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Sly and Robbie - Dubrising

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Sly and Robbie - Dubrising

Sly and Robbie - Dubrising

By Erik Magni on Friday, December 12, 2014 - Comment

Carefully curated chaos on Sly & Robbie’s Dubrising.

Sampler

On Sly & Robbie’s third dub album this year they have teamed up with veteran mixing engineer Paul “Groucho” Smykle, who mixed a few classics back in the 80s, including ;Ini Kamoze’s ground-breaking debut and Black Uhuru’s forward-thinking The Dub Factor.

Sly & Robbie are two of the main proponents of dub and have played on countless of dub albums and also produced and mixed more than a few. And Dubrising throws you right back when to a time when the duo started to make a name for themselves – the early 80s.

Dubrising is heavy as lead, yet melodic and refined. Paul Smykle uses quite a lot of vocals in the mix, so the original eight tracks from the likes of Bunny Rugs, Horace Andy and Chezidek can be recognized.

This album is not as sparse as two of Sly & Robbie’s more recent dub efforts – Blackwood Duband Underwater Dub. It’s actually far from sparse. There are loads of instruments to play with for a mixing engineer. Apart from the usual bass, drums, guitar and keys, they have thrown in harmonica, strings and flute. Sounds like a real challenge for a mixing engineer.

The mixing is playful and Paul Smykle has created something of a meticulously coordinated chaos. Vocals coming in from the right, synths from the left, percussion from below and flute from above. It’s a joy to listen to and you are keen to know what will happen next.

Among the many highlights are the militant To the Rescue with its galloping drums, wobbling bass and odd sound effects and Freedom Ring with its haunting synths, hypnotic drums and ground-shaking bass.

Sly & Robbie have been in the music business for about 40 years, but they still manage to stay innovative and original.