The Godfather Delivers Rivers of Dub

Over the Memorial Day weekend I was involved in a major Dubathon musick swap with some friends from Glass Cow & Eat A Peach. It was a massive undertaking & some heavyweight Jamaican roots music was traversing the globe.

I am mostly the source for the Dub side of things, as I am not a huge fan of more mainstream reggae. I tend to like the riddim punched up to 11 & all the studio tricks the Dub royalty of Kings & Princes can lay on me, with the vocal tracks pared down to just another facet of instrumentation.

However, some of the material that was requested & swapped was more traditional reggae. As I listened to a vast variety of JA styles: roots; dancehall; rocksteady; Dub; & reggae, I began to enjoy some of the vocal stylings of certain artists. Although Prince Far I has a gruff vocal style, I have always liked his reggae as well as his Dub outings. Some of the smoother voices I was hearing started to resonate with me now, perhaps from the heavy bombardment. Derrick Harriott & Don Carlos particularly caressed my ears & touched my soul.

Sweet-voiced vocalist Don Carlos (born Euvin Spencer) was one of the original trio of singers with the great Black Uhuru along with his two friends, Rudolph 'Garth' Dennis & Derrick 'Duckie' Simpson. They were lifelong friends from the Waterhouse district of western Kingston, Jamaica. Many talented Jamaican musick artists such as King Tubby, Junior Reid, & Prince Jammy were also from this area.

I discovered Dub releases by both Derrick Harriott & the Crystalites (Scrub-a-Dub), & Don Carlos which I have really come to enjoy. This one has, to my way of thinking, just the right amount of vocals with a heavy dose of that fabulous mash-it-up Bunny Lee stylee. Listen & decide for yourself…

Don Carlos – Inna Dub Style: Rare Dubs 1979-1980, Jamaican Recordings, 2004.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist –

Spread Out in Dub

My Brethren in Dub

Bosrock Dub

I’m Gonna Make You Love Dub

Big Mouth Dub

Conscious Rasta Dub

Booming Dub

Infra Red Dub

Move Me Dub

Baby Don’t Care for Dub

Tribulation Dub

Too Late to Dub

Rivers of Dub

There’s a Dub Faraway

Check it Deep,

NØ

C'est la Vie

Reuploaded by request 12/17/2024

Back in the late 80s/early 90s I edited a punk & comix 'zine with a bunch of other crazies in San JoHaze , Cali. We tracked down outré musick or were tracked down by weirdo bands & musicians. Through some twist of events, we came into communication with Woody Dumas of C'est la Mort. Some years later I had the pleasure to spend some time with M. Dumas after he had moved to Oregon. Cottage Grove is right on Interstate 5 just south of Eugene. Through some other twist of events, we were heading to Eugene, had a few days to kill, had found out Woody was living in Oregon & got his address from a friend of a friend of a friend kinda thing. I have to say we had a great time, listened to & talked about some great music. Woody Dumas was a fine, friendly, intelligent human being who is surely missed.

C'est la Mort Records was a small but influential independent record label that operated from the home of Woodrow Huntley Dumas in Baker, Louisiana. C'est la Mort specialized in ethereal, ambient, dream pop, & darkwave bands. ClM operated from 1984 until 1994.

According to liner notes included in the Dr. Death Vol. I LP compilation record, Woody Dumas began his Dr. Death radio show on KLSU in December of 1983. KLSU 91.1 FM is the student-run college radio station for Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The radio station is part of the university's Student Media Program. KLSU utilizes students as DJs & management staff. Thus began Woody's sojourn into radio.

The radio show led to a mail order business known as Deadly Records. That eventually led to the C'est la Mort label itself. In addition to albums released for individual acts, there were six Dr. Death compilation albums released.

Modeled after UKs 4AD, C'est la Mort released a number of albums influential to the Gothic & dream pop genres. Associated bands included: East Ash & Room Nine, who only appeared on ClM; bands such as Beautiful Pea Green Boat, Heavenly Bodies, The Arms of Someone New, & Area that went on to record for Third Mind & have seen re-release by Projekt on their Archive series; & probably the most well known, Controlled Bleeding who have appeared on such labels as Soleilmoon, Dark Vinyl, Sub Rosa, Third Mind, even Wax Trax! & who already had a string of releases on heavy hitters Inner-X-Musick, Dossier, & others when Woody landed them in 1989.

