Product Review

Virtually every track Linton Kwesi Johnson (a.k.a. LKJ) and Dennis Bovell's superb Dub Band ever released for the label is here, with nearly every poem followed by its dub, or instrumental, version. While the double set doesn't cover the rebel-poet-musician's non-Island early and post-1984 careers, it does a thorough job on the extended midsection. LKJ comes through as a meticulous, evocative master of telling detail who rarely slips into the pitfall of didactic rhetoric. The dubs, some of which were never released before or were remixed for this LP, are prime examples of a brilliant reggae invention: dub style. First, the music is pared down to the core, then it is reassembled and reoffered as a well-tinkered deconstruction of the original. LKJ's voice is reduced to instrument status in these dubs, and his sliced, diced, and slivered bits gain maximum impact from a new conciseness fleshed out by the listener's memory. --Elena Oumano