The A to Z of Dub, by David Toop

David Toop is your guide on our whistlestop tour through the echo chamber

A is for Alpha & Omega
The odd couple of 90s roots and culture. Bassist Christine Woodbridge and melodica puffer John Sprosen conjure cultural spirits in (of all non-irie places) Plymouth. Their new album, Safe In The Ark, their seventh in just a few years. Alongside other roots revivalists such as Forward Roots Collective or The Wibbly Wobbly World Of Music, A&O are either pointless retro or facsimiles with substance, depending on your point of view. For the stoned, shuffling followers of such roots clubs as House Of Roots or Jah Shaka's tribal meetings at The Rocket, however, the question is irrelevant.

B is for Dennis Bovell
The pioneering UK producer whose 70s work moved between lovers rock (Janet Kay's "Silly Games"), dub-into-punk experimentalism (The Pop Group, Slits, Orange Juice), the first wave of UK roots consciousness (Steel Pulse, Linton Kwesi Johnson) and his own sly, sonic explorations (Ah Who Seh? Go Deh!, Strictly Dubwize). Bovell has recently emerged from a long period of obscurity to take his rightful place in the 90s roots revival with a new album, Dub Dem Silly. B also stands for Beyond, the Birmingham label that compiled Ambient Dub into three digestible albums, showcasing the Techno dub of electronic experimentalists such as Original Rockers, Banco De Gala, APL and HIA. And B must also stand for Bandulu, who put the dub into London Techno, Bad Brains, who did the same for DC hardcore, and Blind Idiot God, who did the same for NYC avant metal. (Now argue that dub isn't the most pervasive musical form of the age.)

C is for Cyberdub
Iconic in William Gibson's Neuromancer ("the long pulse of Zion dub") as the humanistic healing force in a wired world, a naive touch of natural magic, dub has become a sci-fi soundtrack for techno-Gaians, hippie zippies and cyborg animists. C also stands for Crusties. The perfect environment for observing the evolution of the crustie look during the 80s was at Gary Clail's On-U Sound System parties, where the white rasta look of blond dreadlocks and ratty paramilitary fatigues interlocked with On-U's mix of urban noise terror and spiritual bass. (For a contemporary picture of the dub/Crusties/Travellers nexus see Spiral Tribe, Back To The Planet, Ozric Tentacles, etc).

D is for Digi-Dub
Dub in the post-analogue era (listen to Sly & Robbie's "Computer Malfunction"), or Digi-Dub, the South East London sound system posse of remixers and neo-dub recordists. Also stands for Dub, the all-purpose syllable of nowness, as in The Dub Club, Dub Federation, Brothers Love Dubs, Dub Funk Association and so on and so on.

E is for Echo Chamber (Johnny In The...)
The landscape paintbox, the time stretcher, the resonance amplifier, the warp factor. Echo is the fundamental device of dub, throwing words into caves, repeating beats for an infinity, transforming the one-drop into a boom full of dread. Only the bass (as low as it can go) is free of echo.

F is for Prince Far-I
In 1980 Cry Tuff Dub Encounter Chapter Three helped make explicit the late 70s London punk/roots reggae equation (see Dennis Bovell, above, plus PiL, Pop Group, Slits, etc), fusing Far-I's subterranean growl with contributions from Ari Up, Steve Beresford, Vivien Goldman [not forgetting yourself, David - Ed]. Far-I's burnt toasting subsequently added extra dread to many UK dub tracks released by Adrian Sherwood, the innovative Manchester-based Suns Of Arqa and Warrington's self-styled Minister Of Noise, Sir Freddie Viadukt (his "Marvel Of Miracles (Prayer To Tubby Mix)" is the place where industrial noise, Ambient and dub shamanism finally meet).

G is for Walter Gibbons
Born again Christian Walter Gibbons pioneered the disco remix alongside producer Tom Moulton. His 12" mix of Betty LaVette's late 70s disco stormer, "Doin' The Best I Can", opened New York dance to the potential of dub deconstruction. Followed in the early 80s by extremes in dub breakdown performed by Francois Kervorkian, Shep Pettibone, Larry Levan, Jellybean and Nick Martinelli with David Todd.

