Easy Star All-Stars – Dubber Side of the Moon

 

Reimagining Pink Floyd's introspective prog masterpiece Dark Side of the Moon as a dub reggae album on 2003's Dub Side of the Moon, was in equal parts a musical no-brainer and a master-stroke of genius, which duly launched Easy Star All-Stars' career. Now the New York collective have hired a crew of top reggae beatsmiths to revisit their debut album, and make it, er, 'dubber' — hence the presence of more dance-worthy characters behind the boards. Groove Corporation, Jazzwad and Dubphonic all turn out decent mixes of Roger Waters & co.'s iconic tracks, with the latter's suitably-blitzed appraisal of Great Gig In The Sky being particularly tasty. Despite the obvious merits of the album concept alone, Dubber Side fails to match or better the original, and the proposed dubstep vibe sadly doesn't materialise (only Kalbata's minacious take on Any Colour You Like comes close). Bonus disc material, not the whole flying hog. [Martin Skivington]