Pama International Meets Mad Professor. – Rewired! In Dub

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At the end of last year PAMA INTERNATIONAL called it a day. Well, the band/collective went on ‘extended hiatus’ and we all know what that means: ‘Rewired! In Dub’ may play out as a swansong offering, or it may be that a few more remixes and rarities find their way to the surface. Actually, the latter sounds much more plausible.

‘Rewired! In Dub’ is a complete reworking of 2009’s ‘Pama Outernational’ album, tricked and tweaked by legendary producer/performer/remixer MAD PROFESSOR perhaps most famous for his work with Massive Attack and recently heard around these parts tinkering with The Skints.

The resultant version of ‘…Outernational’ is, obviously from the title, a dub rebranding that gives the release an identity of its own. There are moments on the original record that feature a dub sound, but this is dub from beginning to end. There are lots of deep bass grooves, lots of chilled numbers and a heavy focus on sounds over vocals. This is heavy stuff.

To an extent this tweaking means that this comes across more as a Mad Professor release. Whilst it wasn’t the most diverse of records, the stylistic variance that made ‘…Outernational’ an easily accessible and poppy record are gone. There are no huge choruses and few pertinent lyrical moments. This is a record of its own if you will. Of course this generates the problem that if you’re not a fan of dub this proves to be a completely superfluous release, but then again, fans of Pama International are likely to be that way inclined.

Ultimately ‘Rewired! In Dub’ is a collector’s piece, for fans of both Pama International and Mad Professor, or for fans of traditional reggae and its transformations over the past 50 years. If that’s you’re sound then this is a vital release. Intricate, comprehensive and deep, this is how remixing should be done.

ALEX HAMBLETON

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