AXIOM DUB

MYSTERIES OF CREATION

 Disc one:
  1/  Maroon Rebellion                           (Laswell,Ninj)                5.55
        Bill Laswell/Ninj
  2/  Return to the Bass and Trouble             (Dunbar,Shakespeare)          7.00
        Sly & Robbie
  3/  Revolution                                 (Mesinai,Ward)                6.59
        Sub Dub
  4/  Cocksville U.S.A.                          (NB,AH,KN,AP,SP)              10.32
        The Orb
  5/  Illbient                                   (We)                          8.08
        We (DJ Olive, Loop and Once 11)
  6/  Ghost Light/Dread Recall                   (Laswell)                     14.17
	    Material
  7/  Dungeon of Dub                             (Fernando)                    5.33
        WordSound I-Powa

 Disc two:
  1/  Ariwa Dub Club                             (Fraser)                      5.06
        Mad Professor
  2/  Beta One/Assyrian Dub                      (Laswell,Katz,Wobble)         11.12
        Automaton
  3/  Gun Too Hot                                (Scott,Maxwell,Alexander)     4.41
        Dub Syndicate
  4/  Nev 12                                     (Wobble,Murray)               6.08
        Jah Wobble with Jaki Liebezeit and Neville Murray
  5/  Cybord Dread                               (Bennett,Broadrick,Martin)    5.39
        Techno Animal
  6/  Black Falcon Dub                           (Harding,Laws,Furlow)         6.06
        New Kingdom
  7/  Fall of the Towers of Convention-          (Fernando,Ghari)              7.39
        Scarab
  8/  Anansi Abstrakt                            (Miller)                      11.37
        DJ Spooky

          Each track produced and performed by it's respective writer(s), except as noted
          Disc one, tracks 1,2 and 7 and disc two, track 2 recorded at Greenpoint Studio,
            Brooklyn, New York
          Disc one, track 3 programmed,recorded and mixed live in traditional dub style
            by Sub Dub
          Disc two, track 1 recorded at Ariwa Studios
          Disc two, track 3 recorded at Leggo Recording Studio, Kingston, Jamaica and On-U
            Sound, London
          Disc two, track 5 recorded at Avalanche Studios and remixed at Wolf Studios
          Disc two, track 8 recorded at Stereo Society, New York City
          Disc one, track 2 and disc two, track 2 produced by Bill Laswell
          Disc one, track 5 produced by Olive and Loop
          Disc one, track 7 produced by the I
          Disc two, track 1 produced by Mad Professor
          Disc two, track 3 produced by Style Scott and Adrian Sherwood
          Disc two, track 6 produced by Scott Harding and New Kingdom
          Disc two, track 7 produced by Scarab and The Mystic
          Compiled at Greenpoint Studio, Brooklyn, New York
          Engineering: Robert Musso
          Conceived and compiled by Bill Laswell

Disc one:
(1) Ninj: beats; Bill Laswell: bass; (2) Sly Dunbar: drums; Robbie Shakespeare: bass; Bill Laswell: Sound FX; (3) John Ward: bass; Raz Mesinai a/k/a the Bedouin: percussion; Tony Buzzeo: guitar.

Disc two:
(2) Jah Wobble & Gabe Katz: bass; Nicky Skopelitis: guitar; (3) Akuba & I Roy: backing vocals; Flabba: bass; Skip McDonald: guitar; Bubbler Waul: keyboards; Dean Fraser: sax; Keith Sterling: piano, synthesizer; Bubblers Ogilvie: piano, organ, synthesizer; Style Scott: drums, percussion; Scully: percussion; (4) Jah Wobble: bass; Jaki Liebezeit: drums; Neville Murray: percussion; (7) Skiz Fernando & Sassan Ghari: sounds.

          1996 - Axiom/Island (USA), PRCD 7324-2 (Promo CD)
          1996 - Axiom/Island (USA), 162-531 070-0 (2CD)

Note: The Promo CD was an advance, which culled 10 tracks from AXIOM DUB.
From disc one - tracks 1,2,3,4,7,8 and 9, and from disc two - tracks 1,3 and 6.

REVIEWS :

The impact of dub on new musical genres such as jungle, down tempo and ambient is clear and as the distance between their respective categories shrinks we start to find collections such as Mysteries of Creation. Bill Laswell and his genre-busting Axiom label bring together tunes from a wide range of artists such as Ninja, Sly and Robbie, and Jah Wobble, exploring everything from classic dub to far-out soundscapes. The most successful pieces seem to come from the time tested masters here such as Dub Syndicate, The Mad Professor, and The Orb who, despite staying close to the familiar, still manage to push the form with some solid and innovative work. From here Laswell moves to the edges of the dub map with some tracks that explore less familiar territory which vary from deep and trancey to drawn out and boring. Overall the album covers the story of dub with a clear statement of it's roots and there are some interesting suggestions as to where it may be headed in the future.

Mike Bernard (courtesy of the Taxi Online website)