Stereo Mash Up by Burning Babylon

This is dub 30 years on from when dub first made its mark in Jamaica - but what makes it really good is that its firmly rooted in the reggae tradition. Samples yes - gimmicks NO! A truly great set..."

Review from Dub Flash at dubflash.com

(Stereo Mash Up)

"**** (4 Stars) - "Stereo Mash Up" is already the fifth release from Boston based dub producer Slade Anderson aka Burning Babylon. Like his previous releases BB mixes old school roots vibes with some funky, modern styles which leads to a wild, pumping mix of roots dub causing positive vibrations and making bodies move.

15 tracks can be found on the album. The range goes from absolutely funky, head nodding, tunes like "Addis Red Dub" to sweet-melody-pop-reggae ("Pressure Tones"...) to smooth soul-dub ("Midnight To Six"; a new style is born?) to punk-dub ("Zamora Version"; sounds like The Clash meets Ruts DC) to wild stepper orgies ("Trouble Dub"; including Eastern sounds).

Burning Babylon, a different dub producer he is. Wouldn't know another name to compare with. Surely far away from the European dub output but because of his unique sound a very welcome alternation in between all the heavy steppers. Give it a try."

Burning Babylon is a one man Dub Reggae project from Boston, Massachusetts USA. Created by Slade Anderson, the heavyweight riddims of Burning Babylon's sound are firmly anchored in the 1970's Jamaican roots tradition, but with an ear for the neo dub stylings of the present day.

Slade came to dub relatively late in his musical career. For 15 years he played guitar in various punk/metal bands in the Boston area, some of which you may be familiar with (The Freeze, Straw Dogs). Not surprisingly, the music he played mirrored what he listened to - loud and fast were the rules of his turntable. What reggae Slade did hear came via The Clash and, of course, Bob Marley. The word "dub" had yet to enter his vocabulary. Although when he was still a teenager it had begun slowly creeping in around the edges, reggae stayed on the periphery of his listening experience for years to follow.

During the mid 90s Slade began playing bass seriously for the first time. During this same period he also decided to investigate reggae more deeply. Since he was now primarily a bass player, focusing on music that was bass-oriented made sense. Wanting music that was more earthy and less slick than Marley or Tosh, he searched for albums that looked as though they might offer what he wanted. The first one Slade bought was Glen Brown and King Tubby: Termination Dub. To him, the cover looked as if the music was going to be pretty classic, grungy and authentic and he liked the title as well. Luckily he'd hit on exactly what he was in search of. It didn't take long for him to readjust the way he listened to music (with little or no vocals) to fully appreciate what he was hearing. "Drums drenched in reverb, horns and guitars echoing into oblivion, and the most heavyweight bass I'd ever heard." It wasn't long before dub was stuck in his brain. Soon Slade was buying every album he could find to immerse himself in the music. Being a musician, he wanted to learn how to play this music that had so captured his attention. "After a few weeks of wrestling with the rhythms, I finally got it and recorded my first dub track." Burning Babylon was born.

"While I hope that I have my own unique take on dub, I've certainly been influenced by those that have come before me." Slade's words ring true, as the spirits of the usual suspects (King Tubby, Scientist, Lee "Scratch") clearly loom large in the Burning Babylon studio.

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