Welcome Ickle Raasclarts.

My first post had to be a celebration of Scientist, topical since Sounds Of The Universe have just added ‘Scientist Launches Dubstep Into Outer Space : The Scientist Mixes’ to their fine selection. My favourite has got to be the Scientist Vs Asbo (Loefah & SGT Pokes) ‘Dog Money Dub’ (I keep on meaning to call it Dogday Dub!).

This tune really has restored my confidence in dubstep – it’s deep, but not dark to the extent that it becomes demonic and laughable, and most crucially it has breathing space – not just a huge sound clash of wobbles! The legendary dub engineer comes out of long time hiding to rework some heavyweight tunes making it his own, this one an intense stomping riddim that in the original switches between reflective and grimey, reminding us of Random Trios’ ‘From The Shadows’ in its dark minimalism.

Scientist milks the ambient sections to great atmospheric effect and really emphasises the breaks and drops, with added reverb and echo to keep it dubbed out. Check:

Scientist has over 70 releases, of which there are too many good LPs I frankly wouldn’t know where to start and such an immense influence on the dub scene.

‘Your Teeth In My Neck’ from ‘Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires’ (1981), for me, is the perfect example of his skills as a producer; a palette of drums with subtle reverbs, creative use of guitar wah and above all awesome vocals from Michael Prophet with conscious lyrics. The initial drum roll is just classic dub, and the intro just bounces so beautifully into the main section

Released a year later, ‘Scientist Wins The World Cup’ has a quality record cover and a sprinkling of bangers; a version of ‘Ice Cream Love’ and ‘In Your Eyes’ both with Johnny Osbourne’s classic vocals. But the one that stands out, despite its vague title, is ‘Extra Time Part 3’. You can sort of tell this was made around a similar time as the 1980 vampire tunes; similar choice of instruments, percussive sounds, see what I mean?