World In Dub

Album review

As a creator of home-grown instrumental dub, Legendary Pink Dots bassist Ryan Moore has shown himself to be a master of the classical style. As a producer of recordings by venerable and sometimes unjustly neglected roots reggae artists, he has shown himself to be insightful and creative, demonstrating just the proper balance of reverence and invention. On this album, the dubwise companion volume to Ranking Joe's previous M Records release World in Trouble, you get to see Moore at his best. As always, bass is at the center of his sound, and the bass is rich and full yet well-defined throughout. Also as always, Moore has the presence of mind to leave scraps of the singer's vocals floating and reverberating through the mixes: the best dubmeisters have always recognized the ability of an isolated word or phrase, when grabbed and then tossed, echoing, into the distance, to evoke unusual moods or change the emotional context of the original lyric. Moore does that especially effectively on tracks like "Dub Control" and "Seek Ye Dub." His subtlety as a producer is also demonstrated on tracks like "Happy Version," which starts out in a fairly mellow one-drop mode before suddenly erupting into a stomping steppers rhythm. All of this is done in the context of generally straight-ahead roots reggae, and enhanced by the ghostly presence of Ranking Joe's incisive toasts.
© Rick Anderson /TiVo