The A to Z of Dub, by David Toop
Related: David Toop - dub
Intro
The A to Z of Dub is an article by David Toop published in Wire Magazine 133, May 1994. It was one of the earliest articles to mention Arthur Russell:"Yet another dub pioneer who is no longer with us. Russell played cello, studied Indian music and wrote Minimalist compositions. He also made disco records when he could, mixing cello, hand drums, jazzy keyboards and wistful, ectoplasmic singing, then handing over the tapes to Walter Gibbons for dub warping. "Let's Go Swimming", "Go Bang! #5" and "Schoolbell/Treehouse" still push back the boundaries of dance, while the much coveted World Of Echo explores the meditative environment of dub space."
Excerpt
David toop is your guide on our whistlestop tour through the echo chamberA is for Alpha & Omega
The odd couple of 90s roots and culture. Bassist Christine Woodbridge and melodica puffer John Sprosen conjure cultural spirits in (of all non-irie places) Plymouth. Their new album, Safe In The Ark, their seventh in just a few years. Alongside other roots revivalists such as Forward Roots Collective or The Wibbly Wobbly World Of Music, A&O are either pointless retro or facsimiles with substance, depending on your point of view. For the stoned, shuffling followers of such roots clubs as House Of Roots or Jah Shaka's tribal meetings at The Rocket, however, the question is irrelevant.
B is for Dennis Bovell
The pioneering UK producer whose 70s work moved between lovers
rock (Janet Kay's "Silly Games"), dub-into-punk experimentalism
(The Pop Group, Slits, Orange Juice), the first wave of UK roots
consciousness (Steel Pulse, Linton Kwesi Johnson) and his own
sly, sonic explorations (Ah Who Seh? Go Deh!, Strictly Dubwize).
Bovell has recently emerged from a long period of obscurity to
take his rightful place in the 90s roots revival with a new album,
Dub Dem Silly. B also stands for Beyond, the Birmingham label
that compiled Ambient Dub into three digestible albums, showcasing
the Techno dub of electronic experimentalists such as Original
Rockers, Banco De Gala, APL and HIA. And B must also stand for
Bandulu, who put the dub into London Techno, Bad Brains, who did
the same for DC hardcore, and Blind Idiot God, who did the same
for NYC avant metal. (Now argue that dub isn't the most pervasive
musical form of the age.)
[...] --http://www.thewire.co.uk/archive/essays/a_z_dub.html [Mar 2006]
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