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Natural Numbers - Natural Numbers in Dub
Natural Numbers - Natural Numbers in Dub
A tribute to the stormy cinematic side of classic dub.
Sampler
In the last couple of years Los Angeles selector, engineer and co-founder of the city’s Dub Club, Tom Chasteen, has been releasing album projects via respected experimental hip hop label Stones Throw Records. These have comprised two dub albums, a double vocal set Foundation Come Again featuring Jamaican veteran deejays Ranking Joe and King Stitt, and a Gappy Ranks EP.
His latest ensemble is a group of reggae and alt-rock musicians under the mathematical moniker Natural Numbers. They’ve crafted a respectful yet confident tribute to the stormy cinematic side of classic dub with subtle shades of other genres, artistic mediums and expert studio-as-instrument sound-scaping from Chasteen.
The bass playing is taken care of by no less than Cali based Soul Syndicate founder George “Fully” Fullwood – reaching out to the younger generation as he has with Germany’s Martin Zobel and Soulrise of late. The rest of the lineup is split between local reggae players Roger Rivas, Freddie Flint and Ras Benji - on keys, guitar and drum duties – plus guitarist Mark Lightcap from Mazzy Star and electronic wizard Mikael Jorgensen of Wilco.
The album is divided into instrumentals and dubs with snatches of famous guest vocals from Cornel Campbell and Bionic Clarke. Campbell appears three times – on the chugging, rippling Unconditional Dub, the overcast percussion conversation Dub and Blind and the bleakly robotic Peace in the City. Standout instrumentals include Theme for King Richard with its swirling Hammond, haunted fairground melodica and glassy glockenspiel and the superb Sam Peckinpah-referencing Dub the High Country - all meandering organ and growling western movie surf rock guitars.
LA might be traditionally thought of as a place of sunshine. But Flint and Lightcap’s rolling squalling guitar-work gives an Autumnal edge similar to what I Grade Records/Zion I Kings band get from axe-man Padraic Coursey. Chasteen and Jorgensen’s sound bending builds on rather than simply rehashes Tubby, Scientist and Errol Thompson. The snare drums thud instead of crashing 80s Scientist style. Submerged voices murmur beneath the mix.
If you like the productions of England’s Prince Fatty or Soothsayers meets Manasseh this is a worthy American counterpart. Natural Numbers Dub continues the fine work of Chasteen while expanding it further into music’s mainstream – hopefully bringing more rock fans, drawn by its alumni, into the Dub Club.
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