Keith Hudson & Friends - The Hudson Affair (2005)
MORE DUB BY POPULAR DEMAND:
Keith Hudson is one of my favorite dub producers. His album "Flesh of My Skin, Blood of My Blood" is one of my all time favorite dub albums (also, check out this blog. it's one of my favorites). His music is consistently dark and clautrophobic, full of sonic interest while not sounding contrived or cliché--Hudson is one of the key people (I'd put him up there with King Tubby, Lee Scratch Perry, Augustus Pablo, and Errol Thompson) who gave dub its signature sounds.
Anyhoo, if you're at all interested in the history of dub, you'll get a lot out of this.
Anyways, this two disk set is fascinating for a number of reasons. First of all, it contains many tracks which are fundamental to the development of reggae and dub. The first track, "Old Fashioned Way", shows reggaes foundation in American R&B. This wonderfully upbeat track has all the trappings of a typical reggae song (backbeat guitar and organ, low bass, and quintessentially reggae-y drums), as well as a keyboard line which will be stuck in your head for a week ("doo doo doo doo doo!").
The second reason I love this compilation is in the second track: "Dynamic Fashion Way", a dub version of the first song. Using mostly the same form as the "original" (quotations are present because originality is a false capitalist concept. /marxist), the instrumental track is toasted over by the fantastic U Roy. The track really reinforce Hip Hop's roots in dub, as U Roy responds to the lyrics of the first song and encourages the audience to dance. Almost every track on this album is accompanied by two or three dubs and versions, making the album a great example of the musical developments that led to dub as its own musical style.
In an even broader sense, the techniques demonstrated on this album laid the foundation for todays remix culture, and contributed to the general destabilization and deterritorialization of music that remains ongoing. The internet has further contributed to this process, as music is removed from its cultural and geographic boundaries.
Anyhoo, if you're at all interested in the history of dub, you'll get a lot out of this.
Sorry for all the big words.
This is what happens when I take breaks from thesis writing to post things I love.
Thanks again! The only Keith Hudson I have is the Blood & Fire edition of Pick a Dub, and i keep returning to it again and again.
This will definitely be an interesting listen!
thanks for this, love U roy, read somewhere that his yelps are inspired by james brown, hey, can't go wrong with that
Just saw your later post about doing a thesis on dub, I remember now where i heard the bit about U roy, it was on bbc4 documentary called reggae brittania, see website http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/seasons/reggaebritannia/
Hope it is some use to you,
Thanks for the blog
Hi guys. Some collage i made. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0gxvExgy6w&feature=related
thanks!!! been listening to nonstop dub while i write my thesis. this helps. good luck with yours.