Born August 27, 1950, Dumas died on September 18, 2012 in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Little Woody, as he was known to friends & family, graduated from Baker High School in 1968. He attended Atlanta College of Art. He was a gifted stained glass artist who has works currently displayed in the OLOL Chapel & in several EBRP governmental buildings. As well as an artist, music lover, radio show host & producer, Woody also had his private pilot's license & was an avid stargazer. After leaving Louisiana, he resided in Cottage Grove, Oregon. There he ran a successful internet radio station, iPop Café.

Here are some of the treasures from Little Woody, starting with the very first, from Dr. Death hisself…

Various – Dr. Death's Volume I – Cette Enfant Me Fia Mourir, C'est la Mort CLM001, 1986.
all decryption codes in comments

Side 1 –

Faulter – Rash of Stabbings

Fish (different version than 4AD) – Throwing Muses

All My Eye & Betty Martin – Breathless

Family – The Kite

Afraid – Pat on the Back

Side 2 –

Angels Sing – Room Nine

Survival – Circle Confusion

Rain – M-1 Alternative

Find the Time – Lung Overcoat

Save – End Over End

 

 

Room Nine – Voices…of a Summers Day, C'est la Mort CLMLP002, 1987.

Side 1 –

Circus Floor

Revolving Door

Don't Look Back

Red Dog

Side 2 –

1000 Years

The Thorn

Mirage

Seas Without a Shore

White Summer

 

 

Psyche – Unveiling the Secret, C'est la Mort CLMNR004, 1896.

Side 1 –

Thundershowers

Caught in the Act

Lord Unleashed

Prisoner to Dersire

Side 2 –

The Saint Became a Lush

Black Panther

Taking Chances

Unveiling the Secret

 

 

Area – The Perfect Dream, C'est la Mort CLM/LP006. 1988.

Side 1A -

25

With Louise

I'll Gather Flowers

Surrender to the Wheel

Sympathy

Side 1B –

Why Should I Worry

Vigilant

Thread

Tunnel

As Thick as Thieves

 

 

The Arms of Someone New – Promise, C'est la Mort CLMCD008, 1989.

Jaqueline

No City Fun   

Hollywood     

Pirouette

Blue Rain       

Stars End       

Here Comes Everything         

Souvenir         

Beacon           

Another Heaven         

Every Seventh Wave

"Collage"       

The Sense of an Evening       

Everything at Once

 

 

Beautiful Pea Green Boat – Still Life, C'est la Mort CLMCD009, 1989.

The Powerhouse

Hammers of Islam

Too Much

When Dreams Moved In

The Vase

Among the Ruins

Paper House

Danielle

Mirrors of Souls

The Screw

Nostalgia

And She Laughed Too

 

 

Friends of Ghosts – Realm of the Senses, C'est la Mort CLM010, 1987.

Side 1 –

Realm of the Senses

William the Scotsman

Hollywood Land

Sinister Daze

Eleven Boy

Windows

Side 2 –

Juju Digby Juju

Noël

Ciao Manhattan

Broadcast of Love

WMT

 

 

Heavenly Bodies – Rains on Me 12" EP, C'est la Mort CLMEP017, 1988.

Side 1 –

Rains on Me (extended mix)

Side 2 –

Rains on Me (short version)

Pure & Simple

 

 

Area – Radio Caroline, C'est la Mort CLMCD018, 1988.

This One

Head Above Water

Sweet Revenge

Michael Writes His Parents

One Desire

Transmitter

Resistance

Long Faces

After the End

Crystal

plus –

Higher than Heaven

Sincerely Charlotte

Parachute

 

 

The Arms of Someone New – Every Seventh Wave 12" EP, C'est la Mort CLMEP019, 1988.

Side 1 –

Every Seventh Wave (intermix)

Every Seventh Wave (album mix)

Side 2 –

The Sense of an Ending

Everything at Once

 

 

East Ash – Crushing A Flood cassette, C'est la Mort CLMCS025, 1990.

Side 1 –

Dreams

Australian Beaches

Doesn't Know

Faceless

Wonderful Life

Side 2 –

A Flood

Funerals

Milk & Honey

The Disease

 

 

Courage of Lassie – Sing or Die, C'est la Mort CLM026, 1990.

Side 1 –

Ami Gans Cette Vie

Who'll Stop the Rain

Bang Bang My Baby Shot Me Down

Lonely Street

Big Town

Side 2 –

Sing or Die

Ophelia

Wild River

Down by the Salley Gardens

The Night Closes In

 

 

Handful of Snowdrops – Land of the Damned, C'est la Mort CLM028, 1990.

Terroir I

When Comes Day Light

Gabrielle

A Miracle

Scream Cry or Fall

Face to Face

Terroir II

Land of the Damned

 

 

Various – Dr. Death's Volume IV – The Marvels of Insect Life, C'est la Mort CLM029-2, 1990.

