Remixology: Tracing the Dub Diaspora

by Paul Sullivan

In Remixology: Tracing the Dub Diaspora Paul Sullivan explores the evolution of Dub; the avant-garde verso of Reggae. Dub as a set of studio strategies and techniques was among the first forms of popular music to turn the idea of song inside out, and is still far from being fully explored. With a unique grip on dance, electronic, and popular music, dub-born notions of remix and re-interpretation set the stage for the music of the twenty-first century.
This book explores the origins of dub in ’70s Kingston, Jamaica and traces its evolution as a genre, approach and attitude to music to the present day. Stopping off in the cities where it has made most impact – London, Berlin, Toronto, Kingston, Bristol, New York, Sullivan’s study spans a range of genres, from post-punk to dub-techno, jungle to the now ubiquitous dubstep. Along the way he speaks to a host of international musicians, DJs and luminaries of the dub world including Scientist, Adrian Sherwood, Channel, U Roy, Clive Chin, Dennis Bovell, Shut Up And Dance, DJ Spooky, Francois Kevorkian, Mala and Roots Manuva.
This wide-ranging and lucid book follows several parallel threads, including the evolution of the MC, the birth of sound system culture and the broader story of the post-war Jamaican diaspora itself. One of the few books to be written specifically on dub and its global influence, Remixology is also one of the first to look at the specific relationship between dub and the concept that cuts across all postmodern creative disciplines today: the Remix.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

267 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Paul Sullivan was born in Trenton, New Jersey, but he says: “I spent the best years of my boyhood in Tennessee. My father and I did a lot of hunting and fishing and traveling through the South. Those years, until I was about fourteen, were very free years. We camped by lakes or rivers, or went off to see what was over the next mountain. My father had a great love of travel, learning, and books, and I took them away with me. The greatest gift he gave me was a library card. I learned about Hemingway and Jack London. And today my own books are in that same town library.”

In the 1980s he traveled: to South America, Central America, Europe, Africa, and the Arctic. “I kept notes and I wrote and found Royal Fireworks Press who thought my work good enough to print. They have published six of my novels, with two more novels and a book of short stories in the pipeline.”

Paul Sullivan bases his stories and novels on places he has been, things he has seen and learned. “I try to give them some value and write books that can be read from age eight to eighty and still be enjoyed. The greatest compliment a person often gives me after reading one of my books is simply, ‘I never saw it that way,’or, ‘I learned something.’”

Reviews

[Aloke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough history of dub’s many permutations. The discography is probably worth the price alone. The writing isn’t great but does the job.

For reggae and dub fans also check out this playlist I made from the discography in the book Exodus: Heirs and Pioneers, Rastafaria Return to Ethiopia (and check out my review of this book too!)

Repatriation Reggae:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Ds...

[Travis Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many music history books, this one often feels like a laundry list of musicians, labels, and venues – but it did give me a deeper understanding for the overall shape of the incredibly diverse and influential phenomenon that we call "dub".

Of course, it covers the genre's origins in Kingston in the 1960s and 70s. It goes on to explore dub's various offshoots – its interactions with hip-hop in NYC, the distinctively British scene that arose in Bristol and London (including its crossover with white punk rock), the various genres that it influenced via the UK acid house scene (UK garage; grime; trip-hop; dubstep), the birth of dub techno in Berlin, and Canadian dub poetry (which I knew almost nothing about before).

If nothing else, it's a good way to find artists to check out. A worthwhile read, if you're into the genre. (Is it even a genre, though? As this history demonstrates, the term "dub" – like the related term "ambient" – is more of a spirit than a single, clearly definable sound.)

[Stevejreviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dub just may be the music world’s greatest accident. In 1968, Kingston, Jamaica sound system operator Ruddy Redwood went to cut a one-off dubplate and engineer Byron Smith accidentally left the vocal track. However, Redwood kept the dubplate and played it at his next dance, with his deejay toasting over the rhythm and it was, of course, a wild success. But this book is not a history of Jamaican dub. Not even close. Rather, it is a history of the reverberations and explorations that followed. You can read my review in its' entirety at allmusicbooksdotcom, but this is an excellent and detailed account of the various “versions” of dub. This book will likely send you, as it did me, to the time/space continuum that is the internet, searching for sound clips to further inform and enhance the trip. Enjoy.

[Foivos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book for the genre's fans. As previously mentioned, worth it mainly for the discography, rather than for the story telling.