Resinators

Dub music is by nature minimal; that is, it is often reggae stripped down to highlight the elements of drum and bass (as opposed to only spotlighting the singer), plus the engineers have the pleasure of being able to add reverb, delay and other audio effects to the individual tracks that make up the songs. The Resinators have created a lush soundscape with a "maximum" dub feel indeed; the music on this first release from Toronto's premier rhythm agents is not minimal at all, but is full, rich and as haunting as good dub should be. The strong rhythm section (veteran drummer Raffa Dean, who has played with every reggae great from Gregory Isaacs to Capleton, alongside bassist J-Bass) is overlaid with spacy guitar riffs provided by G-Star that are alternately melodious and purposefully discordant and then topped with judicious samples, sweet keyboards and effects. Vocals provided by Dean and local favourite MC Caddy Cad add much to the mix. Songs like "Roots and Culture," "Peter Gunn" and "Come On" are likely crowd-pleasers with Caddy and Raffa interchanging smoothly over driving dubs that are pulsing and raw; thus we see the artistry of mixing engineer Mountain Dread who seamlessly stitches it all together inna dub-wise fashion. This is an impressive first album as the songs remain with the listener for hours; the joyous licks of songs like "Come On" contrasting with the melancholy, deep tones of tunes like "Sad Dub" and "Foggy Road" to provide the Resinators' audience with a full gamut of raw and sonorous dubs that have helped to earn this Toronto band the good-sized following that turn up in full force at their gigs.