Still on The Strangeness of Dub series (2019) Edward George. Learning about King Tubby is great but I’m experiencing the bridges George builds between jazz, electonic avantgarde and dub to be wider then necessary (in episode Distance II). It’s pleasant to learn about dub as a mythical story with genius figures, innovations and tragic artist fates but I think this approach is cutting corners. Not everything needs to make sense (fit a narrative) and valorizing charismatic but conflicted artists causes an unnecessary emotional offset.
Inadvertently I’m listening to more John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhauser trough this source then ever before! George has arranged a very clever and rich selection of music. I particularly enjoyed listening to long and noisy bootleg recordings from the 70ties (in Distance I). The tapes make for a media archeological exploration of King Tubby’s Hometown HIFI in Kingston, Jamaica 1975. The system in the recording was build and operated by King Tubby & U Roy and approaching it trough a flat, gritty tape feels fresh (like exploring the alleyways of an ancient city with a flimsy torch).
And I must add that the wide bridge George builds between King Tubby and Stockhauser as media-deconstructivists who are piecing together a future sound, which operates in a different realm them the past mass-media of past dictators, feels great. The artists were working to hear the sublime by using their sound systems/band filters as navigational instruments! I’ve been inspired to work with dub in my studio recently. I also fondly ponder if our Kaosspad work in Masku Movement qualifies as such, or particularly this Hard Boiled track from 2006. Also bought a used Ginko Synthese Sampleslicer MkII to specifically experiment with dub styles and techniques.