Scientist
One of the leading dub artists of the '80s, Scientist was one of the most distinctive figures on the Jamaican music scene, known for his spacious production and mixing techniques as well as his wild album titles and cover artwork. Scientist's LPs found him using his skills at the mixing board to combat monsters, mythic villains, and video game characters. Scientist was born Overton Brown in Kingston on April 18, 1960. Brown was only 16 years old when producer/performer Errol "Don" Mais discovered and developed the considerable talents of this adolescent dub wiz.
Scientist learned basic electronics from his TV repairman father, skills that made him very popular with the mobile DJs and their not-always-functioning sound systems. A friend suggested he visit the legendary dub producer/mixer King Tubby, not to remix records, but to get some transformers with which Scientist could build his own amplifiers. Soon Scientist was an employee of Tubby's, fixing transformers and televisions. One day, after an animated conversation about mixing records, Tubby challenged Scientist to take a shot at remixing a record. Brimming with adolescent bravado, he took Tubby up on his challenge, and that led to an extended apprenticeship in dub experimentation under Tubby's guidance. It was while at Tubby's that the Scientist developed his idiosyncratic dub style, playful and very psychedelic, loaded with echo explosions and blasts of feedback -- a sound that caught the attention of Don Mais, who overheard the Scientist at the mixing board during a visit to Tubby's studio. With Mais supervising the production, Scientist, now all of 18, cut some wicked dub sides for the Roots Tradition label. At the end of the '70s, Scientist (now also referred to as "The Dub Chemist") left Tubby's to become the main engineer at Channel One Studios, and working with Henry "Junjo" Lawes, cut some best-selling dub LPs, only to leave for the greener pastures of Tuff Gong in 1982. In 1985, Scientist moved to Silver Springs, Maryland, where he worked as a recording engineer, designed electronics, and continued to record and release new dub material. In the 21st century, he took up a crusade to defend his rights as a recording artist and receive royalty payments for his work. Scientist filed suit against Greensleeves Records, insisting they had licensed and reissued his music without permission or payment; he also took the creators of the video game Grand Theft Auto to court for using some of his tracks as background music without asking his consent. Scientist's studio work and efforts to protect his catalog didn't keep him from creating new music; in 2017, he released two new albums, Untouchable and Allied Dub Selection.
© John Dougan /TiVo
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Scientist Meets Hempress Sativa in Dub
Reggae - Released by Conquering Lion Records on Jan 10, 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Scientist Dubs Culture into a Parallel Universe
Dub - Released by Tafari Records on Feb 25, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dub from the Ghetto
Reggae - Released by Trojan Records on Feb 13, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In the Kingdom Of Dub
Dub - Released by Tamoki Wambesi Dove on Jan 1, 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sublime Meets Scientist & Mad Professor Inna L.B.C.
Sublime, Scientist, Mad Professor
Rock - Released by Gasoline Alley on Oct 15, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The People's Choice Dub
Dub - Released by Tamoki Wambesi Dove on Jan 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mad Professor meets Scientist at the Dub Table
Reggae - Released by Ariwa Sounds on Mar 15, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
King Tubby's Meets Scientist at Dub Station
Dub - Released by Trojan Records on Jul 30, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In a Dub Explosion
The Roots Radics, Scientist, King Tubby
Reggae - Released by Roots Records on Aug 7, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
At King Tubby's With the Roots Radics
Reggae - Released by Roots Records on Jan 1, 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
High Priest of Dub
Dub - Released by Tamoki Wambesi Dove on Jan 1, 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In a Revival Dub
Reggae - Released by ROOTS RECORDS on Mar 22, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scientist Meets Roots Radics Dubbin with Horns
Dub - Released by Trojan Records on Jul 30, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
King Tubby's Meets Scientist - In a World of Dub
Dub - Released by Trojan Records on Jul 30, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classeek Riddims
Ska & Rocksteady - Released by Dubiterian Records on Jan 25, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
International Heroes Dub
Dub - Released by Tamoki Wambesi Dove on Jun 22, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Free Brazil From The Invading Vampires
Ska & Rocksteady - Released by Dubiterian Records on Jul 1, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dub War (Coxsone vs. Quaker City)
Dub - Released by Gorgon Music - VPAL Music on Jan 24, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Can't Quit Dub (feat. Nick Reider)
Ska & Rocksteady - Released by 876 Dub Studio on Mar 2, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scientist Dub Don D' Lion Universe
Dub - Released by Studio City Sound, Los Angeles California on Mar 15, 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo