Roots Manuva: ‘Dub Come Save Me’
July 11th, 2002 by freddie96
ROOTS MANUVA
Dub Come Save Me
(Big Dada)
Despite its title, this LP isn’t really a dub version of Roots Manuva’s ‘Run Come Save Me’. Instead, it mixes four dub versions of tracks from that fine album with six tracks that are either new or have only been previously available as MP3s – most of them left over from the epic recording sessions for his last album that committed over thirty tracks to tape.
Hence it’s more of a companion piece than a ‘version’ proper. For those who find the full-on Roots experience too in-yer-face, perhaps – and there is no doubting that ‘Run Come Save Me’ has more energy, swagger and bass than most – it makes a gentler, more instrumental introduction to Roots’ musical manoeuvrings.
Not that there is anything gentle about opener ‘Man Fi Cool’, a typically furious piece of verbalising in which Roots lays into the ‘ghetto madness’ for which he has so little time. Indeed, the same goes for ‘Revolution 5’, which pitches Chali 2na and Wayne Paul into the verbal melting pot. Both these tracks are as sharp and spiky as anything Rodney Smith has done.
As you’d expect from an album of this ilk, there’s an experimental edge to some of the material here. ‘Tears’, for example, has a slow electro feel not a million miles away from Gary Numan, while ‘Dreamy Days SFA Dub’ has Super Furry Animals at the mixing desk, turning the original into a truly odd and inventive piece of music.
The stand-out new track for me is ‘UK Warriors’, another collaborative tune made in tribute to the UK hip hop scene. Perversely enough, it is set to a fine roots reggae rhythm, over which Riddla’s hard-edged gripes and Roots’ more positive vibes are well-balanced. In some respects, however, this album saves the best till last. ‘Witness Dub’ is a drop-dead brilliant tune that was deservedly featured on Zero 7’s ‘Another Late Night’. As I am sure ‘Dub Come Save Me’ is designed to do – and as his contribution to the recent Cinematic Orchestra album certainly does – it leaves you hungry for more from the rare and wayward talent that is Roots Manuva.
Freddie B.
