Saturday, September 25, 2021

Duff Review: The Red Stripes: "Soundclash"

The cover features an illustration of Bruce Lee and Jim Kelly DJing in front of a wall of stacked speakers.
Bruce Lee and Jim Kelly wanna drop some heavy dub on you.
(Review by Steve Shafer)

I had intended to review The Red Stripes' Soundclash (LP/digital, Mod Sound Records, 2021) over the summer, but since I was packing up the contents of our apartment of almost three decades and painting/prepping the new one, this album (and a few others) fell through the cracks. But this really stellar album of dub versions of tracks from The Red Stripes' first two albums--In the East (produced by Sean "Cavo" Dinsmore of The Toasters and reviewed by me here) and Made in Hong Kong (produced by King Zepha, which I reviewed here)--by various artists and producers is not to be missed or ignored. There are two magnificent, widescreen cinematic dubs of "Made in Hong Kong Dub" by Celestial and Kusch, respectively. JStar's digital dancehall "Train Wreck Dub" is fantastic for all of its spot-on King Jammy Eighties-ness, whereas King Zepha and B Dub's "His Dubness Returns" is classic roots-era dub with some offbeat sound effects in the mix. Heavensbee's remix of The Red Stripes' cover of "Theme from Rocky," rechristened "Gonna Dub Now" is particularly brilliant and inventive, and Celestial's "55 Dubs Later" reminds me of Mad Professor vs. Massive Attack's No Protection. Fans of the band will definitely want this collection, but even if you're not familiar with The Red Stripes' catalogue, Soundclash is a fantastic dub album in its own right. 

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