One of the finest dub sets released under the Wackies banner, Natures Dub is definitive of the dub aesthetic yet sounds unlike anything else in the much-heralded genre. For one thing, producer Lloyd “Bullwackie” Barnes was a stickler for sonic detail, and he ensured that each instrument had a unique imprint. Witness the drum sound on “Jah Natton Dub,” which resounds with the edgeless but precise impact of a round of rubber bullets. Or see the intro of “Kicking Scott,” which features a dejectedly strumming electric guitar. That sound would be at home in a '60s garage rock record but sounds totally alien in the context of a reggae tune. Barnes often draws comparison to Lee “Scratch” Perry, and while their mixes have superficial similarities, Natures Dub is strikingly sober compared to the often-intoxicated atmospheres of Perry’s Roast Fish, Collie Weed, Cornbread, or Super Ape. The colors of “Rockfort Dub,” “Slave Dub," and “Judgement Rock” are shades of a city in the dead of winter.
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