last night, I totally had a sleepless night...
no matter what i did, I kept tossing and turning, and because I'm congested-like-a-mother.., I just gave up, because with each toss and turn I could feel all sorts of liquids inside of me toss as well as turn with each movement...
so, what I did, to take up my time is
1) start my Barack Obama book
and
2) download all types of bob marley music. (I can't find an image, but look for it on itunes)
earlier this week, "bob marley and the wailers, in the dub vol 1" came out, and I read all of the uninformed reviews that gave this piece of art 1 star.
It's basically the background reggae music of all his famous hits without his main vocals. there a couple of remixes--or extended echoes, but other-wise it's just the background music.
You can hear the occasional background vocal, in songs like: "is this love" and "3 little birds"...but, the aim of the c.d. is the music itself. it's dub. duh.
I think what these reviewers were totally missing out on is the talent and the layering of reggae music itself. The skill of the sound, and the richness of what is the actual heart of reggae.
I'm not discrediting bob marley at all, I think he was a lyrical genius and a political-poet. His way of delivering music, through his "often duplicated, never replicated" style of singing, makes him, to me, one of the best musical artist...ever.
But, what this dub album proves is that you need all parts to make magic. The music, the real steady drumbeats, and the choices made to add certain instruments in and fade them out during certain points of the song is amazing. And it also show's bob's legacy, because if you're a fan, you can literally sing-a-long, word for word, and you never get lost in the syncopated beat--which in some songs, can almost be hypnotizing. The background vocals catch you, to keep you on track--which, at least for me, I never got out of.
I didn't realize how much of a fan I was until this morning at 2 a.m. when I found that I could sing all of his songs, without him.
lol.
other downloads that made my heart sing were from the album "b is for bob"
oh my god. what creativity. i loved it.
this time it was bob's vocals to different background music. And ya, it's been done, how many bob-remixes does the world need? Well, if the question was based on "b is for bob" I would say: 10 million. I think whoever was the mastermind to this, should do this same arrangement for other well-known songs by other well-known artists.
so good.
unless you're one of those lame "everything has to stay the same, untouched" types, it is worth a try. Once again, the elements of good lyrics, powerful delivery, and well-thought-out choices in musical arrangement proves golden.
I would suggest: "jammin" (which is, I think, one of the most over-played songs on local radio-stations...so you almost forget how great the song is. So, when you hear this version, it's so refreshing that you actually tune back in to the greatness of the song.)
"stir it up" which is a lot shorter than the original, but the added piano in the background makes it, to me, so fun...
and "3 little birds" which starts of sound like the 4 non-blondes "whats-up" and then then bob's lyrics kick in, and you realize you're listening to a diamond in your headphones. there is an added chyme (similar to the rock-a-bye-baby bob marley thing) that I can't tell if I like, or not, but it definitely adds an out-of-this-existence element to the song.
This is so..what's the word...morbid, but when I die, I want this "b is for bob" "three little birds" version, as well as nina simones "here comes the sun" to be played.
lol.
what a last note to end on.
download it. it's beautiful.
**Winnie.
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