Legendary dub producer
Mad Professor has made consistency his calling card, and in a year in which he released a half-dozen albums, even the more mediocre outings like
New Decade of Dub stand out from the competition. On his second collaboration with fellow British dub master
Jah Shaka, the tripped-out psychedelic sounds are a bit more stripped-down than usual, with the spotlight primarily resting on the percussion talents of Drumtan Ward. Frequent sideman Black Steel contributes his typically tasteful guitar work to the proceedings, and Louis Farrakhan is even sampled to great effect. It's a bit more restrained than most of
Mad Professor's more experimental work with the inimitable
Lee "Scratch" Perry, but a fine excursion into dub's deep roots nonetheless. ~ Bret Love