Your Heart Out 45 - Corrosion

paying attention is so often missed by those who seek to align themselves with every Penman miaow.

Ian was enchanted by the Rhythm & Sound w/ the artists set, but less smitten with the versions, questioning the need for a separate disc. The punman demurred, averring that the versions “feel unduly dry, claustrophobic, too near the pro forma of other nEuro dub for my taste”. This seemed the right response at the time, but the versions’ lack of ostentatiousness and gimmickry has become its strength. The decorous, stately progress is at odds with the notion of dub as some sort of fireworks display, but closer indeed to the sort of dub/roots sounds by those new age (digital) steppers that were particularly active in the UK during the 1990s. The reticence of Rhythm & Sound means that it is unclear (from here) what their attitude was to the practitioners of this music. They clearly had an affinity with King Tubby’s Firehouse digital productions, but whether they countenanced British variations is open to speculation.

Curiously, as with the Rhythm & Sound (susurration steppas) versions, time has been kind to what once might have seemed arid digital (but oddly often warmly analogue) processing.

The dub/roots output which once was overshadowed by more dramatic activity in other arenas now demands attention and in-depth investigation. The pioneering productions of Jah Shaka and Mad Professor led, through the ‘90s, to the richly rewarding works of The Disciples, Alpha & Omega, Aba Shanti I, Dread & Fred, Dub Judah, Iration Steppas, Manasseh, Henry & Louis, Bush Chemists/Conscious Sounds, Rootsman, etc. and by broadening the scope slightly (Richard H. Kirk) Sandoz and Muslimgauze. What was once considered conservative, or mannered, for following a fairly strict code and being pretty sedate and undemonstrative, now seems radical for its sense of purpose, and has become immensely appealing through being such functional music: bass relief as meditational sounds or active background noise.