  |
|
|
|
As one of Baboon Records early releases, Dr. Israel vs. Dr. X serves to introduce a series of albums pairing urban reggae head Dr. Israel with various artists. As with previous releases from Israel, this effort provides a nice thick slab of bass as the foundation for a number of solid musical comibinations. The duo meets up at the House of Dub in Columbus, Ohio to create some magic.
"Another Day in Babylon" kicks off the album in a stripped-down hip-hop style featuring some nice vocals from emcee Malik, leading nicely into the super-heavy "Skidzilla," which layers gorgeous Augustus Pablo-esque melodica melodies and some light scratching. The end result is five minutes of bubbling hot dub goodness and possibly the best track on the disc. There is a definite string that winds throughout the disc, connecting each track to the next in a logical way. "She Needed Me," for instance, follows "Skidzilla," and though it's a lighter sound than the track before it and features Dr. Israel on vocals rather than being a dub version, it still has a melodica element to make the transition sound natural. The track is also served well by some initially confusing sitars that eventually weave well into the fiber of the track. It's refreshing to hear an album that's actually meant to be taken as a whole and just not a sum of its parts. Lyrically, Dr. Israel doesn't throw us any curveballs: it's straight up politics and fighting Babylon's politricks. We hear this on the overtly political tracks "Cease the Occupation" and "Downpressorman," but it's evident even on the vocalless dub versions of those two tracks. There's always been something about Dr. Israel that I've liked. Maybe it's his Michael Franti-like ability to blend musical styles, bring the bass, and drop a political message that doesn't suffer at the hands of the music. Maybe it's just that the sound of so-called urban reggae (basically, what you'd expect from a Brooklynite with an ear for six-ton dub music) that grooves me. I'm not sure, but whatever it is, a Dr. Israel album is always an experience. His experiments don't always shine (I wasn't a big fan of "Reckless I-Ballin" or "Addis Ababa" on this disc), but they're always different without going over the edge. The Dr. Israel vs... series seems promising, and I look forward to staying up with the latest releases in the coming months and years. Go To Page: 1
The copyright of the article Review of Dr. Israel vs. Dr. X in Reggae is owned by Ryan A. MacMichael. Permission to republish Review of Dr. Israel vs. Dr. X in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
|
|
|
