Album dossier / 1982

A New Chapter of Dub

Aswad · Reggae/Dub

A dub remix of Aswad's 1981 New Chapter LP, this Island Records release was conceived because the band felt the original was too intricate for core reggae/sound-system audiences and wanted to win that crowd back. It was mixed at London's Fallout Shelter Studios by producer Michael "Reuben" Campbell (whom critic Rick Anderson has suggested may be an alias of dub veteran Mikey Dread) working alongside Aswad's own drummer-vocalist Angus "Drummie Zeb" Gaye, applying tape and digitally manipulated echo to the horn section -- an unusually advanced technique for a British dub album at the time. AllMusic's Rick Anderson later singled out the intensified snare-drum echo on "Flikkaflame" as anticipating jungle production techniques that wouldn't become common for another decade, and Village Voice critic Greg Tate named the album one of his top ten records of 1982 in the paper's Pazz & Jop poll. It went on to outlast the original vocal album in popularity and reputation, with The Rough Guide to Reggae praising Campbell and Gaye's 'inspired mixing' of Aswad's best rhythms.