H is for Keith Hudson
Co-credited to Family Man Barrett, the late Keith Hudson's 1976 Pick A Dub was one of the first dub albums. Stuttering melodica, squelching keyboard and guitar chops and a mix which dropped instruments in and out of the sound picture every few bars made this one a must-have. Also seek out his "Satan Side" cut, one of the strangest, spookiest records ever made, dub or otherwise.

I is for Imagination
Mid-80s soul 'n' sleaze trio which countered a series of dodgy Top Of The Pops appearances with their Night Dubbing album in 1983. Of interest for a Larry Levan remix of "Changes" but unfortunately held back from the outer regions of dub strangeness by sucrose harmonies and inflexible basslines.

J is for Jah Shaka
London based disciple of roots, dub and culture whose sound system is legendary for its vibrational force. During the 80s, when dub was becoming a forgotten art, Shaka the Zulu kept his faith, gradually finding a new audience for his all-night club sessions among the dispossessed (from white rastas to House refugees). J is also for Jungle Techno, which mixes the cut-up craziness of Lee Perry and the deep, dark flavour of King Tubby with the accelerated breakbeat motion of the 90s.

K is for King Tubby
The inventor of dub and thus one of the most influential, underrated players in the backroom history of popular music. For prime tracks and solid history check King Tubby's Special 1973-1976, released on Trojan, compiled and annotated by Steve Barrow. A sound engineer for Duke Reid's Treasure Isle Records in the late 60s. Tubby found that his instrumental dubs of popular tunes caused a sensation at the sound systems. From that point, he worked with almost every major Jamaican artist, twisting their original tunes into vast landscapes of crashing snare drums and chest crushing bass. Tubby was shot dead in Kingston in 1989.

L is for Latin HipHop
Crash and boom in the mix, courtesy of Arthur Baker, Chris Barbosa, Mantronix and The Latin Rascals. In the New York of the early 80s, Latin HipHop, or freestyle, evolved from Electro, an orgy of computer game dubbing and vocoder voices which reached dizzy heights of future-tack with the Jonzun Crew, Warp 9, Hashim and The Egyptian Lover. Discarded by rappers, Electro was turned into pop music by Latin HipHoppers - Babie & Keyes, Amoretto, Shannon - and then dubbed to smithereens.

M is for Mad Professor
Ariwa Sounds' (UK) resident boffin of flange, delay and other techniques of ecstasy. Prolific throughout the dub desert of the 80s, his album titles describe his warped journeys through the echo chamber: Psychedelic Dub, Adventures Of A Dub Sampler, Science And The Witch Doctor and Who Knows The Secrets Of The Master Tapes? His "Towers Of Dub" remix for The Orb was an epic of the genre. M also stands for Minimalism, exemplified by Herman Chin-Loy's mysterious Aquarius Dub album.

N is for Nu Groove
In the late 80s, the Burrell twins (Ronnie and Rhefji!) formed a label for their deeper, darker, dubbier view of New York Garage. While most New York DJs were mixing dull instrumental versions of House tracks and calling them dubs, Nu Groove was pioneering some radical reconstructions. Listen to the Ronnie Burrell/Tommy Musto dub of Bas Noir's "I'm Glad You Came To Me" or the Bobby Konders/Peter Daou contributions to the label ("The Poem" 12" and the Vandal EPs, especially). Nu Groove is now defunct and highly collectable. Searchin' by 33/3 and Queen

O is for On-U Sound
Adrian Sherwood has been making 21st century dub since the 1970s with Creation Rebel, African Headcharge, Singers & Players, Dub Syndicate and a host of other artists. Often wildly experimental with studio techniques, sometimes running whole tracks in reverse, his mix services have been used by the likes of Depeche Mode, yet he still runs his On-U Sound label, working with Little Annie, Little Axe and similarly small but potent acts. David Lynch used "Far Away Chant" by African Headcharge for the torture scene in Wild At Heart (but then excluded it from the soundtrack album). O also stands for The Orb, who have fused dub, Techno and Ambient into an all-purpose listening, dancing, head nodding soundtrack for our hyperspatial era.

