Blackboard Jungle Dub (Box Set) [10" VINYL]

This is a gentle introduction to dub culture. These are the tracks that some of my pals at secondary school used to play as cassettes in the 1980s. I recall that there were two burgeoning styles in my school of progression from children into young pre pubescent teenagers: you were either a Reggae guy (Shaka) or Soul belt wearing fellow (Imagination / Light of the World) and then a little bit later came the electronic Hip Hop and Funk (Afrika Bambaataa). I chose the Soul and Hip Hop lads. I went down the road that led to Mantronix and D-Train. But I have a lot of respect for those pals that went off to Reggae, Lovers Rock and other off-beat time influenced derivatives of the late 1960's original Ska sound. Lee Scratch Perry is influential to whatever music trends followed afterwards and this album captures the early experimentation of the analogue echo chambers with the steel spring inside the electro acoustic sound box. The sounds of the Blackboard Jungle Dub and Upsetters are superb. Pop Goes The Dread Dub and Cloak A Dagger are classics. So is Sin Semilla Kava Dub and the heavily influential Moving Forward. The latter track is definitely the one that many of my old secondary pals were bobbing their heads too on the bus ride from Clapham Junction. If you want sounds to complement the Favela Brazilian beats of the World Cup 2014 then look no further than just geographical north to the Caribbean.

To understand what a massive impact this album has had you just have to consider how many times you've already heard the opening line, "welcome to Blackboard Jungle". This work casts a long shadow for sure, but it's also an extremely accessible dub album, with plenty of bounce and plenty of bite. If you're a fan of King Tubby or early Perry, then this is a work you should lock horns with. The content is superb but I've given it four stars instead of five simply because I think too much emphasis has been placed on packaging. I'm not sure that the album needed to be broken up into three 10-inch records. A single or double LP would have been fine. Sadly this is the way a lot of vinyl is going these days: you pay maximum dollar for something that really does not have to be so elaborate. I know I need more exercise but I'm getting off the sofa too often to change sides...

For anyone that knows..... No review needed, for the uneducated, buy this album, try and get the proper, best mix, the original Upsetters 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle, summer day, lay in the sun, bottle of corona, Jamaican woodbine, life don't get much better

Brilliant dub reggae by the master Lee Scratch Perry. Many tracks are familiar to classic reggae fans including the intros and sound effects.

Old school dub, with bits of Lee perry crazy sounds and shouts. Not so weird to scare noons, just enjoy.

one of Lee Perry's best ever sets