After last year’s great On-U Sound Special, Hamburg label Echo Beach treats us to another “very very special” edition of its King Size Dub series. This latest issue solely focuses on Dub Syndicate. The groundbreaking band around drummer Style Scott has recently resumed business (see issue # 7 for live review and interview) and gives two tasters of the forthcoming album here, a cover of Bob Marley’s Rat Race with the vocal parts replaced by a spaced out melodica and Alliance with Crispy Horns.

The other 13 tracks are remixes and dubs (by Rob Smith and DJ Scruff, amongst others). Living legends and long-deceased voices by the likes of Big Youth, Junior Reid, Capleton, Lee Perry – of course! – and Bim Sherman (on a Kraftwerkesque version of Mafia) float in and out of the mix on this magic Dub carpet. 

Even though some of the elements here were created up to 30 years ago and others are brand new (riddim tracks recorded at Tuff Gong Studios), the result is a seamless 77-minute ride through drum-and-bass-grounded Dub paradise. It documents just how timeless Dub Syndicate have always been.

As usual, this latest edition of King Size Dub is available at a ridiculously good price. Even if the cover design takes some getting used to, there is no way around this record, because … Dubbing Is A Must!

Peter Clemm