HEAVY VOODOO
by Daniel Finn
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Every month we take a deep dive into a specific genre, sound, or style. Through the lens of a playlist we compile some of the iconic and best artists to help understand and feel the roots and value of this music. This month we go deep into “Heavy Voodoo - A Dub Retrospective”.
The word ‘Dub’ comes from an early abbreviation of the recording term ‘to double a recording’. In the context of reggae music and the dub sub - genre it means much the same. In the early 60’s & 70’s the operators of sound systems moved from being a large stack of tweeters, horns & bass bins to test & master reggae recordings, to full blown dance party promoters & facilitators. The DJ’s & operators of these sound systems were more and more hungry for exclusive reggae recordings that challenged the dance floor by using stripped back versions. They were dubbed from the original recordings onto an acetate disc and later dub plates. Over time these recordings were manipulated more and more with effects such as reverb and delay to create an exclusive track for the Dj to ‘toast’ over. This is the early sound of dub.
This unique scene created a new genre that has influenced modern music as a whole more than most. From small Jamaican beginnings; artists such as Lee ‘scratch’ Perry, Osbourne "King Tubby" Ruddock, and Augustus Pablo influenced the world of music in a big way. Including and not limited to rock, post-punk, punk, pop, hip hop, post-disco, and later house, techno, ambient, EDM and trip-hop as well as being a large foundation for jungle and drum and bass. A truely remarkable and far reaching genre.
Dig Deep!