DUB CUTS Mixed By Paolo Baldini DubFiles

This set of Al Brown dub mixes by Paolo ‘DubFiles’ Baldini was a project that Pressure Sounds had been itching to tackle for some time. They finally got around to starting on the mixes during the lockdown period

Al Brown is a fine Jamaican singer who came closest to troubling the UK charts with his Al Green cover version ‘Here I Am Baby.’

In the early 1980’s he recorded a beautiful album backed by Inner Force which was inexplicably never released and thought to be lost forever. When Al Brown’s original multi-track tapes were miraculously discovered he handed them over to Pressure Sounds who had them restored and beautifully mixed by Paolo ‘DubFiles’ Baldini with a sympathetic blend of overdubs on top of the original backing tracks.

These dubbed-out mixes are firmly in the roots reggae tradition of classic Jamaican recordings from the 70s blended with the tastefully restrained modern studio techniques of today. Tracks range from the heavy dubs of ‘Ghetto Situation’ and ‘Dub Me Again’ to the funkier ‘Liquid Dream’ featuring Toike Mitsuhiro from Japan on vibraphone.

Baldini explains how his mixes combine modern and older techniques but are always urgent and raw as he mixes his dubs live in a single take. “In terms of the equipment I tried to have a ‘conservative’ approach and stay with a mixing desk and analogue outboard that were consistent with the original recordings. So we had a pleasant alternation between the tradition of analog effects (tapes and springs...) and the nascent digital technology that began to establish itself in Jamaica from 1986.” Working from his Alambic Conspiracy Studio which is stuffed with an eye-watering selection of vintage and modern audio gear Paulo ‘Dubfiles’ Baldini has used ancient lost tapes to create a beautifully crafted modern classic