The Marvels of Insect Life Theme – M-1 Alternative

Dark Hour – Johanna’s House of Glamour

Two Clouds – Mumbles

Cut – Double Happiness

Vacation – Critical Mass

If God Is – Flower Sermon

Slumming – M-1 Alternative

Alone – Talisker Tale

Greeks & Romans – Psychic Surgery

Green Light – Area

Translator – Blackgirls

Athea – Leigh Gregory

Ragman – Halycon Daze

Delicate Balance – The Millions

Crowd of Drifters – The Magnetic Fields

Salty Sea – Future Neighbors

Whale’s Belly – And Siamese Urbain

Now, Then, & Forever – Handful of Snowdrops

 

 

Johanna’s House of Glamour – Farewell Street, C'est la Mort clm030-2, 1990.

Losing Ground

Now

Pretty Promises

Cosmic Dancer

Another Page

Fell into You

Blue Noon

River of Change

Half Light

Do You Hear Me When I Dream?

Blue U

When I Loved You

Next December

Farewell Street

Eyes of the Night

 

 

Area – Fragments of the Morning, C'est la Mort clm031-2, 1990.

Puzzle Boy

The One Year

Express

Green Light

All Souls

Larger than Life

About Time

At Arms Length

Subway

Dead Feather Years

Lifeline

All Souls (acoustic)

Express (extended)

 

 

East Ash – Ellie, C'est la Mort CLMCD033-2, 1991.

Northpole Butterfly

The Alone Song

Breal Your Back

Epic Sex Bombing

Funk Opera

Strangers on a Train (Part 1)

Green Chevy

Nobody

Virgil Who?

No. 1 Man

Push

Strangers on a Train (Part 2)

 

 

Such is Death,

NØ

Straight to the Heart

The Ambient Society - A0rta EP, 001 Collective, 2007. 

To the Beat of Your Heart,

NØ

Under the Spell of Witches & Devils? Repent!

Charles Gayle - Repent, Knitting Factory Works KFWCD122, 1992.

decryption code in comments

Brought on by A.A.
NØ

It was Touch & Go for a While

Magazine - Definitive Daze: Pre-Real Life demos & live gigs 1977-78

Enjoy,
NØ

I Am The Crusher!!!

 High weirdness here, hostages.

This album was the idea of graphic designer Colin 'Barney Bubbles' Fulcher (you might know him from the classic early Hawkwind sleeves, his work with Elvis Costello, Stiff Records, & F-Beat Records or the original iconic red NME logo).

Barney recorded all of the original cover versions for Side 1 onto a cheap cassette recorder. He then took them to members of Nik Turner’s Inner City Unit. He let the musicians hear each song once & then they proceeded to record the songs from memory as a single take for each song. Side 2 is a side-long original track "Insolence Across the Nation", the story of one Mr. Hitler with readings from his book Mein Kampf set to the music of Wagner.

The Imp Pomps are: Barney Bubbles – inspirational guru; Trev Thoms guitar & vocals; Nik Turner – saxopohone & vocals; & Ermano Ghisio ‘Dino Ferrari’ Erba – drums with various other sounds & souls.

The Imperial Pompadours – Ersatz, Pompadour POPMOD1, 1982.
decryption code in comments

Side 1 –

The Crusher

See You Soon Baboon

Fu Manchu

Brand New Cadillac

Light Show

Little Black Egg

Moo Goo Gai Pan

Gemini Spacecraft

(I Want to Come Back from) The World of LSD

Chicken

There’s a Fungus Among Us

King Bee

Black Leather Trousers & Motorcycle Boots

Side 2 –

Insolence Across the Nation

Enjoy,

NØ

Spirits First

Albert Ayler – Witches & Devils, Freedom, 1975.
decryption code in comments

Side One –

Witches & Devils

Spirits

Side Two –

Holy Holy

Saints

Jazz for FREE,

NØ

Still Not Not Fun

Magic Lantern – At the Mountains of Madness cassette, Not Not Fun, 2007.

Side A –

At the Mountains of Madness

Side B –

Untitled "Live"

Crazy,

NØ

Godco Queero A Go Go

God is My Co-Pilot – The Very Best of…, Atavistic, 1996.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist –

Behave

Caught Looking

Hutzulka

Totally Wired

Queer Disco Anthem

Steal Yr Girlfriend

Kiss & Tell

Pillu Laulu

Flesh Made Word

Butch Flip

Mezinke Skip

Kendine Gel

Girl-Crazy Girl

Björkfruits

Childhood Daydreams of Abduction & Mutilation

I Cream

Backstab

Rubber or Leather

Laulu X

Thank You, Just Thank You

Queer Disco Anthem (remix)

Behave (remix)

Shut Up,

NØ

It Doesn't Matter

One & only album from Leeds blues rock crew: Gerry MacLaughlin – guitar; Bren Gore – keyboards & vocals; John Joe Kelly – bass; & Nigel Coatman – drums.

