Forward The Bass: Dub From Randy's, 1972-1975
In the history of reggae and dub, most attention gets focused on two, key Jamaican studios: Lee "Scratch" Perry's Black Ark and the definitive tastemaker, Channel One, founded in 1974 and 1975 respectively. Largely forgotten is Randy's Studio 17--a place frequently used by Perry before Black Ark--founded by Vincent "Randy" Chin and in operation from 1968 to the mid-1970s. Chin's son Clive is the one responsible for this fascinating collection, originally issued in a scanty run of 200 LPs in 1975. Clive produced all the tracks on this expanded CD and, while conservative in comparison to King Tubby and others, demonstrates considerable dub chops. The music is sleek and more instrumentally broad than much 1970s dub, integrating copiously bouncy reverb on the bass and drums, horn solos, weird tape manipulations, and a more song-like approach to trance-heavy rhythmic underpinnings. The All Stars here are awesome: Augustus Pablo, Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Sly Dunbar, Ansel Collins, Eric "Bingi Bunny" Lamont, and many others. --Andrew Bartlett