Black Uhuru - The Dub Factor +

The Corn-Fed Crew NL 2003 - CF 005
Original liner notes:
The Dub Factor is one of the most incredible dub albums ever made. The early 1980’s saw the introduction of a whole raft of new digital effects technologies, (although not at first in Jamaica) and with them the possibilities of ever-expanding dub music became real. However we all know what happened next... laziness took the place of endeavour and automation took over from craftsmanship. Like magpies bamboozled by the shiny new buttons, engineers concentrated on gimmickry and forgot to acknowledge the music behind the sound effects. Not so with ‘The Dub Factor’. Paul ‘Groucho’ Smykle was an established producer by this time, schooled in the old ways of dub and tutored by the likes of Scientist, King Tubby and Prince Jammy among others. He also had the connections in the UK that would pave the way for this masterpiece’s construction. Where Tubby epitomised the way you could get incredible force from the simplest of techniques, Scientist on the other hand demonstrated regularly that new technology could be used to enhance, not detract. Smykle took all this knowledge on board, grabbed Black Uhuru’s master tapes and hid in the Fallout Shelter in London for a few months and emerged with Sly & Robbie’s riddims not only enhanced but suffused with layer upon layer of the deepest, darkest dubness. This being a dub album of course the vocals were hardly to the fore but the carefully chosen segments of vocal add an other-worldly quality to proceedings, completely transforming the songs into entirely new identities, as only the best dub mixes can do.
Technically, this rare mixture of old analogue tapes and new digital delays represents an accidental pinnacle of dub music. Island sent the original tapes to Sterling Sound in the USA for the best possible mastering to lacquer. What a shame they couldn’t treat the CD re-issue with the same care. The initial CD release was a perfect example of how NOT to digitally master a dub album. Naturally too, they omitted the extra mixes.
This CD has been 24 bit remastered and restored from original Sterling issues, with restoration by See Why Audio London.
We think you’ll like this one! Corn-Fed NL 2003