Dub

Review: Almamegretta are a ska, rap, dub, world and reggae group from Naples, Italy, and they deliver their lyrics in their native Napoletano young. In the past they have done remix work for Bristol trip-hop crew Massive Attack but are best known for their 1995 masterpiece Sanacore, which itself has been remixed by dub titan Adrian Sherwood. Congrats to you if you can find an original of this on vinyl, and more so if you're willing to pay the high prices for it once you do. That's not to say it isn't high quality stuff, though, with upbeat and sci-fi dub rollers next to more earthy and sun kissed slow motion rhythms.

Review: Some classic UK digital dub and reggae business here, as Culture Freeman and the Bush Chemists collective delve into their collective archives and retrieve a bunch of vintage gems from the 1990s. Side A is all about 'Armagideon', a typically weighty, Melodica-heavy number featuring some superb toasting from mic man Freeman. The accompanying dubs are especially potent, with the sheer sub-weight of the 'Dub 2' version being particularly alluring. Over on side B, Bush Chemists go solo on 1994 gem 'Lightning Skank', a synthesizer and drum machine heavy digi-dub roller blessed with some snaking electronic melodies and delay trails aplenty. It too comes backed with two heavy, stripped-back dub revisions.

Review: Dreadwise makes its debut in the vinyl world with a super limited, super high quality 10" that is inspired by the sounds of West Africa as well as the African diaspora as a whole. It's lead by some fantastic Kora playing from UK musician Jude Winwood which lends it a truly authentic feel, as do the host of other traditional West African Instruments which colour its swaggering, deep cut grooves. 'Ngoni Dub' is an airy, upbeat opener with cavernous drums and subtle fills, while 'Kora Dub' is another sunny affair with playful melodies and a low sling bass line that tumbles ever deeper.

Review: Producer Lewis M and all-star reggae studio band The Inn House Crew have enjoyed a very successful 2020, delivering a swathe of must-check releases in their distinctive roots-reggae style. They're at it again here, offering up an EP of vocal and dub cuts inspired by the current global pandemic and based on the Inn House Crew's superb 'The Face Covering Riddim'. Barry Isaac sets the tone with a soulful plea for mask-wearing compliance ('Mask Up'), before regular collaborator Winston Ready re-purposes some of the lyrics from 'Hit The Road Jack' and David Janson delivers a more traditional Rastafari interpretation on 'Give Praise'. Elsewhere, pianist Fish delivers some evocative solos on 'Masked Up Piano', while Lewis M and Ben bell deliver a quartet of weighty 'Masked' dubs.

Review: Those who keep an eye on these things will happily tell you that Jah Schulz is one of Europe's most interesting dub producers of recent times, with a trademark style that draws just as much on dub techno and ambient dub as more traditional variations of the form. This is particularly evident on Dub Over Science, his latest six-track missive. He opens with a dab of dub techno ('Dub Can Make a Difference') and a splash of steppers ('Follow Your Dub Instructions'), before finally offering up some hot-stepping digi-dub ('She's a Dub Shooter'). It's a similar story on side two, where the spaced-out ambient dub of 'Dub Over Science' is followed by the dancefloor-friendly 'Dub Mistakes' and the minimalist dub techno of 'What Have You Done For Your Dubmaster'.

Review: Muscut's releases tend to meld existing musical forms into interesting new shapes, and this three-tracker from St Petersburg producer Marble is no exception. While rooted in the deep bass and distinctive rhythmic patterns pf dub, it's not like any dub record we've heard before. That's no bad thing though, because 'Jah' and 'Asamat', in particular, are superb, with the Russian artist combining jazzy woodwind sounds - some 'as played', others electronically manipulated - with touches of subtle surf-rock guitar, deep bass, and rhythms created from unusual electronic sounds. Even more brilliantly bonkers is 'Sawboy', where what sound like energetic clarinet solos stretch out across a squelchy, TB-303 bassline.

Review: Four years have passed since we last heard from Taggy Matcher, the reggae, dub and dancehall alias of musical polymath Bruno 'Patchworks' Hovart. 'Push Push' sees him reunite with semi-regular collaborator Eve-Line Lamarca AKA LMK, a singer and toaster whose distinctive style was last heard on a 2017 tribute to Yabby You's 'My Enemies Riddim'. She naturally does a terrific job on the A-side full vocal version of 'Push Push', reciting her own dancehall style lyrics over a skanking, digital reggae riddim from the ridiculously talented Hovart. His backing track, which prioritizes synth-brass, deep bass and Hammond organ sounds, can be heard in full on the flip.

Review: To say Fading is a work that feels dense would be an understatement. The latest from German ambient dub don Pole is a dedication, or perhaps more accurately a meditation on his mother's descent into the confusion and uncertainty of Alzheimer's, the neurological condition that - to put it mildly - is currently responsible for stealing the identity from 10million people in Europe alone.

It's a concept that has been attempted before, with varying outcomes and in a multitude of styles. Here, though, you can't help but feel a large part of the approach centres on our feeling of sinking deeper into crackling, fizzing and popping arrangements that are at once minutely detailed and beguiling. Things make sense overall, but when we listen carefully to the dark, immersive electronics at play, we're not quite sure how the various noises come together to create something so familiar. Exceptional, if tragic stuff.

Review: With their Tweeter Box series of limited-edition EPs, Purple Audio is doing a great job in gathering together obscure vocal reggae and dub cuts from the late 1970s and '80s. There's naturally much to set the pulse racing on this third volume. Up first is the seven-minute 'Disco Mix' of 'Mount Zion' by Roots Wanda (otherwise known as Roots Wonder), a little-known slab of near perfect roots reggae brilliance that was first released on Canadian imprint Big Head way back in 1978. You'll find the other track from that sought-after 12", the deeper and slightly more dub-wise, 'Solomone', over on side B. As you'd expect, the vibrant picture disc also includes alternative dub and vocal versions based on the same superb riddims.

Review: Throughout this year, long-serving British dub and reggae producer Dennis "Mixman" Budeau has been dipping into his archives and offering up new pressings of overlooked or sort-after releases. The latest to get the treatment is Robbie Valentine's 2003 full-length Jah is My Defender. A digital dub era re-imagining of roots reggae, it sees Budeau and Valentine flit between attractive, soulful vocal numbers and seriously heavy, steppers style dub versions for the dances. It's a blend that works really well, with Valentine's sweet and breezy vocal cuts being contrasted by Budeau's wickedly tough, speaker-bothering dubs.