Black Uhuru - The Dub Factor

Black Uhuru - The Dub Factor
Label: Island
Record Date: 1983
Album style: Digital Dub, Dub, Electronic, Lee Library, Paul 'Groucho' Smykle
Comments: This is the CD reissue with three bonus tracks. This is a dub masterpiece! The original album changed my life.

Since Black Uhuru is, with the possible exception of the original Wailers, the most famous vocal group in reggae history, a full dub album might seem an odd career choice. But 1983's THE DUB FACTOR is one of the decade's finest dub efforts. With classic reggae voices like those of Michael Rose and Puma Jones at hand, it's no wonder producers/bandleaders Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare use more vocals than are common in dub.

The vocals are treated as accents, or processed beyond recognition (as on the wild "Android Rebellion"). This leaves the focus squarely on Sly and Robbie's staggering bass/drum interplay and on the inventive keyboards of Wally Badarou. His unique synthesizer style has been so widely used and imitated that, by decade's end, it was almost a cliche. THE DUB FACTOR, however, remains as fresh and exciting as it sounded the year of its release. ~review @cduniverse

This is DUB the way DUB should be! Ten mighty riddims layed down by Sly & Robbie for various Black Uhuru albums are mixed in a Special Dubwise style by Paul "Groucho" Smykle. Originally mixed in 1983, this album hasn't lost any of it's quality for me, it remains one of my favorites from the day that is was released. I dare to say that if you don't have this album in your DUB top ten, you don't know what DUB is! Paul Smykle completely changed the vibe of every single track in a very skillfull way. All tracks completely differ from their original versions and have been blended together into one mix for a Dubwise experience extraordinairy! That's right, all the riddims are presented in one big mix, and you'll bound to listen to it from the top to the very last drop once you've started playing the album.

It is simply impossible to ignore THE DUB FACTOR. This album is mixed in 1983, but it will still beat most of the DUB's that are created today. When you'll play it in a chill-out room, people would love it. And that is why you can't ignore it. The further we go in time, the more people like it.

Unfortunately Paul Smykle hasn't released much more of his special DUB mixing. The brethren is well gifted with a lot of talents. He is not only a killer DUB mixer, but also a great painter: the cover art for Aswad's New Chapter of Dub was from his hand. ~dubroom.com

Tracklist:
1. Ion Storm
2. Youth
3. Big Spliff
4. Boof´n´baff´n´biff
5. Puffed Out
6. Android Rebellion
7. Apocalypse
8. Back Breaker
9. Sodom
10. Slaughter
11. Cool Off *
12. Destination Unknown *
13. Fire And Brimstone *

Producer: Sly Dunbar & Robbie Shakespeare
Engineer: Kendall Stubbs, Maxie, Stephen Stanley, Soljie Hamilton, Frankie Gibson
Mixing Engineer: Paul 'Groucho' Smykle
Black Uhuru: Michael Rose, Duckie Simpson, Puma Jones (vocals)
Guitar: Ranchie McLean, Radcliffe "Dougie" Bryan, Mikey Chung, Barry Reynolds
Piano: Ansell Collins, Robbie Lyn, Keith Stirling
Synthesizer, Vocoder: Wally Badarou
Bass: Robbie Shakespeare
Drums, Electronic Drums: Sly Dunbar
Percussion: Sky Juice, Sticky Johnson
Studios: Channel One (Kingston, JA), Compass Point (Nassau, Bahamas), Fallout Shelter (London, UK)

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