P is for Pablo
Augustus, of course, the incredibly prolific JA producer whose dubbed-up melodica instrumentals were the blueprint for devotional roots music. Without such albums as King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown, Africa Must Be Free By 1983 Dub and East Of The River Nile you don't have a dub collection. At the time of writing, Pablo was remixing tracks for (of all people) Creation's indie popsters The Boo Radleys. P also stands for plates, the special pressings of dub mixes made exclusively for sound systems.

Q is for Qawwali Dub
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's "Mustt Mustt", as remixed by Massive Attack, was a landmark convergence of Sufi Qawwali singing and Bristol dub vibes. For other significant ?world dubs', seek out Paul ?Groucho' Smykle's reconstructions of Juju tracks by King Sunny Ade and Dele Abiodun, or the Addis Ababa dubs on Tony Allen's Afrobeat album Never Expect Power Always.

R is for Arthur Russell
Yet another dub pioneer who is no longer with us. Russell played cello, studied Indian music and wrote Minimalist compositions. He also made disco records when he could, mixing cello, hand drums, jazzy keyboards and wistful, ectoplasmic singing, then handing over the tapes to Walter Gibbons for dub warping. "Let's Go Swimming", "Go Bang! #5" and "Schoolbell/Treehouse" still push back the boundaries of dance, while the much coveted World Of Echo explores the meditative environment of dub space.

S is for Scientist
Second generation Jamaican dub mixer and a rival to Prince Jammy. Notable for his theme albums (with lurid cover art) on which he would meet and vanquish protagonists from off-world regions: ie Scientist Meets The Space Invaders, Scientist Encounters Pac Man. Such meetings, derived from the rivalry of the sound clash, are central to the mythology of dub. For origins, seek out King Tubby Meets The Upsetter At The Grass Roots Of Dub.

T is for Tricky
Along with Portishead, Tricky is Bristol's latest contribution to dirt slow and schizophrenically strange music with roots in HipHop jams, spliffing up and dub encounters. For origins, look back to The Wild Bunch, then Massive Attack, Smith & Mighty, Nellee Hooper. For results, see Soul II Soul and Björk.

U is for Upsetter
Also known as Scratch, the great Lee Perry, whose daring at the mix controls was beyond compare during the period (mid-to late 70s) when he was making dub albums such as Blackboard Jungle and Super Ape. Unlike many other dub mixers, Scratch disrupted his more commercial songs with dub effects - "Cow Thief Skank", "Bathroom Skank", "Police And Thieves" - and made whole albums with singers that throbbed and groaned in a bizarre counterpoint to their efforts. Always an eccentric (he once torched his legendary Kingston Black Ark studios to the ground), his recent music has seen him descend into self-parody and (possibly) actual (as opposed to sonic) madness.

V is for Virtual Dub
Dub extended recording studio techniques, effecting an important step in the conceptual shift from the studio as a miked-up performing space to the studio as a virtual space for manipulating sound (for results, see the last ten years of popular music).

W is for Warriors Dance
Nigerian producer Tony Addis's London-based label. From its Addis Ababa studio, No Smoke's "Koro-Koro Dub Dance" exemplified the UK street mix of Jamaican and Nigerian music versus Japanese technology. W is also for Wobble, as in Jah, who can dubwise any music in town - from PiL to Primal Scream - with that low bass pulse.

X is for X-Ray
Often described as a process analogous to the X-ray, dub strips music back to the bones, exposing the structural framework.

Y is for Yamaha Skank
The first ?version' album, compiled by Rupie Edwards in 1974. Containing 12 versions of one rhythm, "My Conversation", Yamaha Skank is the ancestor of the promotional two pack 12" of celebrity DJ mixes, remixes and silly name dubs. Y also stands for Yabby U, yet another dub pioneer of the 70s.

Z is for Zoe
Zoe's "Red Dublands" (1992) is just one example of the dub alchemy of UK producer Tony Thorpe, aka Moody Boyz. Other highly desirable dubs from Thorpe include his "Bad Man" 12" of last year, "Free" from the 1990 Journey Into Dubland EP, or his new album, Product Of The Environment.

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