Echoes. As of this writing, the tag over there on there on the right says that I've written five hundred and sixty-nine reviews on these pages. That number doesn't include REWIND, DISCOGRAPHY and some of the other review-esque features we've done over the years. If it did, that number would be well over six-hundred and I'm proud of that. I'd like to think that we, as fans, are able to make a great contribution to the music even if we aren't the ones actually producing it. Every time you tell someone about a big tune or an artist that you've come across, you are attempting to spread the vibes around and what you may or may not know is that whoever you tell may grow to become a lifelong fan and pass it on to their children and further generations on (literally, a single conversation can do that! You have that type of power!). On top of that, this small and ridiculous corner of the internet is my contribution, if I hear someone or something I enjoy (or I don't but clearly a lot of people do), I've spent years trying to pass it on to as many of you incredibly poor taste having, but ultimately WONDERFUL (I LOVES ALL YUH!), human beings as I possibly can. By far most of those cases are and will always be dealing with artists who possess some type of proficiency with the spoken word, be it lyrically or simply with their vocals or (in best cases) some combination of both. I enjoy good writing and the ability to convey it is a talent which amazes me. Were I passionate enough on the topic (and I actually did used to be), I could rather happily write about poetry and a variety of other types of books because I appreciate writing to that degree. But when you add another element to it, what you get is what you'll find filling hundreds of these things. That component, of course, is one of the most powerful artforms that we have come to find (it was here before we were, it will remain after we are gone), MUSIC. As much as I certainly do enjoy pulling out a notebook and analyzing lyrics and keeping track of my impressions of a given release, there is something about the actual VIBE of a song which.... goes somewhere far beyond my vocabulary. I have a very hard time to describe it and I actually kind of hope that is always the case because while I can tell you what someone says and what I think that they mean, what I cannot tell you is how you will FEEL when you hear it for yourself. That is a personal experience and the best I can do is to tell you about you mine. And that is precisely what I am going to do today. I'm going to tell you about a full blown RELATIONSHIP I have had with an album (don't judge me) for over a decade now.
On Halloween Day, 2011 we did a review of a release by the name of "Kings Bell" by the inimitable Vaughn Benjamin of Midnite, which was released by I Grade Records. That album had the distinction of being helmed by esteemed veteran, Andrew 'Bassie' Campbell from out of Jamaica and, if I recall correctly, it marked the first time Benjamin had done a complete set for a Jamaican producer. It would also feature the handiwork of the likes of Chinna Smith, Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace and other well decorated and supremely respected Jamaican players of instrument. With that being said, however, "Kings Bell" was very much a typical Benjamin/IGR release. In the scope of his entire catalogue, the chanter has long demonstrated that his style isn't the most OPEN and it isn't for everyone (despite having some of the most passionate fans Reggae music has ever seen) but within his style, the sets from I Grade Records are typically more accessible and reachable (and I would say that is especially true in regards to the more recent ones. I'd say "Jah Grid" and everything following it) (although right now I'm listening to "Let Live" and it is NICE!) ('Haile Selassie I Rastaman Crown', big tune) (I should probably stop, I'd end up making the case for "Nemozian Rasta" also and there is a case to be made (told you) in comparison to other albums he's done). They're consistently amongst the easiest listens that you will find from Vaughn Benjamin and, again, despite not being specifically from that order, "Kings Bell" was definitely a typical Benjamin/IGR album.
