Something For The Blunted
Written: Feb 02 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Madlib cultivates a sublime selection of smoked-out murky reggae dub classics and rarities
Cons: Songs tend to move at a very sluggish pace
The Bottom Line: A clam-baked stash of fried reggae and dub gems handpicked from the Trojan catalog by producer Madlib
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| e-kleptic's Full Review: Blunted in the Bomb Shelter Mix - Madlib Movies |
[This review refers to the sixteen-track sampler on 2LP vinyl - the version on CD has forty-five tracks]
The story goes like this - reggae label Trojan sends Madlib the bulk of their catalog to have him mix together a selection of his favorites. Madlib agreed to the task but time passes and nothing is accomplished. Trojan gets impatient, calls the producer, and Madlib throws together "Blunted In The Bomb Shelter" in one afternoon (The Bomb Shelter is the name of Madlib's studio in California). Despite it all, Trojan could not have picked a better candidate to sift through their enormous catalog. Madlib is the kind of producer who shows an enormous amount of reverence towards his sample material who like the Large Professors and Pete Rocks grew up with their parents' record collections in their blood. That's why on his Quasimoto project, Madlib name-checked jazz greats like Sun Ra, Horace Silver, Weather Report, Gene Russell, and George Duke among others - providing a shopping list for the next visit to the JazzMart. Now with, "Blunted In The Bomb Shelter Mix", Madlib shows that jazz isn't his only area of expertise.
In essence, Madlib really is the perfect vehicle to introduce hip-hop minded newcomers into the intimidating worlds of jazz and reggae. Revered in the hip-hop community from his work in Lootpack, Madlib provides a producer's birds-eye view from above giving hip-hop fans an angle to enter new musical genres. "Blunted In The Bomb Shelter Mix" serves two purposes then (three if you consider a listening companion to a herb session as a purpose): a superb introduction into the sounds of reggae, dancehall, ska, and dub for people whose knowledge stops at Bob Marley and a collection of rarities and classics for those already familiar.
The sampler opens up with 70s reggae act - The Chosen Few turning out a re-make of the classic Issac Hayes' theme to Shaft and loses none of the original's bad-asss-icity. The vocals are still in tact with it's now cultish call-and-response chorus. Rather the elements that made the original so familiar: the wah-wah guitar, bassline, flute, and horns are slowed-down to a relaxed cool reggae drawl. Brent Dowe, who was in The Melodians, shows up here with Reggae Makossa. Punchy rhythmic horns and jolted bassline that wouldn't sound out of a place in a Blaxpoitation soundtrack give the track a ska party flavor while Dowe whoops and hollers his way through the track in a deep grainy voice.
The Vulcans move to stranger lands with their track Star Trek. Cheesy 70s moog synths of the worst kind zip around and echo in the background. It sounded pretty transcendental while stoned but standing by itself - it feels like background music for Cleo the Psychic. Luckily, Madlib had the good sense to include a track from Sly & The Revolutionaries. The track - Cocaine is from an album called "Black Ash Dub" and is highly recommended if you can dig it up. The song explores dub territory with a hollow reverb resounding over an slow ambient groove and melodic piano stabs while the bassline seems like it's struggling to crawl through the haze. But you really don't have to be sunk half-way into the couch and eyes blood-shot to enjoy the track's vibe.
The mood picks up with the ridiculously fantastic Guns Of Navarone by The Skatalites. Slightly off-key vintage horns blast straight out of a Sergio Leone western - particularly that scene where the cowboy cocks his hat and gallops off to meet his nemesis. Then the song bridges into a jazzy breakout which sounds like ska in a 1870s saloon. Two songs from separate members of the Skatalites appropriately show up as well - for one, Roland Alphonso is also on the mix with On The Move which deploys a lopsided waltz sway with his legendary sax playing. The song manages to be sultry and mysterious at the same time. Then there's trombone player Don Drummond's Man In The Street, whose presence and influence in Skatalities is highlighted here with an animated ska instrumental.
Dennis Brown, another key figure in reggae, has his cover of Fleetwood Mac's Black Magic Woman included here as well. It's Brown's soulful voice that is the true magic here however - even bettering Peter Green's original. Recorded when he was only 15, the song's sentiments of yearning and obsession for that intoxicating female are expressed with heart-wrenching emotion beyond his years over a hotbed of reggae rhythms. This song is honestly worth the price of admission alone. Dennis Brown also had a song called Have No Fear which Dillinger provides a brilliant version of it here entitled Flat Foot Hustling. Dillinger however owes his career to a man by the name of Osbourne Ruddock aka King Tubby. And of course no compilation that mentions the word "dub" can go without a song from the seminal King Tubby. And Cool Down Version is a slab of simmering hypnotic dub stripped down to its bare essence that drifts in and out of consciousness. Tubby was famous for his complete deconstructions of original songs and Cool Down Version is no exception.
A tribute to the kind bud, Linval Thompson's I Love Marijuana is a welcome addition if for nothing than as a novelty song. Lee "Scratch" Perry's band The Upsetters are included as well with Sipreano - a track heavily influenced by Western films and Ennio Moriccone as evidenced by the dialouge snippets and lone woodwind winding its way through the track.
Madlib really covers all the bases with this collection. Most of this stuff can only be found on those Trojan box sets so "Blunted In The Bomb Shelter" really provides a stepping stone to further exploration into the music. Keep in mind, that this vinyl version is only the original version of the songs. The CD version includes a total of 45 tracks that are mixed with even more seminal recordings by King Tubby, U Roy, Dennis Alcapone, The Aggrovators and Lee Perry. So get the vinyl for the originals and then get the CD for Madlib's special touch. And who knows where it will go from there?
Great Music To Play While:Stoned
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
e-kleptic
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Location: Chicago, IL
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 10 members
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I haven't posted for more than a month - but I'll be back. I promise.
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