There are some big players in dub on this compilation, names like
Bill Laswell,
HiM,
Zion Train, and
Twilight Circus. And there's plenty of mind-messing music -- exactly what you'd expect from these people. It's meant to transport you. How much it owes to original Jamaican dub varies -- "Ph Neutre" from Brain Damage Meets Lab, for example, takes the techniques but largely sets them outside any Jamaican style, but
Zion Train keeps an off-the-beat rhythm intact, although updated. One of reggae's icons, drummer
Sly Dunbar, provides multi-level rhythms on
Laswell's "Finite State Machine Dub," as fine a piece of dub as
Laswell's ever done.
HiM's "Disco Lips" is more abstract than dub, while the contribution from
Twilight Circus offers a heavy dose of squelchy Roland 303 funk.
Prince Charming veers off into the Middle East for "A Touch of Romance," letting the Maghreb meet reggae rhythms, and
Spectre uses an oud on "Al Qaida (The Bass)," a dark excursion into the shadows. All in all, it's a good summation of the state of global dub today from a label that stays permanently on the edge. ~ Chris Nickson