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The Dubs that Time Forgot by Mad Professor

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The Dubs that Time Forgot by Mad Professor

The Dubs that Time Forgot by Mad Professor

By John Fenwick on Thursday, December 18, 2008 - Comment

Retrospective of unreleased dubs from the prolific professor.

Sampler

The Dubs that Time Forgot by Mad Professor

This new compilation from ‘dub me crazy’ DJ/producer Mad Professor is a reminder of the lasting influence of the Ariwa studio. For more than 25 years Mad Professor has done much to reinvent the received reggae tradition alongside promoting new British reggae talent. This retrospective, produced and mixed at the Ariwa Studios in London, is an intriguing collection. As the Professor says ‘this is the new, but old release from Mad Professor. New, as this is the first time these mixes/songs are released. Old, because all these tracks have been recorded in the early 80's’.

Mad Professor (Neil Fraser) was born in Guyana but made his career in Britain. His ‘Dub Me Crazy’ series in the 80s and 90s reinforced his reputation as an innovator. Here we have unreleased ‘B’ sides and other dubs that have so far not been heard. Most of these tracks failed to make it into the original Dub Me Crazy releases and they demonstrate a range of musical influences. The slow, purposeful, powerful bass typical of Mad Professor is the driving force of tracks like Banjul Belly and Zig-Zag. The synthesised electronic sounds on Dub Heavy Weight and on Wollaf Dance (with its interesting chord changes) date those tracks very much within the era they were recorded. Today’s exponents of dubstep will find something of interest in Nya Dub. Elsewhere, the influence of the reggae dub mainstream is evident: the opening organ swirl of Dread Dub is reminiscent of Linval Thompson, while Rock in Vibration is a lesson in dub construction with its echo and repeat. Perhaps - in the Mad producer’s words - “the strangest song of the set is No Strange Men by Sister Audrey, which provides a pleasant vocal break to the predominantly instrumental dub set." Within these seventeen dubs you’ll certainly find at least something to repay your attention.