Dub (reggae) with serious BASSWEIGHT!

benjybars

benjybars

village elder.
ok i've heard stories about people throwing up (!) at some dub nights (university of dub, for example) because the bass has been so immense...:D

so, can someone please direct me towards tunes, artists, labels and specifically MIXES which contain such violent levels of bass?!??


also, do stories such as these (whether they're true or not) arise because they systems can be so massive at dub nights, or is it in the production values of the tunes themselves??

cheers.
 
STN

STN

sou'wester
benjybars said:
also, do stories such as these (whether they're true or not) arise because they systems can be so massive at dub nights, or is it in the production values of the tunes themselves??

cheers.
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Bit of both. for my money the weightiest sounds are Jah Tubby's, Aba Shanti and King Earthquake. Dubplates are often mixed with louder bass too.

Three easy-to-find home-listening bassy tunes off the top of my head: Horace Andy's cut of Cuss Cuss. Twinkle Brothers 12 of Faith Can Move Mountain, Aswad's Mossman Skank.

My mate once threw up at University of Dub but he had been drinking since 2 so I don't think it was purely Jah's t'under wot done it.
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
I'm not so much into the whole bass bodybuilders thing these days but had some fun times at Iration vs Abashanti and Shanti vs Jah Tubbys in about 2000 in the small room at Electrowerkz.

Making bottles of water dance across a window ledge...

I guess all of that Iration Steppas, Vibronics, etc stuff is the way to go with this.

The music is made for soundsystem play, the systems are made to play the music, so it's circular.

There's no point in hearing mixes of it in little headphones or whatever. Your best bet is to see one of the big UK systems in a small room with a low ceiling...
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
Good intros to the UK Dub sound would be the Lead With The Bass comps on Universal Egg. Tho of course people will say it's all about hearing it on 12", not LP, or you need the blah blah dubplate cut or whatever.

Ditto Jah Tubbys for bassweight - there is something about what they do which means it has massive impact but also retains its clarity.
 
E

elgato

I just dont know
john eden said:
Ditto Jah Tubbys for bassweight - there is something about what they do which means it has massive impact but also retains its clarity.
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you know they plays from laptop now though? i was surprised by that...

the tunes they played when i saw them amazed me though, loved every minute of it

Benjy there are loads of these things in London, i would recommend just getting down to one, similarly i have found that home listening doesn't even really touch the same experience

Iration are playing (with their system) this Saturday in fact, although it looks like a slightly odd evening
 
Slothrop

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
john eden said:
I guess all of that Iration Steppas, Vibronics, etc stuff is the way to go with this.
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Yeah, even seeing our local system (Highness in Nottingham) in a small room was a bit of a revelation. You suddenly realize that there's a whole other dimension of bass to the tunes. I think part of the reason I'm not sold on a lot of dubstep refixes of classic reggae tunes is the suspicion that half the audience think the original of Police in Helicopters (say) was a nice light pop reggae thing with a good tune to listen to on the beach and now there's a dubstep mix it's been given some bassweight too...
 
benjybars

benjybars

village elder.
cheers for the tips...

has anyone reached university of dub since it went to SE1?? i used to go there when it was the Drome but haven't been since they did it up.. seems like a weird place to have a dub night tho..
 
N

noel emits

a wonderful wooden reason
What about Shaka these days? haven't seen him since The Rocket in around '92 but that was serious IIRC. Bass like molasses.

Iration system is tasty though, and they drop a bit of dubstep.
 
M

mms

sometimes
noel emits said:
What about Shaka these days? haven't seen him since The Rocket in around '92 but that was serious IIRC. Bass like molasses.

Iration system is tasty though, and they drop a bit of dubstep.
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iration make a pretty modern sound at times and it can tear thru yr chest.
 
