various artists - X-Ray Music: A Blood And Fire Dub Directory

The summer is coming to an end, which, for me, means really stepping up the amount of reggae I listen to. Starlit nights call for a righteous dub to tear down Babylon. And this, a 1999 sampler from the late, lamented Blood & Fire label, is almost purpose-built for such a need. Headlined by a quintet of King Tubby dubs, along with productions from Scientist, Lee Perry, and Prince Jammy, this is a pretty irie CD.

Did I use "irie" correctly?

Discogs

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various artists - Dub Chill Out

Lee Perry photo from jamaicanmusic.com

It's finally gotten hot here in Washington state, so what better way to cool off during an international viral crisis than by bumping some dub?

I got this through work the year it came out. Music Club was a UK budget label that did a fair amount of inexpensive compilations that I'd still recommend to people looking to get into a particular music style. In this case, this was the first record of dub I'd ever bought. I knew who Lee Perry was, but was in the dark about everyone else. It was a great introduction to a number of the all-time greats: King Tubby, King Jammy, Scientist, Augustus Pablo, and the all-time great riddim section of Sly & Robbie.

I thought it'd be fun, since I have no access to the original CD, to do a bit of annotation and list what releases each of these tracks come from. And then I started working on it, and discovered it was a lot more difficult than I'd have expected. So why don't you just lean back and listen to this, and I'll go get us some ice cream?

Discogs

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Scientist vs. Prince Jammy - Big Showdown

Scientist at Channel One – 1983 (Photo: Beth Lesser)

I don't have a lot to say here that I didn't already mention in my earlier Scientist post. This is Scientist and Prince Jammy, doing dub plates of Barrington Levy tracks, backed by Roots Radics. Pretty standard early 80s reggae excellence, as far as I'm concerned.

What's fun about this release is that the original Jamaican release on Jah Guidance apparently has completely difference music from the overseas releases on Greensleeves and Мирумир. This version comes from the 2015 Мирумир CD reissue, which omits Prince Jammy's credit on the cover. I found it new for $8 at a Half Price Books. How they ended up new copies, I'll never know.

Also worth pointing out: apparently Scientist and Greensleeves had a falling out in the recent past, so all the reissues coming out of the UK have no reference to the all-time great producer. It seems weird to me that the only legit reissue, with proper billing, comes from Russia. But it's a weird, weird world, ladies and germs. I'm just trying to hear some decent dub.

Discogs

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Scientist Wins The World Cup

YO! SCIENTIST!

I dunno why people in this part of the world keep dumping amazing dub records into Value Village and Goodwill, but I'll be damned if I complain. I came across this fun disc a couple years back for all of $2, which makes it a fine purchase. This is the final record Scientist mixed at King Tubby's Studio before he moved over to Channel One. All the Greensleeves themed records from that time period are excellent, but I'm sharing this because it fits the "dollar bin" theme, and who doesn't like a good soccer cartoon cover? This is also the 2002 CD reissue, which includes six extra tracks.

Dub is not for everyone. But if studio wizardry is your bag, well, this one waves a big ol' wand over some Roots Radics tracks and weaves some magic. I've always felt like dub is a great work-from-home soundtrack. Great sounds, few distractions. Check this riddim out, bud.

Discogs

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