapes at in the closet for more than a decade, when Morris White made a deal Zola & Zola Records for a mid-1990s release. The project is credited to dub masters King Tubby, Scientist, Bunny Tom Tom, and Barnabas. The album is a showcase of late-1970s Jamaican dub production: deep basslines, stripped-down rhythms, heavy echo and spring reverb, with the mixing desk treated as an instrument. Much of the material features elite session musicians including Robbie Shakespeare, Lloyd Parks, Sly Dunbar, Carlton Barrett, Augustus Pablo, Ansel Collins, and Earl "Chinna" Smith. The compilation is quite interesting because it captures several generations of King Tubby mixing tradition all together. King Tubby pioneered dub's spatial mixing techniques in the 1970s, while Scientist emerged as one of Tubby's most famous protégés in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Bunny Tom Tom and Barnabas were also key engineers in Kingston studios during the roots and early dancehall period. The sound is generally raw, spacious, and rhythm-driven rather than polished -- closer to classic sound-system dub than later digital productions. Fans of albums like Scientist Meets the Space Invaders or King Tubby's Meets Scientist -- In a World of Dub will recognize the same cavernous echo, militant drum patterns and constantly shifting instrumental emphasis.
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