Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Gregory Isaacs - Slum In Dub

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Songs from Slum In Dub have popped up on dub compilations for years, and on the comps I own with songs from Slum always ended up being my favorites, but the actual album of this has eluded me for years. I was completely stunned to simply find it inconspicuously sitting in a record shop bin in NY on a recent trip. It's that familiar routine: there's some running mental list of records that seem to be nothing but elusive and so many bins end up being checked when away from home that the expectations are next to zero. Now I'm more than thrilled to know it is now being widely distributed again thanks to Mr. Isaacs' own African Museum label.

As aforementioned these songs always stood out above the rest on dub comps: deep and dirty sounds were soaked with soul and almost completely void of vocals. Bass and drums groove along with the rhythm guitar while a keyboard instrument (melodica or organ) takes the lead. More than likely there's somebody present whose primary function is to trigger echoed delays on the right instruments at the right times. The sound is hypnotic and its effects are euphoric. Slum is fourteen tracks of gems like this that I wish went on much longer.

There's magic is in the simplicity of playing, as it's a jam but not by a collection of soul-less music school students showing off. It's restrained, and this is a talent that so many youngsters—even those on tour with people like Mad Professor at the dials—fail to possess. It makes Slum In Dub an album to come back to over and over again as both a listening and a learning experience. ~brainwashed.com

Gregory Isaacs - Slum In Dub
Label: Trojan (CD Reissue 1994)
Record date: 1978
Album style: Dub, Lee Library, Reggae

Tracklist:
1. Public Eyes
2. Slum
3. Reform Institution
4. Crofs
5. Tam Tam
6. Also
7. Nigger
8. Leaving
9. Leggo Beast
10. Embarrassment

Producer: Gregory Isaacs
Mixing Engineer: Prince Jammy
Vocals: Gregory Isaacs
Backing Band: The Revolutionaries
Recording Studio: Channel One (Kingston, JA)
Mixing Studio: King Tubby's (Kingston, JA)

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice one , you did it again.
i've been lookin for this one
for a long time.
where did i find it?
here, as usual.

you have the nose for posting just the right records,
the ones that others ignore.

thanks again.

P M X said...

killer. thanks for the nice comment. This is an excellent album!

Anonymous said...

Thank you again for this incredible blog. Nice 2 share- you are very kind. : )

-Bobby H

Anonymous said...

Jah Bless.

Hi, thanks for all the music I remember from when I was a youth. Just loving it!

This particular album used to belong to a friend of mine. I'd really like to down it. This link though doesn't work anymore. Could you please re-upload?

Thanks again,

best regards,

SjemaIsrael

Amsterdam

Anonymous said...

Can you reupload the file, please ? Thank you !

Anonymous said...

please please please re-upload this! ... amazing find!