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It was also absolutely spectacular. Declared a Modern Classic on these pages (#42. The most recent one we've done... seven years ago) (I'm thinking about it), "Kings Bell" was BRIMMING with PERSONAL favourites of mine. It s the type of album where I can simply take a look at the tracklist from time to time and get emotional from it, just thinking about the memories it has provided and, again, at this point I've been listening to it for a decade and I still stumble upon things that I've never heard in the way I do at that particular time. As far as its music, specifically, it was golden. Campbell produced a dynamic gem which had heavyweights of several different paces and served up for Benjamin a potential classic for which the vocalist put to an amazing use. Because of that, there may've been no one happier than me when, in early 2018, six and a half years after the original arrived, we all got our hands on "Kings Dub", a dubbed out version of "Kings Bell", courtesy of I Grade Records and Andrew Bassie Records. Of course, between the two releases Benjamin would go from Midnite to Akae Beka and it is also worth mentioning that, just a year later, the loooooooong rumoured "Better World Rasta Dub" (I probably began hearing about that album in.... like 2011-ish, maybe) would arrive as well (a dozen years after its original) (might review that one someday as well) and both would be fairly well received by the masses. In its case, I recall "Kings Dub" coming as somewhat of a welcomed surprise. While I had been waiting (and waiting and waiting) for "Better World Rasta Dub", I had no idea at the time that "Kings Bell" would be receiving a similar treatment. The album was mixed by I Grade Dub and IGR, as you know, is part of the Zion I Kings collective who also has a running Dub series of their own (which was at installment #4 at last check, with the most recent, "Zion Ites Dub", coming early this year), which shows exactly how important the artform has been and continues to be for the label and the commitment they have made to it regularly (you might also remember the Lustre Kings having a similar series of its own back in the day, "Lustre Kings In Dub"). And given the fact that the most recent Benjamin/IGR set, "Polarities", was billed as the final release of new material, I would also hope that this wouldn't be the last of its kind. Musically virtually all of the label's output is topnotch and it would be very interesting should releases such as "Beauty For Ashes" or (especially) "Rule The Time" would get Dubs of their own someday. Perhaps I'm getting greedy (and I also want a Vaughn Benjamin/I Grade Records greatest hits album, I want someone from the label -- probably someone known as 'Tippy' -- to put together a collection of their own personal favourite tracks that they've done with the chanter throughout the years) and I'm certainly getting ahead of myself, but from the very first note I heard on "Kings Dub", it took me back to a place that I hadn't visited, as a FIRST, in over a decade and I LOVED IT! I will never claim myself to be Dubhead of any sort, but I definitely do appreciate it as a talent and the easiest way for me to appreciate it has always been through music with which I am already familiar. Well, not only was I "familiar" in this instance, but this was a dub of a full-on CLASSIC. Let's discuss!
TEARS! Take me back and leave my ass there! Going back and listening to this nearly four year old project and not only has it not lost any steam whatsoever, but its foundation sound is even stronger than it was on Halloween ten years ago. As it often is with TRULY good music, sometimes when you remove the vocals it gives the composition a chance to really show itself off (which is why you will frequently find me saying that I wish a particular gave their composition, alone, a chance to play so we can really get a listen to it). This is a fact magnified in the case of Vaughn Benjamin's music because the listener's primary focus gets to shift from attempting to decipher and intently listening to lyrics which can often be difficult to hear (Vaughn can be a mumbler) to simply enjoying the music and especially for someone like me who is an overthinker. Some of these tunes have never sounded like this. "Kings Dub" follows the exact same order as "Kings Bell" did seven years ahead of it and it doesn't even attempt to make funny names off the originals, so getting things started, again, was 'Exalt The Crown Dub'. This one, in retrospect, may've gone a bit overlooked but when I listen back to the riddim (with those sweet, sweet horns!) what I get is just a COMFORTING vibes. It's something I've heard dozens of times and it feels like it while simultaneously putting every blip and musical nook and cranny on full display (you listen to it ~2:16 when it changes into this.... beautiful kind of grumbling sound before building itself right back up. Maybe that was there on the original and I missed it or maybe it was completely new hear - either way, it is highlighted in this form (further research (which you knew I was going to do) reveals that it was present in the original). Next is the dub of a track which has grown on me considerably over time, 'Try That Way' which, for some reason, I just had the feeling would make for an excellent instrumental and, in a rare occurrence, I was correct. Gifted with one of the (if not THE) finest of intros on the whole of "Kings Bell", this one featured a very unique vocal approach by Benjamin and was potent lyrically ["THE ARCH IS WITH THE ARCHITECT , HAILE SELASSIE, The Maker. In HIS hands haffi it ah keep"]. What doesn't stand out as greatly on the vocal version, however, is just how damn strong the one-drop bearing it was (that thing ROARS at the beginning) - a fact which is crystallized in listening to its Dub version. After the big beginning, it settles down comfortably and prepares for a sterling (and flaring) ending portion. Next in was the big single and (I GUESS) one of Midnite's biggest hits, 'Mongst I & I Dub' (it's just an odd situation. The criteria by which we typically register and decide what constitutes 'a hit' simply does not apply to Vaughn Benjamin's work, for the most part) (a fact which is even odder given his popularity) and unlike the tune ahead of it, 'Mongst I & I' had been unraveled and dissected in pretty much every way possible and its dub was EXACTLY what you imagined it would be. That BRIGHT track has stood out from its inception and the only thing that I will say is illuminated here is its pace. It's a little slower than you think it is, as it features these delightful minimalistic moments (where it almost seems like it's about to stop) before, just as wonderfully, carrying on. And round out the opening quarter of "Kings Bell" was the melodica-heavy and dazzling 'Earth's Is The Lord's Dub'. Not present at all on the original (as far as I can hear, the presence of the instrument here denotes a very sagacious bit of planning on the part of someone (WELL DONE SIR/MA'AM!) as, although it doesn't follow Benjamin's own pattern, kind of stands as the 'vocals' for the dub. They are random and spontaneous (just like vocals) and, ultimately, comprise one of the best sounds "Kings Dub" has to offer in my opinion.
