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Ashley - Land Of Dub
Ashley - Land Of Dub
A mystical, uplifting and sometimes idiosyncratic journey through dub.
Sampler
What interests me when listening to dub music today and it’s many sub genres is when I get to hear the more unusual approaches to mixing and instrument choice applied to album works, the use of instruments not usually heard in reggae for example, the use of speed and pitch shift controls on synths and keyboards, forward and reverse mixing and plenty usage from an array of unusual percussive instruments such as Glockenspiel and Xylophone style sounds and exotic stringed instruments like the Sitar, well, 'Land Of Dub' by Ashley has all these and more, of course there are the more traditional reggae instruments used that we’re accustomed to hearing indeed Ashley utilizes sirens and classic sampled snare drum rim shot intros as well as the obligatory ‘chanka chank’ pianos along side echo’s and creative use of ghost reverb effects in the mix down.
There are on this album 2 or 3 of the more straight forward instru/dub workouts that wont set the world on fire but it’s the far left field cuts that grab my ears and make this listening experience on the whole a very interesting and versatile one. A synth heavy blend of different tropical temperatures underpinned by forceful and varied tempo drum riddim tracks with the bass sound sometimes pure reggae boom and sometimes played with more Jazzier leanings this is a very well structured album and well mixed, the only let down for me sound wise is the poor digital horn sound setting used on a couple of the tracks Dub The Riddim for example which doesn’t do this otherwise superbly mixed heavy dub tune the justice it deserves.
Stand out tracks on 'Land Of Dub' for me are Passage Of Dub with it’s atmospheric subliminal sitar and almost Keith Hudson territory guitar licks, also it’s one of the tracks with better sounding horns.
Situation Dub with its swirly uplifting and pitch shifting vibe laden with reverb plates deep in the mix. Controlling Dub with its crucial manic riddim track and sparse guitar melodies and what appears to be a Glockenspiel but isn’t (sorry ain’t got a clue what it is but it sounds great!) Ancient Dub 2 with its heavy use of multi layered voice synth settings creating a forboding vibe.
Dub Valley Mix 1 is just mellow niceness.
Ashley has grabbed hold of Jamaican dub and has displayed his version of it in a different art like approach adding to it what would normally not be added which I’m sure will appeal to a wider range of world listeners to that of the more classic dub die hard’s from time.
A mystical, uplifting and sometimes idiosyncratic journey through dub.
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Read comments (2)
| Posted by Dushan on 12.17.2011 | |
| What a great album. Thank you for this. | |
| Posted by Gibsy on 12.17.2011 | |
| Not usually the thing to do when one has reviewed the album, but I'm coming in from the 'as a fan of the sound' perspective.. I'm really into this, it's creative to the max, I would of liked to see this in iTunes and on CD, it's too good to be given away (with respect) very niceness. | |
Comments actually desactivated due to too much spams
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