Doctor Dread – “Theremin In Dub” – [Tsosume Records]

Thurston Hunger   1/1/2015   CD, Reggae

Gary Himelfarb aka Dr. Dubenstein aka Doctor Dread hands
at the invisible helm, guiding the theremin over some
tasty dub action. Liner notes talk about dub’s beginnings
and the desire for the space dubstination, and how the
theremin’s haunting, alien vibe fits in nicely by hand.
Or it can stand next to the melodica and sort of fly
above a bassline like on “Muchas Gracias”. On “Shotgun”
it adds some zip to a soul-flavored dub of Dave & Ansell
Collins “Double Barrel”. Police saucer siren moves over
the horns and bongos of “U Mad?” Don Carlos’ plea in
“Hear My Motion” has synth kinda nubbed on the low end
and wavering on the high, so the theremin just crests
over all of that. “Tief Dem a Tief” could roll into an
old 808 techno set, the theremin is pretty subdued in
that one. Bob Dylan’s “I and I” is served up on “I For
an Eye” (Dread produced the popular “Is It Rolling Bob”
collection KFJC added almost a decade ago). “Equality”
is another heavy hitter, well tripped out. Hard to go
wrong here, and how many CD’s come up with a pop-up
art inside and a geography test on the back?

-Thurston Hunger