'Kings Bell Dub', in its original form, was a glorious piece dealing with the importance of music and making music honouring His Majesty ["Riddim weh ahgo move ya like ah feel seh you waan fi sing"]; so it would stand to reason that such piece would lend itself to a BIG instrumental version and the title track most certainly did not disappoint. 'Kings Bell Dub' is my favourite track on the whole of "Kings Dub". It is SUBLIME! Featuring spells which hit on every type of tempo, it almost sounds like you're sitting somewhere and just enjoying what is the equivalent of some band just.... kind of freestyling for your enjoyment. Benjamin does make occasional appearances which only spices things up and, again, sends this one to the head of the project for me. 'System Peak Out Dub' is certainly far more 'specific' than its predecessor with its kind of electric sound and it takes any familiar listener of Vaughn Benjamin's on a course with which they should be very well acquainted. Like pretty much every song the chanter has ever done, himself, 'System Peak Out Dub' increases in value with each and every listen. The 'charged' kind of vibes will dominate the sound throughout, but once you're able scratch just slightly beneath it, this one grows and grows! It even gets to the point (or at least for me it did) where, although still clearly present, that electricity begins to fade away into the background a bit. You will certainly still notice it, but the rest of the riddim begins to catch up with it. 'Jewel Inna Africa Dub' (should, first of all, give you an opportunity to go back and listen to the bit of genius on which it is based. That tune was MAMMOTH!) is from another tune which I feel may've flown a bit under the proverbial radar ["Have you heard Rasta at all???"] on "Kings Bell", but if you did overlook it, you'll find its dub a fitting opportunity to go back and have a listen to the original version. Before that, however, what you will find here is another highlight from "Kings Dub". There is an exquisitely scattered guitar in here somewhere which steals the show to my opinion, but even in its absence what we receive is this finely packaged one-drop which Benjamin, clearly, held in such high esteemed that it became one of the rare moments that he at least attempted to harmonize a bit more (it was never his strength, and I think he knew that, but he did have a number of selections which were pleasing in the normal sense of the term). And on the high-side of the mid-point (did you catch that???) of "Kings Dub" was 'Bittersweet Dub', a track just as RIPE with material as its vocal namesake. There is just A LOT going on in this one. It goes back to 'System Peak Out Dub' with its magnetic sound at times; unlike on that one, however, it isn't the prevailing vibes you'll get here and it is more eager to fall back with the balance of the riddim. That 'balance' is golden and, once you sift through it all (if you ever do), at its core 'Bittersweet Dub' is this all-encompassing, SPRAWLING performance which leaves not a stone unturned musically.
The second half of this album hit me on a different level than the first in one respect. Though it also features amazing music, it also just so happens to contain my three absolute favourite tunes not only from "Kings Bell" but, probably, from Vaughn Benjamin/Midnite/Akae Beka ever! So I found myself singing along a bit more and, in doing so I 'discovered' this FUN (that is the best way to describe it, it's FUN AS HELL!) point when, with the way that they kind of have the lyrics interspersed throughout the track, you sitting there singing kind of links up with Benjamin during these.... BRAINCANDY moments. I loved it! It is nostalgia saturated and I LOVED IT! The first opportunity for that, with a piece I know verbatim from the top of my head was definitely 'Pon a Watchlist Dub' ["Would not advise if your meditation no meditative"]. This one is so compelling because it featured what was likely the single best riddim on "Kings Bell" (to the point where I once wrote about it, "....when I came back to it what most stood out, as it did originally, was that masterful riddim backing it. DAMN! I'd love to hear an instrumental of this song" (ask and ye shall receive!) and it was also damn genius lyrically. I believe the main attraction here would have been (what people who actually know.... stuff about music call ---) the bassline. There is a grumbling buried deep within 'Pon a Watchlist' that kind of acts as a musical superglue or duct tape (biggup duct tape, the most reliable manmade creation EVER) for all of the lovely sounds, sealing them together in this delectable bundle of vibes (and it should also be well worth mentioning that the dub is more than forty seconds longer than the original). Then we had 'On the Broadcast Dub' which is interesting because, before listening to it here, while I could piece together bits and pieces of the lyrics in my head.... I didn't recall much of how the riddim sounded. It was another situation of a SWEET track being overwhelmed by Benjamin, but that's no worry here. In his absence, 'On the Broadcast' shines! There is this very nice drum here which grabs the lion's share of my attention and I find it remarkable that they did so much with a riddim which I, myself, even overlooked. It comes to the degree of being (by my surely incorrect count) the greatest difference between versions as this instrumental is eighty-four seconds longer than the vocal and, as it turns out, it deserved it. The gloriously ethereal 'Peak Tension Time Dub' ["A supernova inna stardust time"] actually comes in on the opposite side of 'On the Broadcast' as its the only instance on "Kings Dub" where the dub is actually shorter than the vocal version (and by nineteen seconds) but, by no means is it what I would call 'brief' or 'incomplete' in any way. It is just as nice to listen to as it ever has been ["Nyabinghi beating in their body combine. Looking inna their heart gland to observe the mind"] though I am wondering why it was shortened (because I am a giant nerd). And then there is my love - 'Black Mamba Dub' ["An eleven foot, six-hundred pound tiger"]. I don't know if I'm fully capable of appreciating this one as an instrumental, despite the fact that it does KNOCK when it hits its apex, because if Vaughn Benjamin isn't singing it, I AM! Every time I hear that riddim, there're vocals, because I begin to supply them. Ranking my absolute favourite songs from Benjamin, 'Black Mamba' is one of a handful truly in the discussion for being at the top of that list (might be a good list to make one day....) so, I am 'hindered' in this case but, for whatever my entirely biased opinion is worth, 'Black Mamba Dub' is yet another winner for "Kings Dub", but what else was I going to say about it? I MEAN, REALLY?!
