One of the quietest but most exciting developments in reggae music since the turn of the new century has been bassist and producer
Ryan Moore's decision to branch out from his usual solo work -- creating one-man band instrumental dub albums of spectacular quality -- and work as producer and accompanist to some of roots reggae's top talents, including
Black Uhuru alumnus
Michael Rose. The only thing surprising about this album, a dub version of the
Warrior release from 2006, is the fact that it took a year for
Moore to mix and release it. As one might expect, though, it was well worth the wait.
Moore has the good sense to leave generous swaths of
Rose's vocal in the mix, and on tracks like "Zion Dub" and "Long Time Dub" that voice floats in and out in a ghostly manner, while the instrumental backing tracks (provided by such A-list sessioneers as
Sly Dunbar,
Earl "Chinna" Smith,
Dean Fraser, and
Moore himself) echo and decay around him. It's a rare producer who can both channel the sounds of '70s Jamaica so accurately and also maintain the modern listener's interest, but
Moore has been doing just that for more than 20 years now. Vintage reggae fans shouldn't hesitate to snap this one up, along with its companion vocal album.