N

noel emits

a wonderful wooden reason
mms said:
iration make a pretty modern sound at times and it can tear thru yr chest.
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I guess they always have done. That system is like deep tissue massage, almost shocking at times but delicious. Last time I saw them I was properly in the skank zone and hadn't smoked anything at all. He / they played a couple of Rusko tunes and finished on the Kromestar 'Here I Come' refix, but their stuff has always been taking on board contemporary (erm, Y3K) sounds from Skud Missile.

Shaka when I heard him last was an absolute maniac on the EQ and FX, vicious. He'd leave you with just the highest highs for stoned eternities, then just the physical wall of bass, then going mad with screaming feedback on a Space Echo and dub box, then the whole lot before stopping it and coming with another version twice as good. In complete control. I've got some insane distorted clips somewhere - will try to find.
john eden said:
All roads lead to Wembley... :cool:
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Yeah I saw that. Maybe, maybe.
 
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benjybars

benjybars

village elder.
saw iration steppas at deviate last night.... JESUS! :D

UNBELIEVABLE system.. so much weight.. heard two people say they were gonna throw up from the bass :cool:
 
L

Logos

Ghosts of my life
benjybars said:
saw iration steppas at deviate last night.... JESUS! :D

UNBELIEVABLE system.. so much weight.. heard two people say they were gonna throw up from the bass :cool:
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Was pretty weighty on Sat - can go louder though ;)

Was a pretty odd/funny night...crowd was a bit weird, I thought it was sponsored by the London Paper or something, some of the girls looked more like they should have been dragging themselves out of some Mayfair nightclub at 2am on a wednesday, not in East London. Maybe I'm just getting old!
 
benjybars

benjybars

village elder.
Logos said:
Was pretty weighty on Sat - can go louder though ;)

Was a pretty odd/funny night...crowd was a bit weird, I thought it was sponsored by the London Paper or something, some of the girls looked more like they should have been dragging themselves out of some Mayfair nightclub at 2am on a wednesday, not in East London. Maybe I'm just getting old!
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yeah know what u mean.. i was having a pretty shit time before iration steppas played.. it was so stupidly rammed when Chef was playing. shame cos chef's selection on that system sounded sick.

but yeah, DEFINITELY gonna go to an iration steppas night in Leeds soon.

i don't suppose you know the name of the track that got about 5 rewinds in the middle of their set?>
 
matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
benjybars said:
but yeah, DEFINITELY gonna go to an iration steppas night in Leeds soon.

i don't suppose you know the name of the track that got about 5 rewinds in the middle of their set?>
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how many cabs were iration running? usually have 6, but i've heard them with 8 a couple of times- mental.

loudness/heaviness can depend on who iration are playing with- have been very heavy playing w/ both jah tubbys and dubateers recently.


got any hints about the tune you want ID'ed? vocal, dub etc?


good iration sessions to look out for on the internet= 'zion train vs iration steppas' and 'iration steppas@ southend'
 
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rockypoppy2

rockypoppy2

wtf?
any pointers on any nights coming up in london of the sort - or if not, then maybe where to look?

would love to reach one of these, though they seem to be quite expensive events
 
matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
not in london, but could well be one of the dances of the year:

02/05/2008 Sub Dub 10TH BIRTHDAY

Iration Steppas Sound System plus Young Warrior (Son of Jah Shaka) Returns

LEEDS WEST INDIAN CENTRE, LAYCOCK PLACE, CHAPELTOWN
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
rockypoppy2 said:
any pointers on any nights coming up in london of the sort - or if not, then maybe where to look?

would love to reach one of these, though they seem to be quite expensive events
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University of Dub is monthly, just happened last weekend. The biggest, but that is not necessarily a good thing. There are smaller sessions in Shoreditch now and then.

The events section of the Blood & Fire board is goo, but I will try to remember to keep people posted here as well.

They are quite expensive compared to other nights but I think you have to factor in the cost and aggro that comes with people maintaining and transporting their own soundsystems - instead of just showing up with headphones and a box of records.
 
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