Twelve dub records, in order
A route through dub itself rather than through reggae: twelve albums in sequence, from the first tentative experiments to the point where the method left Jamaica altogether.
Scientist
Engineer
- Kingston, Jamaica
- Late 1970s onwards
Hopeton Brown got his nickname at King Tubby’s studio, where he started out repairing equipment and ended up mixing. Where Tubby’s dubs feel carved out of stone, Scientist’s are quicker and more playful, full of sudden drops and effects that arrive like a joke with perfect timing.
He went on to work at Channel One with the Roots Radics as the house band, and the records from that period, issued largely on Greensleeves with Tony McDermott’s comic book sleeves, introduced dub to a generation of listeners outside Jamaica.
Go and listen
These are searches, not verified pages. Names in this music are reused often, so check you have the right Scientist before you buy anything.
On Natty Dub
Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires
A 1981 dub album with a comic book sleeve and a silly title that happens to be one of the sharpest, funniest and best sequenced records the form has produced.
Ten records to start with
Not the ten best, and not the ten rarest. Ten that will teach you the most about how roots and dub work, in an order that makes sense.