Roots Archives Forum

Probably I'm the only one on this forum, but I really dislike when dubs contain too much traces of vocals.

For instance the recent "Dub Will Change Your Mind" on King Spinna Records, I find it very hard to listen to as the abundance of vocals really irritate me.

Am I the only one?

Appologies for my moaning

Nah I'm the same bunny wailer, burning spear are both guilty of this.

I always wonder if this occurs when the singer is involved in the remixing process, naturally their ego gets in the way of the mix so you end up with dub versions full of vocals

A little vocal is great but when every other event in the dub is a snatch of vocal over and LP this gets annoying

I try to think of Bunnys dub disco as a version album rather than a dub album

Maybe it´s better not to think too much ´bout what it "is" -
original/version/dub/whatever -
just enjoy it!:D

for me, it depends what they DO with the vocals... if they are as treated / affected / "dubbed out" as the music, i think it becomes another instrument and adds to it... if it is just snippets of lines and incomplete sentences, well i can do without...

I agree with Marky. Often times a vocal in a dub tune just makes me want to find the original vocal version (if I don't know it already).

I agree with some of you posters above. It's depending on how they mix the music. But then again I've never seen dub as instrumental music. Rather I see it as the mixer finding the soul of a song and focusing on it. Sometimes it's entirely dependent on the vocals working with the rhythm. Some dubs could never be as good if there weren't any vocals in them. The way Scientist dubs Johnny Osbourne's »He Can Surely Turn the Tide«, »Universal Love« or »You Are No Good«. I mean. The small drop ins of the vocals just make them sound so incredible.

Damn. Those Scientist albums on Greensleeves are something else. They were among the first dub albums I heard and they still are the perhaps finest ones I've ever had the joy to listen to.

Love that snippet of Osbourne singing he can turn the tide.
One of scientist finest moments

Little bits of vocal and seriously dubbed up vocals are fine.

Constant drop ins of vocals like on Bunnys dub dsco and the kool roots dub counter part are annoying


One of burning spears dub albums is flooded with vocals to the point of being distracting.

Since I've been digging out some of the old 45s recently, one which has a really good version with crucial snippets of the vocal is "Stop the Fussing and Fighting" by Culture, and I personally like when you get something different for the version like a different intro like on "Rope In" - Errol Scorcher, or more of the instrumentation brought back in like on "Starsky and Hutch" - Trinity/"Reincarnation" - Joe Gibbs and the Professionals. Can't think who did the cover of "Sitting and Watching" for "Rope In" though...

Cornell Campbell?

"Some love the rockers and some love soul..."

Yes it could be Cornell... It's not a bad version, nice rough lo-fi edge to the production.