Gags – Death in Buzzards' Gulch, Look Records, 1978.
decryption code in comments

Side 1 –

Mr. Stilletto

Easy Lay

Light Another Cigarette

Tell Mama

Side 2 –

Moneymakers

On Your Way

Rock of Old

It Doesn’t Matter

Rock on,

NØ

Seidr

Patrick "O'Kill" Leagas (Death in June – Sixth Comm) & Karen "Amodali" Halewood (Sixth Comm).

Mother Destruction – Pagan Dance, Pagan Dance Label, 1994.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist –

Hella Roots

Beyond the Ka

Serpent Skins

Babalon Sun Mantra

At the Sill of the Door

Birth of the 7…(Twin Souls)

Wodenseed

Serpent Trance (Full Moon mix)

Seethe on,

NØ

Can't Stop This Crazy Thing

Coldcut – What’s That Noise?, Tommy Boy, 1989.

decryption code in comments

Enjoy,
NØ

Sisyphus Pushin' a Black Ark

Sorry about the shitty first rip. Don't know what happened, but when I was listening to it (after the posting fact) I realized I had somehow left dead air after each track. Fixed & re-upped. Please forgive me!!!

The Black Ark Psychedelick Soul & Jazz Revue – Volume One: The Archive Series, 2009.

Tracklist – 

Frog Swamp Soup

Build a New Ark

Roots Under Meridians

Untitled Storeys

Witching Dub

Ark Oscuro

Crowley

Hazing of the Monks

Human Meets Robot

Jammer Speaks

Lee Perry

Grey Dub

The Prisoner

Pushing Rock Uphill

Untitled Ligetti

Slow Down

Zoot Loops

City Sleeps

You’re Gonna Miss My Lovin’

Enjoy,

NØ

Essential Too

This bangarang leans heavily on Lee Perry & King Tubby at their most crucial, with a few chestnuts throw in to sweeten the mix.

 Various - Thursday's Essential Dub, Vol. 2

 Tracklist –

Blackboard Jungle Dub (Ver. 1)  - The Upsetters – Blackboard Jungle Dub, early 1970s

Original Dub – African Brothers meet King Tubby in Dub, 2005

Declaration of Rights – Don Carlos – Dub Version, 2000

Shocking Dub – Linton Kwesi Johnson – LKJ in Dub, 1980

Think it Over Dub – Wackies Rhythm Force – African Roots Act III: Strictly Dubwise, 1983

Dedication to Style Scott – Roots Radics – Live at Channel One, 198x

Armageddon Dub – Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace – Original Armageddon Dub,
(recorded in 1978 – unreleased until 2000)

Dub Hill - Rockers All Stars – Up Waricka Hill (Augustus Pablo) b/w Dub Hill 7". 1974

Crime Wave – King Tubby meets the Upsetters – At the Grass Roots of Dub, 2005

Sidewalk Killer – I-Roy – Sidewalk Doctor (Tommy McCook) b/w Sidewalk Killer 7", 1972

Mass Murder & Corruption – Scientist – High Priest of Dub, 1982

Dub in Red – Harry Mudie & the Mudies All Stars – Reggae Bible / Book of Drifters
(split w/ The Rhythm Rulers), 1989

Sitting & Skanking Dub – Lee Perry the Upsetter meets Scientist – At the Blackheart Studio, 1996

Kicking Scott – Bullwackies All Stars – Natures Dub, 1980

Love Dub – Blackslate Meets Soul Syndicate – Moodies in Dub Vol. 1, 1978

Cool in Dub – Roots Radics featuring Gladstone Anderson – Radical Dub Session, 1981 or 1982

Doctor on the Go – Lee Perry & the Upsetters – Revolution Dub, 1975

Ranking uphill,

NØ

The Dub Dentist

A while back I served up Keith Hudson’s Brand. At the time I was showcasing some early Pressure Sounds releases that are no longer available. That post was one of the most popular at the time.

Brand is in fact the second act of the trifecta of innovate dub albums that began with the classic Pick A Dub & ended with Nuh Skin Up.

