Goodbye Sly
Robbie Shakespeare left us in 2021, and now Sly Dunbar is gone too. A man from a different dimension. His influence as a musician and producer was so much deeper than what today’s omnipresent “vs.”, “feat.” or “x” represent, not merely one ego teaming up with another ego to feature each other and feed the need for a bigger ego and an even more tightly stuffed wallet.
Dunbar didn’t just “appear” on other people’s work. He wasn’t “featured”. He made artists. He turned great artists into great artists with a broader vision. He helped giants to avoid artistic rigidity. He transformed genres. Most of the time, of course, with his friend and partner, Robbie Shakespeare.
Just looking at the twenty Dunbar appearances in my little collection is evidence enough. It starts with early work at King Tubby’s on a compilation that focuses the second half of the 70s. There’s the work he and Shakespeare did for Grace Jones in the early 80s. The often understated role on the Rolling Stones’ “Undercover” album in 1983. Herbie Hancock’s revolutionary “Future Shock”, one of the earlier collaborations with Bill Laswell – not needing Shakespeare with Laswell taking care of that himself.
Smaller stuff as well, like a Larry Levan Mini-Album called “Padlock”, with Gwen Guthrie and Wally Badarou, great little gem. A side project called Kotch in the late 80s. In sharp contrast: a collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto on “Beauty” in 1990. Appearances on Manu Dibango’s “Afrijazzy”. Popping up on a few Rap albums in the early 90s, doubtlessly triggered by their work with KRS-One, Young MC and others on their “Silent Assassin” album. Me’Shell NdegéOcello in 1993, DJ Krush in 2002, and two late great albums in the 2020s, one with Nils Petter Molvaer, Vladislav Delay and Eivind Aarset, one with Delay.
Among these 20 pieces of work, the range is already amazing. Music and musicians from Japan, Norway, Cameroon, Finland, UK and various parts of the Americas. Dub, Soul, Jazz, Makossa, Electronic, Rap and Hip Hop – there is hardly any kind of music that couldn’t benefit from their participation.
And then there’s this. “Drum & Bass Strip To The Bone”. Released on Palm Pictures, the company that was founded by Chris Blackwell roughly ten years after selling Island to PolyGram. Blackwell wanted Palm to be a multimedia company, not just limited to being a record label, aiming to dissolve the borders between music, film and digital media.
Selecting Sly & Robbie in the early days of Palm Pictures and adding Howie B to the mix for this massive 4 LP package must have been at least a symbolic choice. Blackwell had had a lot of success combining Jamaican rhythm with 80s New Wave production styles, and in the late 90s Howie B was an obvious choice if the goal was to combine Jamaican rhythm with electronic music production. The project was initiated by Blackwell, picking up Howie B and sending him over to the Caribbean to spend a week with the two legends.
Strictly speaking, the title isn’t complete without the addition of “By Howie B”. That might have led a few people to think that this is some kind of remix project. But the process was more like a Dub production, with Sly & Robbie creating rhythmic structures and Howie B working with them, adding and subtracting, reconstructing and reinterpreting the material. Oh, and it’s not a Drum’n’Bass album either, as much as that might have been in fashion around the Millennium. It’s drum and bass as in Sly and Robbie.
Does it work? The reviews were mixed. Mixed as in some tracks yes and some tracks no. Fair enough, even close to 30 years later. What worked well on it back then is still what makes it a fine album today – Sly and Robbie’s contributions and Howie B’s more elegant production choices.
What didn’t work so well (or what doesn’t work so well looking back) is partly due to quickly changing trends. Trip Hop didn’t stay in music lovers’ focus too much longer, and the Downtempo era also didn’t last too long, and that’s at least partly where this album is located.
Other aspects of criticism aren’t related to that though. Some of the tracks feel like they didn’t go much beyond exploring production options. “Psionce Merge” is oscillating a little aimlessly between fabulous bass lines, distorted synths and guitars, electronic drums and stereo effects. “Exodub Implosion” feels like an unfinished attempt to bring some funkiness to the mix, combining Latin rhythms, Funk guitar loops and jazzy keys. “Softcore Surge” adds more Latin flavors and hovers somewhere between Bossa, Cuba and Art of Noise. All intriguing ideas, but they don’t carry the tracks very far.
