Version 2 Version

Bill Laswell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 14, 2004)
• Original Release Date: September 14, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: ROIR
• ASIN: B0002ZUIQY
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #297,112 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Following the career of bassist/producer/label owner Bill Laswell is an expensive proposition--he releases several albums each year that range from experimental to world music to electronic to jazz to dub. While that kind of output means there are quality control issues, when Laswell teams up with fellow bassist Jah Wobble for their A Dub Transmission collaborations the goods are always great. The two dub fiends sound like the mutant children of King Tubby as cavernous bass relentlessly grinds forward, keyboards (by P-Funk's Bernie Worrell) and guitars swirl like wisps of smoke, and beats (by Karsh Kale and Abdou Mboup) never exceed a the heart rate of a person at rest. The six tracks slip by in the blink of the eye even though the shortest track is six minutes long and the other five are more than eight. Hypnotic and modern, Version 2 Version is a rich kaleidoscope of sound and vision that ranks up there with Laswell's most imaginative work. --Tad Hendrickson

Product Description

Version 2 Version – A Dub Transmission, Laswell’s fifth release for ROIR, brings us back to the elemental power that made Laswell’s earlier releases so compelling: thick earthy basslines, a bedrock of drums, fiery percussion, blustery guitar and atmospherics—all played by a world-class group of musicians who know how to breath life into a musical whole greater than the sum of its parts. On Version 2 Version the listener is drawn into a musical ecosystem full of life, death, earth, wind, fire and brimstone and a fecund existence as powerful as life itself. This dub transmission includes bassist Jah Wobble with whom Laswell co-wrote most of the tracks, keyboardist Bernie Worrell, percussionist Karsh Kale, and drummer/percussionist Abdou Mboup.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not up to Bill's standard., February 10, 2005

By 

Moyashi (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Version 2 Version (Audio CD)

Version 2 Version: A Dub Transmission, in name, personnel and nominal genre is "Book 2" in the set begun by Radioaxiom: A Dub Transmission, but is also the latest example of Bill's ongoing exploration and redefinition of "Dub." Radioaxiom was produced and distributed under the financial auspices of Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures, whereas V2V is issued by the cool but certainly less pecunious ROIR. I suspect this fact may have something to do with the qualitative differences between these recordings. There are fewer musical minds at work on V2V (no Skopelitis, no Haynes, no Gigi), which leaves the sonic terrain timbrally denuded; there are clear instances of recycling from previous projects rather awkwardly and ineffectively dropped-in; and the overall processing and mix is far less polished, seamless, musical and inevitable than on Radioaxiom. This indicates either a rushed job or simply a lack of care or attention to the details. All of this could easily have been the result of a drastically reduced budget when Palm declined to back the follow-up. The material itself suffers in comparison to Bill's other recent dub releases. Even the one he did almost entirely alone - Book of Exit: Dub Chamber 4 (ROIR) - is rather superior in its elegance, focused power, and production. Gigi - a kind of world-pop-dub - was superbly realized from top to bottom, incredibly musical with not a wasted sound or note. V2V's basslines are often too note-y in ways that detract from the surge of the riddim, and the "extra beats" just don't cut it. A true gelling riddim doesn't occur until track 4, from which point - at least on a rhythmic level - the set begins to improve. The first few tracks may have been better off left on the cutting-room floor, or else re-worked. If you are a musician or mixer (or both, in my case), you may be as disappointed as I was to hear V2V. I deeply admire Bill and the work he has been doing in this space, and I wanted to like this CD, but better that this had come out first and Radioaxiom next - that would have shown real improvement! Unfortunately, this is just the opposite.

HOWEVER, if you are the sort of dub apostle who prefers the old-school, strip-to-the-bone approach, who ONLY wants heavy bass and not much else, you may dig this set. The bass is mixed farther forward than in any of Bill's other recent dub releases, though it's also a bit less phat and more midrange-y at times. I would like to rate this CD at 2.5 stars. It has some good moments, but simply is not up to the standard of which Bill is quite capable...or Jah Wobble, for that matter (check out his Molam Dub set).

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HEAVY DUTY, January 31, 2005

By 

Kenneth M. Goodman (Cleveland, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Version 2 Version (Audio CD)

This is a heavy dub CD that (thanks, Mr. Laswell) is heavenly vocal-free, unlike other Laswell CDs that, in my humble opinion, have great dub but are ruined by vocals. Bernie Worrell provides a cooly exotic display of keyboard magic and there's some excellent guitar...but mostly it's the sort of heavy dub Laswell did on his CD "Dub Melt Down," but better. Your sub-woofer will be so happy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dope dub, November 19, 2008

By 

IRate - See all my reviews

This review is from: Version 2 Version (Audio CD)

Some of the most intelligent, non-generic dub money can buy. In a genre that brims with derivations it is nice to see something ahead of the curve.