Barrington Levy In Dub – The Lost Mixes From King Tubby’ Studio (Auralux/MGM)

This is just the kind of mystery in which the golden era of dub thrives. Misinformation, confusion, legendary lost relics and reissues of dubs so rare that unless you were part of a sound system back in the day you probably haven’ heard of them. That’s all in the liner notes for this unearthed nugget from the late 70′ early 80′. No one knows who actually created these dubs. They come from a Jamaican only release of the Big Showdown, which featured totally different tracks from the UK release in 1980. In this sense they’re a little rawer, with much more space, aimed squarely at the Jamaican market. Mixed in King Tubby’ studio it’s assumed by Scientist or Prince Jammy, dancehall vocalist Barrington Levy’ vocals appear intermittently, with the emphasis on the bouncing bass lines, punching often heavily reverbed or echoing horns, fuzzed up guitars, a smattering of keys and of course the steady beats. It’s sparse hypnotic stuff, it feels gritty, it feels somehow more authentic, which means the liner notes have done their job well. Regardless the music is great, absolutely addictive, and whoever made it did one hell of a job.