'What About Sudan Dub' ["It's a noble aspiration: Protecting a defenseless population!"] (BOOM!) is the third of my aforementioned favourites on the second half of the album (following 'Black Mamba' and 'Pon a Watchlist') and, even in its initial form, this one had such a sprawling and dynamic vibes to it that I wasn't at all surprised to see in starring in this form. This is another one where I get so lost in singing the words that I'm probably not the best to sing its praises as a riddim (even though I am certainly going to give it my best effort) because, lyrically, 'What About Sudan' was PERFECT ["But the New Name, HAILE SELASSIE I THE FIRST on the land. RECENT HISTORY KEEP DEM IN CHECK IF DEM DARE SPEAK WRONG!"]. The riddim was gorgeous and on the complex side of things and when you place it in this fashion you're able to hear more of the musical textures which sets it apart. AND, it is should also be said that 'What About Sudan Dub' is probably the most 'wordy' on the whole of "Kings Dub". Such things are always welcomed by me in Dub music (DUH!), especially when it just may be the only of its kind here. Both 'Jerusalem School Room Dub' and 'Torpedo Dub' are at least a minute longer than their vocal cuts and both are very lively, animated and just make you feel good to listen to. If I had to choose between the two, I might actually lean towards 'Torpedo' (....but as I write that, I'm listening to 'Jerusalem School Room' and thinking about rewriting it so.... nevermind). And lastly was 'The Quickening Dub' which is, at least to my knowledge, the only production of its kind on "Kings Dub" as it was released as the Drum Melody Riddim prior to the "Kings Bell" album. It carried no less than TWENTY-ONE different tunes (the majority of which were filed by unknown and under-known names, but highlights came from the likes of Steve Tulloch, of course Niyorah, Winston McAnuff and an all-conquering Zebi-Lion who left everything to ruins with his thunderous 'Shake Babylon'). One of those tracks was actually an instrumental. This dub version is forty-three seconds longer (although only ten seconds longer than 'The Quickening', itself) (and just in case you were wondering (and you weren't) "Kings Dub" is a approximately seven minutes longer than "Kings Bell") and, as its name would suggest, the DRUM is the star here! The song was a pillar on "Kings Bell" and it remains so here as Bassie Campbell CLEARLY knew he had something special on his hands with this one (and decided to put a name on it and spread it around) - he was correct.
Overall, yes, of course, I'm partial and biased as all hell because I loved the first album, it's one of my favourite from anyone ever and I'm no expert on Dub (or anything else for that matter), but I THOROUGHLY enjoyed "Kings Dub". Going back and listening to some of these songs in this style not only sparked quite a bit of nostalgia for me, but it also just reinforced how strong this material was. I'm sure that, if they wanted to, someone could do a second mix on the exact same album and get similar results in quality and still provide a much varied experience from this one. Also, like I said, I think that, especially given the circumstances, if we see the Vaughn Benjamin/I Grade Records link continue in the directly progressing sense (it's always progressing indirectly, that's why You and I are here), hopefully "Kings Dub" was the first of its kind and not the last. The album WAS a necessity for fans of "Kings Bell" and even if you missed that set (you poor, poor thing), it's time you got acquainted and a new spin on one of the greatest albums I've ever heard is a pretty good stop to make along the way.
I Grade Records/Bassie Campbell Records
2018
Digital
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