Search - Culture, Scientist :: Scientist Dubs Culture Into Parallel Universe

SCIENTIST RETURNS

11/17/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hopeton Brown a.k.a. SCIENTIST began churning out dubs in the mid-70s and hasn't stopped since. He began as a young apprentice working for the famous engineer/producer, King Tubby. Although Tubby originated the dub remix of drum and bass, soon, after being hired, Hopeton was able to surpass even his mentor. Hopeton took on the alias, SCIENTIST and before he was 18, became one of the most in- demand engineers in Jamaica.The series of albums released under his name in the 80s, with titles featuring clashes with other rivals like "Pac Man" or "Space Invaders" are some of his best work. Many of these old albums feature the "ROOTS RADICS," the most sought after session band in the 80s. With SCIENTIST at the mixing counsel the " ROOTS RADICS' " no-frills approach, could not have been put to better use. The RADICS laid back "riddims" were perfect for SCIENTIST'S style of stripping the prerecorded music to the heavy thunder of drums and bass, mixing in parts of vocals and guitar with echo and adding in bizarre electronic "bleeps" and other sounds on top of the mix.Flash forward to the millennium, and we find SCIENTIST releasing a new album, "SCIENTIST DUBS CULTURE INTO A PARALLEL UNIVERSE." Just by looking at the cover art, one can tell SCIENTIST has reached back to his roots. The cover art looks like a comic book. It has SCIENTIST and CULTURE (a.k.a. Joseph Hill) in super hero costumes, at battle with each other. "Oh, my gosh, I think SCIENTIST is winning!"SCIENTIST has remixed the songs from CULTURE'S smash "PAYDAY" album. SCINTIST has dubbed 11 out of the 12 songs from the "PAYDAY" album. You try to figure out which song SCIENTIST omitted, I can't. Who cares! One doesn't even have to have heard "PAYDAY" to appreciate "SCIENTIST DUBS..." The original album has been remixed so that it no longer resembles itself and has taken on an identity all of its own.The disc features sumptuous old-school style dubs. The original music has been given the full dub treatment: adding and taking away lyrics, moving instruments slightly up and down in the mix, and adding effects to the instruments. The music itself is superlative. Along with the usual guitar, keyboard, and percussion, other instruments such as harmonica, melodica, horns, and flutes slide, bob, and weave throughout the drum and bass mix.As on early SCIENTIST albums, the original song names have been changed to fit the theme of the album. Song titles such "LEGALIZATION," "SHARE THE RICHES" and "DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF" have been renamed, "RETURN OF MR. MXYZTPLK," "BEAM ME UP DUBBY," and "INTERGALACTIC EXCURSION," respectively.The album's first song, "SPACETIME CONTINUIM" starts out with a fuzz guitar playing the "Star Spangled Banner," (ala Jimi Hendrix), and then shifts into bass, echoed guitar and a timid keyboard riff. Once the drums kick in we begin a journey into a parallel universe. Drums and muted guitar dance around while lead and backing vocals trade places, with the lead voice far away and the background vocals moved to the fore. Wow! Dub just like the good ol' days.Yes this is old-style dub but it doesn't always sound like it. And, that's a good thing! What makes this album different from the 70s and early 80s dub albums, (other than pristine sound quality), is the style of music. Although the music is very roots, some songs such as "PHOTON PHASER PHEVER" and "E=MC2" have an African influenced sound. The former has a stylish sounding guitar riff that gives it its African flavor, while the later contains the beautiful sound of a flute floating across a 16th note rhythm pattern. The embellishments sprinkled on top of the drum and bass sound are truly key on "SCIENTIST DUBS..." For instance, the song, "BLACK HOLE" includes Egbert Evans playing flute over a double picked guitar riff, while Joseph Hill occasionally, opens the gates to tell us "Lucifer is having a party down in Hell." Other key sounds on this intergalactic, dub remix, excursion can be found on the song "TO GO WHERE NO DUB HAS GONE BEFORE" where rapid-fire bongos wrestle with twisted keyboard sounds that are trying to put in their "two cents." The use of instrumentation also brings a unique sound to the mix. The song "UNIFIED FIELD THEORY," (originally titled "CHICKEN DITTY"), has a Bo Diddley-style beat with a ukulele, or "finger piano" (?) playing a melody to the children's song, "The Bear Went Over the Mountain." All these different sounds and flavors give this old-school style dub a fresh twist. Big Up, SCIENTIST!"Well, SCIENTIST has dropped his inconspicuous identity to save the day and dub CULTURE into a parallel universe. What will happen next? Find out next issue..."Respect! -Mark "Homebody" Groesbeck"

Dubroom Review

Messian Dread | Drachten, Fryslan Netherlands | 11/09/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is the DUB version of Culture's excellent Roots Reggae release "Payday". It is mixed by one of the true legends of DUB: Scientist, the Dub specialist. His hands are faster than the speed of light, and he sounds like dynamite! Aha, yes, with this album he proves to still be among the top of the Dubmasters! I am happy that Scientist hasn't lost his energy, because the same wild style of mixing that I know from, for example, the Greensleeves series, I find it back on this release. And that is not the only thing that reminds me of these classics, because the cover also comes in Comic book style and portrays the artists as superhero's like Batman and Superman. The tracks have impressing titles inna Science Fiction Style: "Beam me up, Dubby", and " Intergalactic Excursion" to name but two. All these things together form the ingredients for a Dubwize Experience Extra-Ordinary! Although there are many similarities with older releases, this CD should not be viewed as "Retro" at all. It is obvious that here we can hear a Mature Scientist: someone with decades of Dub experience. The skilful use of digital effects and recording techniques prove that DUB is still strong, in fact it becomes a more contemporary style of music every day. There's an interview with Scientist as well, in which he describes the difference between King Tubby and Scientist on one side and Lee Perry on the other. Scientist explains: "His (L.P.) remixes are different from ours: Scratch doesn't have the same edge. Like what Tubby and I have... we actually manipulate the equipment to get what we want. He knows music, but as far as the electronic side..."The only Retro-aspect on this album I do not like, is the length. It's 47 minutes long and contains 11 tracks. It would have been nice to have some bonus tracks as well. But, it is a good thing to see that the Scientist still releases masterworks. So go buy this one if you're into the wild style of the Scientist."

He's still got it!

gentlebenn | Los Angeles, CA United States | 09/24/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With so many played out, old, recycled, lo-fi dub compilation albums being released on small time independent labels, it is great to see that Scientist is still around, creating wicked NEW dub versions. This album shows why Scientist is one of reggae music's most revered producers. On "Scientist Dubs Culture...", Scientist teams up with another legendary reggae artist, Culture, but does not strip the tracks down to the point that the original song is unrecognizable. This album is as much "Culture" as it is "Scientist",and is true to form. Scientist's mixing is superb and effects laden while Culture is as dread as ever. "SDCIPU" is truly an album for dub/roots fans; Reminiscent of the early 80's, but with a clarity and sound quality for the 00's."