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| Here's a chance to hear the original drum and bass. Consisting
primarily of the contents of Randy's Dub, a 10-track dub album released in
1975 on the Impact! label, this disc showcases the production mastery
of Clive Chin during the heyday of Randy's Studio 17 (the Mecca of reggae and dub recording 'til the mid-seventies). Clive's dub
style is distinctive -- each of these tracks has been stripped down to
its barest essentials, leaving only those elements essential to the rhythm.
In most cases that's the drums, the bass, sparse guitars, an infrequent
dusting of other instruments and on rare occasions a few sound effects.
The effect is a lilting, mesmeric tidal flow of rhythm and melody --
you might find yourself slipping into a trance, with or without the aid of controlled substances. Particular moments of
brilliance include "Ordinary Version Chapter 3", which
features the mock-dialogue between an aspiring engineer and his boss,
and the syncopated harmonica of "Dubwise Situation", but really,
the whole thing's just too dead cool for words and you'll notice new
groovy bits each time you listen to it. Even if reggae irritates the
living hell out of you, even if modern-day dub makes you want to
blow your head off, Forward the Bass will win you over --
it's so simple, so archetypal, that you can't help but be wowed.
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