Mek It Run

"mr bovell, as your doctor i must strongly advise that, after your recent neck surgery, you must refrain from bearing the weight of a strapped instrument, be it guitar or bass, for a significant period of time. i would suggest you find an alternative pursuit to undertake until recovery is complete."so, what do you do? well, dennis bovell found a box of tapes from various periods of his excellent career (presumably having someone lift the box for him), that looked to him in need of dubbing up, enlisted the services of joe ariwa, and utilised the mad professor's studio for a base, in which he could work his magic and 'bake' the material. aparently, much of this was in need of major surgery as well, and it would seem that great care and technique were required to bring the tracks up to date. and then to updub the whole to create a contemporary, but at the same time, utterly unique body of work with the blackbeard stamp on it. treatments of both digital and analogue natures were used to achieve this, and the resulting sound is both clear as a bell and crucially, inspired.the results, this album, would also sound perfect pumping out of a traditional sound system, and to that, the accent is on the heavy on most tracks. this is certainly true of the opener 'vargen', which sets the scene, utilising relentless effects on top of already rock solid rhythms, taking things far out of the realms of the original, and introducing sounds only a master craftsman could weave in. not to say this is all blood and thunder, as great finesse is also employed in this creation. and as if this all isn't enough, i roy voices over a couple of re-vamped tracks from an album they made together. the sources of the tracks are many and varied, and a number are unknown to me, but i can't imagine that any have suffered due to the process.coming in at over an hours worth, this represents a vital element in dubbing into the present day, dennis bovell still at the sharp end of uk roots and dub, his work both endures and forges ahead. a maverick indeed, and we look forward to his next instalment in the history of such. great project and great sounds.