Dub Reviews
Artist: Jahno Cover scan:
Title: Dubbin the Cave
Label: J.A.H.N.O.
Catalogue Number: ?
Format: CD
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Result: Modern dub in the old tradition. Just new.
Review date: 2008-06-04
Detailed review:
Jahno is an active internet dubber, as I would say. I remember having heard his tunes already many years ago on Versionist.com and since then he developed and upgraded and the result is a 16 track strong self-produced and self-released CD called "Dubbin the Cave".

Jahno's style is strictly old school. As he claims himself, he doesn't like the new ways of producing dub. So he keeps it original, Jamaican style that is. And you hear that in every single tune of him. The only difference to the original 70s dubs is that here, the music sounds fresh and well... better (don't hit me, argh!). When I often claim that I'm tired of the original dub, then this is what I would like to hear if someone decides to keep his or her dub "in the roots tradition". Good job. You can listen to the album in a row without getting tired.

There are some familiar riddims available but also unknown (which means his own) productions. There are some very (too) rootsy sounding tunes like the opener "Cry Dub" or "Dub Gone too Greedy" but also some heavy steppers like "Champion Bobela" or "Dub Problem". My favourite songs though are the deep and meditative ones like "Dub Down the Gun" or "Jungle Groove".

One outstanding ingredient throughout most songs is the massive percussion which is a big pluspoint here. A minuspoint is that the bass sounds sometimes a bit unfriendly. There is definitely still a chance to improve.

Fans of original riddims will especially enjoy this album because - as stated above - there are several known riddims featured but presented in a very nice, new way. Don't ask me for any of the riddim names now, I'm bad with recognising riddims. But sometimes even I had this "aha" feeling that I know the riddim. Interesting side effect.

Support the underground dub, get the album. Check out Jahno's Myspace page (but beware, at least on my laptop screen, the page is completely unwatchable - as so often with Myspace pages which are individually layouted; are you "designers" all blind or what?! On this matter, I want to point you to a nice description on why Myspace sucks: read here).