Customer Reviews

Umoja: 20th Century Debwise

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UMOJA/20th CENTURY DEBwise: Collecting two long-lost late 70s dubwise LPs from Dennis Brown and Prince Jammy, Blood & Fire's latest reissue offers just about everything you would expect from such a momentous meeting of minds: up-front drum and bass, spectral horn lines, and heavy showers of reverb. Dennis Brown's voice is almost completely excised, but with session superstars such as Sly and Robbie (drums and bass), Bingi Bunny, Chinna Smith (both guitar), Winston Wright (keyboards) and studio-dweller Sticky Thompson (percussion) working the rhythms, vocals aren't even a consideration. Heavy, heavy roots pressure throughout; this is a great addition to the Blood & Fire catalogue. The label also re-released Brown's JOSEPH'S COAT OF MANY COLOURS LP (as PROMISED LAND - with a nice haul of bonus tracks) in 2002.

The previous reviewer mostly said it all, but let me back him up; Do not hesitate to pick up this disc from the great Blood & Fire label (or pretty much anything else from them). This is 100% pure uncut dub, and 75 minutes of it too. Made up of two Dennis Brown albums, Prince Jammy dubs pure roots into pure dub magic, with skanking beats, spacious, textured soundscapes, grooving organ, deep bass, a touch of skanking guitar, and amazing echoing horn lines. "Sounds Almighty" is a slow wade into a dark lake on a summer night, with each ripple echoing into distant ghostly horn lines. "Great Man Called Kenyatta" is a baked trip down a sweltering Kingston sidewalk, amazing bongo sounds percolating in the humid air all around you. Well, yeah, that's kind of what this dub is like...it sends you on a trip. Check it out.

The rhythms are tight, the guitar and synths are spacy, the snare is right on time, and the tunes are soulfully soulful. Especially with Dennis Brown's echoing vocals floating in and out right on time.