In the Kingdom of Dub

Album review

Can a remix album be a glowing love letter to its remixer? In the Kingdom of Dub certainly is, at least in its physical edition, where the liner notes from Benedic Lamdin, aka Nostalgia 77, lovingly endorse the "slept on" work of Mike Pelanconi, aka Prince Fatty. Fatty's work as an engineer keeps him too busy, and his U.K. style of dub is hardly in its heyday, but as Lamdin's notes support, his work as a dub producer offers a unique sound that needs to be heard, never getting too hung up on dubby gimmicks and always staying focused on enhancing the groove. Think Mad Professor as a more organic/less spacy character and you're in the zone, as here, prime selections from Nostalgia 77's back catalog get stretched and cooled for easy skanking and/or headphone sessions. Wonderful how "Quiet Dawn," from the Everything Under the Sun album, now sounds like a retro jazz club located at the center of a cistern, while "Positive Force," from the Nostalgia 77 side project Skeletons, gets a cool Jamaican breeze blowing through its funk. Cheeky covers, like the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" with vocalist Dennis Alcapone, get cheeky, Lee "Scratch" Perry-styled treatments and suddenly Prince Fatty turns into Prince Informed, but he also knows when to play it straight, as the "Angel with No Halo Dub" is suitably stately and strong, offering a preview of the dub sound system that must lie behind St. Peter's gate. More please, and more of Nostalgia 77 as well, but it is Fatty who gets the prize for this one, along with some much deserved exposure.

© David Jeffries /TiVo