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Avg: 4.5 (7 ratings)
- Date Released: January 1, 2002
- Genre: International
- Style: Caribbean
- Label: Motion Records / The Orchard
Slender, spooky songs perfect for all duppy conquerors
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We Say...
Despite the billing above, there are actually four entities responsible for Sledgehammer Dub: singer Dennis Brown, who provided the vocal on the original versions of these songs, Niney, who produced those tracks, Niney's house band Soul Syndicate, who played on them, and King Tubby, who created the dub versions heard here. Never one to be shy about asserting his authority, Tubby scrapes Brown's voice clean off the songs, and spares only the Soul Syndicate's lonely, galumphing bass lines and a few thin wisps of their rhythm tracks. The slender, spooky songs that result are a far cry from their wild sources, a testament to Tubby's skill and clarity of vision.
Like most of Tubby's work, the dubs here are deep and spacious. A master at defining form without fleshing it out entirely, Tubby elevates the melody on "Burning Dub" just long enough to grant a peek at the curling guitar lines and organ trills, then whisks them away before their presence becomes too concrete. Ditto "Everyone's Dubbing," which opens with a euphoric full-band fanfare before a clatter of reverbed percussion obliterates everything but the bass. Despite the fact that its songs are built from so little, Sledgehammer Dub never becomes plodding or monotonous. Instead, it manages a kind of otherworldly beauty — tranquil and moody and mysterious. -
They Say...
The British Motion label is gradually assuming a place second only to the mighty Blood & Fire in the roots reggae and dub reissue marketplace. The latest in its ongoing series of crucial reggae reissues is a collection of classic Niney the Observer rhythms originally produced by Errol Thompson and Phillip Smart (except for two Cimarrons tracks, both produced by Syd Bucknor), all of them dubbed up in classic style by King Tubby. Except for the Cimarrons selections, all of the instrumental tracks are played by the redoubtable Soul Syndicate band, which at the time was anchored by bassist George "Fully" Fullwood and drummer Carlton "Santa" Davis. Davis had mastered the "flying cymbal" drum style that had recently become popular and that can be heard on so many singles of the time, as well as many of the tracks on this album. Sledgehammer Dub includes purely instrumental dub versions of classic songs by the Heptones ("Why Must I") and Dennis Brown ("Voice of My Father"), among others; the CD version's four bonus tracks include a haunting dub cut of Big Youth's "4 Dead 19 Gone a Jail." No dub fanatic should pass this one up.
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| 01. |  |
Dub Long Rastafari |
3:24 |
|
| 02. | |
Travelling Version |
3:46 |
|
| 03. | |
You're No Dub Baby |
2:49 |
|
| 04. | |
Burning Dub |
3:36 |
|
| 05. | |
Kingsgate Version |
2:23 |
|
| 06. | |
Dub Now |
3:25 |
|
| 07. | |
God Bless My Dub |
3:34 |
|
| 08. | |
Everyone's Dubbing |
3:11 |
|
| 09. | |
Rich and Poor Dub |
3:03 |
|
| 10. | |
Tribulation Version |
3:10 |
|
| 11. | |
Head Line |
3:12 |
|
| 12. | |
New Style |
3:03 |
|
| 13. | |
Dub 51 |
2:48 |
|
| 14. | |
Tenement Yard Version |
4:44 |
|
14 Total Tracks, 46:08 Total Length
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