3. King TubbyThe Roots Of Dub
This was the album that made me fall in love with dub music. It’s still my favourite. The spectre of the pop song that has been remixed – or maybe nullified in a way – is still there for me when I listen to it. I can still hear the structure of the song, unlike a lot of other dub records where it’s just really the instrumental thing. I really like that about it. It took me a while to get into the sonic template of dub, but once I did I’ve never been able to go back in a sense. It’s been the most consistently influential set-up for sound for me. The bass is very prominent, there’s a high, percussive, clicky-clacky element to it, and then this big reverby space in between those two rhythmic plains.
I find myself always wanting to push my productions towards that place. This album marked that sea change for me when something switched over and I started wanting to always hear things that sounded like that. I feel like there’s something about sounds like that, I couldn’t say what – that huge reverb and washes of sound – that really resonates with me. That’s why I will often equate musical practices to ritual practices. They’re all aiming towards getting our brains into that space, that spiritual place. It doesn’t work for everybody, but I feel like dub does that to my brain. I react to it in a very specific way.
