ChrisPDX's Full Review: Dreams of Freedom: Ambient Translations of Bob Mar...
As a long time reggae fan and fairly recent ambient convertee (my friend Tom swears the sun rises and sets on the works of the great Brian Eno), I approached buying this cd a bit tentatively. Wow was it ever worth it from the beautiful rendition of "No woman, No cry" to "Midnight Ravers" this cd has something for everyone. If you consider yourself a Marley fan then you ought to enjoy a fresh and challenging "remixing" of his works. After buying this cd I've gone out and tried to find more dub offerings from other artists and can now say I am truly hooked. Bill Laswell is a genius. He managed to both capture the essential Marley sound and interject parts of his own soul into these mixes. The 7th track "exodus" can transport you to a whole different place. Having grown up listening to Marley one can almost assume that his work is timeless and unduplicable. Fortuneatly only the first is true. Laswell as proven that not only is there the capability shown on this album but proven beyond any reasonable doubt. I passed this cd on to my parents for a few days (which turned into months once my mom listened to it) and they quickly fell in love with it as well, to the point it made buying her birthday present a bit easier hehe. There is no doubt in my mind that Bill Laswell is the equal in innovation to Marley. Both have pushed musical boundaries far beyond it's apparent limits; Marley with the invention of Ska and making Reggae a world celebrated genre, and Laswell with his sparse yet melodic ambient stylings. In some ways this cd approaches an almost trance style at times while rising to a near party playable peak at others.
If you want good music get this cd. If unfamiliar to Bob Marley or Bill Laswell then look no further, this cd is an excellent place for those new to ambient sound and reggae. For additional BIll Laswell cd's try some of my favorites: Oscillations, Tetragramaton - Submerge. This man is soon to be widely held as the greatest ambient/dub producer/arranger since Brian Eno. For other ambient albums try: passengers, discreet music, or my personal favorite and the cd that introduced me to ambient sound: Ambient 1: Music For Airports
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