Dub Come Save Me
label: big dada

production: n/a

guests: chali 2na, wayne paul, riddla
year of release: 2002
 
This is really more of an audio tour through the cluttered attic of Rodney Smith's brain than a fully fledged dub version, but that's no bad thing. What we have here is a few select dubwise reinterpretations of familiar tunes plus b-sides, outtakes and rarities, in other words a rag-tag collection with an endearingly sideways charm similar to that of Roots himself. It works partly because his two full-length albums are already fuelled by a combination of pure skills and inspired frivolity filtered through a haze of London pollution and dope, thereby paving the way for something even more rambling and eccentric.

tracklisting
1. Mi Fi Cool
2. Highest Grade Dug
3. Revolution 5 feat. Chali 2na & Wayne Paul
4. Styles Dub
5. Tears
6. Dream Day SFA Dub
7. The Lynch
8. Brand New Dub
9. UK Warriors feat. Riddla
10. Witness Dub
"Man Fi Cool" opens this collection with a retake on "PSK" adding extra digressive logic from our protagonist. According to Roots, "this vocal is the penis, the rhythm is the vag" which is bound to cause biological confusion amongst backpackers everywhere - what does that make the turntables? Maybe the breasts. You see the Roots effect in action here - now where was I? Oh right, the album. "Highest Grade Dub" shimmers into view, reminiscent for me of my youth spent living underneath the Heathrow flightpath - something about the quality of the echo, the distant industrial noise. Wicked congas, missus. "Styles Dub" rejigs "Dub Styles" funnily enough, beginning fairly straightforwardly before taking a journey into deepest dubspace. I'm struck again by how successful Roots has been at making his brand of hip hop almost a genre on its own. His emphasis on reggae and ska brings out the feeling that there is an older tradition being mined here, a tradition that has laid the foundations for not just hip hop but all of today's dance music. Plugging into this, he achieves a timelessness above and beyond fashionable concerns. The version will never die.
"Tears" was formerly an MP3-only download. An exception to the dub theme, it uses dark, stinky synth-tones to convey a sense of alienation, a nod to the work of '80s pioneers like John Foxx and David Sylvian (whose "Ghosts" might sound like this were it to eat a few more pies and develop a weed fixation). "Dreamy Days SFA Dub" features the reconstructive work of one of Britain's best and most open minded guitar groups, Super Furry Animals, and they do a blinding job of turning the original into a thicket of prickly ticks and alien echoes. "The Lynch" is an outtake from the 30-plus tracks recorded for "Run Come Save Me" and illustrates Roots' prolific proficiency - he left this out? Fuck.
"Brand New Dub" is a nice pounding bass monster worthy of On-U Sound, whose influence no doubt impacted on the Roots psyche in formative times. The dub versions on this album all fulfil my unfortunately shallow criteria for appreciating the style: that is, 'do the sound effects make me jump/make me think my phone is ringing/make me look behind me?' I once fell asleep to a Mad Professor version, only to be rudely awoken by the sound of non-existent dustbin lids crashing to the floor (avoid falling asleep to "Augmn" by Can, for the same reason). It's an occupational hazard I suppose. "UK Warriors" features an aggrieved Riddla and a philosophical Roots trading verses on the perils of the industry over a mellow skank: "in retrospect / I should've been a garage DJ to collect my cheque / 'cause it just seems so effortless". The final track is surely familiar to millions, to quote the Gallagher brothers, being the classic "Witness Dub" from the B-side of the limited 7". It goes 'wob-wob-wob-wob-wob-wob' as you know, and it's a cut I could never tire of (in any form). The section where the bassline drops underwater is a nice touch.
This album works as a fine companion piece to Roots Manuva's more high-profile releases, with zero weak cuts and a couple of highly sought-after curiosities. Whereas some albums marketed as a 'treat for fans' offer little more than scrapings from the studio floor interspersed with naff remixes, this one is well worth shelling out for. Roll on the third album.
review: joe stannard (kilamuk@yahoo.com)
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