Back in the day, I went through a heavy Dub-Reggae phase, then later in life I turned to Rocksteady and Ska. Over the past few weeks, I've been revisiting some of my favorite dub and reggae albums over the years. Besides the obvious choices like Lee 'Scratch' Perry, King Tubby, and Augustus Pablo, I've also been listening to a lot of Keith Hudson. This album is crazy, swampy dub-reggae:
Check out some of these tracks. Hudson's off-key monotone vocals, and the backing female vocals, along with his magnificent production, make this a great listen.
Carlton and Family Man Barrett's Macka Dub has been a recent find for me, and I've been playing it quite a bit since I picked it up:
Other more obvious favorites for me in the dub genre include: Lee 'Scratch' Perry Roast Fish, Collie Weed, and Cornbread (my favorite dub album and the first one to introduce me to the world of Dub), Augustus Pablo's Original Rockers, as well as Augustus Pablo's King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown, Burning Spear Marcus Garvey/Garvey Ghost, and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's Superape. I'm sure there are a few more up there for me, but these are the ones that I really enjoy off the top of my head. Of course, as Summer rolls around, I may be posting more upon the topics of Dub and Reggae, as I tend to pull out the Dub and Reggae favorites around the Summer season, so stay tuned!
I've been listening to lots of Gabor Szabo over the past few months, grooving to the instrumental sounds of the Hungarian-Gypsy guitarist. Years ago I was given a copy of Spellbinder, and somehow it didn't quite connect with me at the time. I wasn't until recently when I picked up both Jazz Raga and Dreams (especially Dreams) that my mind began getting blown. I've also recently turned back to Spellbinder and can't believe that I didn't love it when I first heard it years ago. Here are a few of my favorite tracks off of Dreams:
Cop this album Dreams if you can, listen to it with the lights out, and your mind will be blown.
Also, Jazz Raga is great and was reissued by Light In The Attic a few years ago. Well-worth picking up, as besides Szabo's gypsy guitar, it also features some great sitar flourishes throughout the album. "Walking on Nails" features a rare vocal courtesy of Szabo himself.