“Superthruster” sounds like it could have just as well been produced by Bill Lawell wearing his Material-hat. A bruising guitar sample, stomping drums and bass, electronics slashing through the beat – a child of its time, or even of the early 90s. It feels like it was produced to create some impact beyond this album, but it landed between all the chairs, not Reggae or Dub, not produced for D’n’B dance floors (except for the Flytronix remix on the back of the 12″), not conveying a message that would have given it airplay.
It’s important to appreciate the creativity though. The courage of experimentation, the innovative spirit of the project itself. Some of the more sketch-like tracks work well. When Shakespeare’s bass meets solid Hip Hop beats for example. “Major Magic” does the right thing, with Howie B adding electronics and atmosphere.
Or “Fatigue Chic”. Back in 98, Downtempo artist often flirted with Dub-infused bass lines and Hip Hop drum loops. Most of these attempts floated in some kind of pleasing nothingness, lacking any kind of edge – that’s something you can’t say about this track. Strip to the bone is what it says, not grind to a paste. Good one.
There are moments when there is an indication of imbalance within the Howie B & Sly & Robbie triangle. “Drilling For Oil” keeps you wondering about its rhythmic structure for a good two and a half minutes, and even then doesn’t reveal everything at once. Things change significantly when Shakespeare enters the scene with yet another beautiful bass theme. It’s always an uplifting moment when Sly and Robbie enter the mix, especially on this track, and in spite of the rough electronics that haven’t aged all too well.
Another relatively daring choice that has its moments: “Zen Concrete”. A dash of Asia, a dose of spaciness, swirls and pads decorating a beat that might have been stitched together by Howie B rather than supplied the way it’s presented. One of the more intriguing selections.
“Stripped To The Bone” supplies loosely grooving coolness that could have come from Fila Brazillia in their finest moments. I would have just hoped for an even more stripped down version – the harsh and distorted synth additions cut through that coolness rather than adding to it. “High Voltage Syndrome” starts out like Dub-infused easy listening, feels like a six minute interlude. Pure late-90s Downtempo chill to the point that it could be mistaken for a Kruder & Dorfmeister track. Probably works well on a monstrously lazy day on a beach where even the ocean isn’t doing anything.
One of the two gems on this album: “Into Battle”. It’s the opening track of the CD version, and as such it’s the ideal choice. A ten minute piece that starts out with sonic weirdness, slowly builds for half of those ten minutes, and unfolds its power from there. This is one of the tracks that shows what Chris Blackwell saw in the combination of these three guys, and it’s a much better opener than “Superthruster” is on the vinyl edition.
The album’s undisputed highlight is “Ballistic Squeeze” though. Way back in your head, a wonderful little Reggae loop starts turning, it’s a tiny slice of Leroy Smart’s “Ballistic Affair” from 1976, and just when you wonder where it might lead, Shakespeare drops the warmest bass ever and takes you by the hand. On top of a little bit of percussion that’s all this track needs to make you happy. Sly and Robbie played on this classic, so they are accompanying themselves – the best idea on this album by far. Such a warm-hearted, innocent excursion. And much of its charm lies in how Howie B puts it all together. Absolutely lovely.
Four pieces of vinyl, more than 70 minutes of music – this is a really big package and it would be easy to say that keeping it to half as much might have helped the overall impression. Who knows – maybe they discussed that at some point, and maybe the answer was that “Strip To The Bone” wasn’t made to deliver hit singles or race up the album charts. It’s a project, not a standard album production. Deserves full documentation. I’d agree – no matter how much I like the selection.
It was sure worth the effort, and it was worth four pieces of vinyl. Four more to help us remember Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.
Release for review:
SLY & ROBBIE – DRUM & BASS STRIP TO THE BONE BY HOWIE B – PALM PICTURES – PALMLP 2004
Buy the album on Discogs: Click