The first third of the set, Pick A Dub, is one of the earliest dub albums to ever be released, way back in 1974. It features Hudson’s ultra-heavy bass & drum style propelled by Carlton & Aston Barrett. It showcases remixes of earlier reggae material with echoing vocals including Hudson, Horace Andy, & Big Youth to underscore the intense percussive rhythm. More than 40 years after the record's original release the raw edge of experimentation still pours forth.

Keith Hudson & Family Man - Pick A Dub, Mamba MAM003, 1974.

decryption codes in comments

Side A –

Pick A Dub
Black Heart
Michael Talbot Affair
Don't Move
Blood Brother
Dreaded Than

Side B –

In the Rain
Part 1-2 Dub Wise
Black Right
Satia
I'm All Right
Depth Charge

The Soul Syndicate is the backing band (Earl 'Chinna' Smith – guitar, Augustus Pablo – melodica, Aston Barrett – bass, & Carlton Barrett – drums). Recorded & mixed at Harry J’s Recording Studio in Kingston, Jamaica by Keith Hudson & Aston Barrett.

The third act, Nuh Skin Up, has been largely eclipsed by the first two, but in my opinion, this is the crowning gem of the three, so strongly & creatively inspired. This album collects another set of tracks recorded with the legendary Soul Syndicate band as well as, according to the interview with Hudson’s close associate Junior Walker: ''a white reggae group from Baltimore playing on "Ire Ire" & "Troubles" (most likely also on "No Commitment"). The tracks that feature the Soul Syndicate band probably came from the same sessions that make up Brand, which were mixed at King Tubby's.

Keith Hudson – Nuh Skin Up (Dub), Joint International GT006, 1979.

Side 1 –

Even Those Dreadful Words

Nuh Skin Up

Mercy

Bad Things

Side 2 –

Keeping Us Together

Ire Ire

Desiree

Troubles

No Commitment

Reespek,

NØ

Justice from the Welsh Velvet

John Cale – vocals, guitar, piano, & viola; Ritchie Fliegler – lead guitar; Jimmy Bain – bass; & Kevin Currie – drums with Bruce Brody – synthesizer.

John Cale – Animal Justice 12" 45rpm, Illegal Records IL003, 1977.

Side A –

Chicken Shit

Memphis

Side B –

Hedda Gabbler

Enjoy,

NØ

The Lone Gunman Gets a Taste

 Dredge, James Meat, & Zowie Fenderblast. Contains the 1989 self-titled EP (tracks 12 thru 17). No longer available from Touch & Go.

The Lee Harvey Oswald Band – A Taste of Prison, Touch & Go, 1994.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist –

Theme Fenderblast

Tinglers

Jesus Never Lived on Mars

Mamma’s All Right

Amen, Man

Locomotion

The Bowel of Rock & Roll

Junior’s Farm

Getting It On / Off

Roadside Full of Tammy

Van Gogh & the Chemical Haze

Steam Roller Dogie

Getting Wasted with the Vampires

Boss Hoss

Lightning Strikes

Mad Dog (live Germany 1989)

When the Satans Come Marching In

Bullet to the Brain,

NØ

What a Gas!

Gas are: Ian Blenkinsop (The McGoohans, Drowning is Easy); Gene-Pool Belmondo (Brother Love And His Far Out Space Nuts); & Mick Elborado (The Terminals, Scorched Earth Policy, The Axemen, The Shallows). Recorded at various locations in Christchurch, New Zealand 1996 to 1998. Limited edition of 300 copies.

Gas – Compressed Gas 7” EP, Siltbreeze SB125, 2009.

Side 1 –

League of the Golden Maidens

Cubicle

Another Poor Fuck

Side 2 –

Speak No More

Thirst

Pushing Against Me

Enjoy,

NØ

Samla Mammas Manna Zamla Mammaz Manna von Zamla

RIO super group established by Lars Hollmer & Eino Haapala, two members of the Swedish band Zamla Mammaz Manna.

This has never been released on CD. Trying that FLAC thing one more time.

Von Zamla – No Make Up!, Krax KRAX 3, 1984.
decryption code in comments

Face A –

Forge Etude
Soon Series
Für Munju / Indojazz
Gilmit

Face B –

Hopeful
Endango
Piece of Antsong
Voice Improvisation
After SMRT
Cancion de Bi-Mi-Mela

On this outing, Von Zamla have expanded to: Eino Haapala – guitar & vocals; Lars Hollmer – keyboards & accordion; Hans Louhelainen – keyboards & melodica; Michel Berckmans – bassoon & oboe; Wolfgang Salomon – bass & guitaron; & Mårten Tiselius – drums with Kalle Eriksson - trumpet & percussion.

Enjoy,

NØ