| WWW,
July 2014 - He is definitely one of the
founding fathers of (UK) DUB and there is so
much more that can be attributed to the
works of Neil Fraser better known as The Mad
Professor. From his London-based ARIWA
Studio's to the world (wide web), it's
impossible to count the works that this
genius has released throughout the decades.
The Dubroom's rather large number of reviews
of Mad Professor's albums covers only a
small portion of his work. A -rather
personal- review by the Dubroom editor.
When he was a young child, he had more
than an average interest in electronic
devices. Perhaps it came through an interest
he had, as he reportedly asked his mother
who that little man in the radio actually
was. Whatever it was, a strong determination
and even more efforts led him to start his
own recording studio in his home in London,
where he recorded the Punk band Ruts DC and
also started recording Reggae music.
dub me crazy
Gradually, he became known and this got a
real boost with the introduction of his now
standard listening material for anyone even
remotely into DUB and far beyond that: the
DUB ME CRAZY series. Almost single-handedly,
he took what was then (early 1980's) a
fading trend in Jamaica and popularized it
in the UK, Europe and the rest of the planet
eventually. The creativity and, yes, without
apology, genius mind of the Mad Professor
was captured in these early releases and has
never disappointed throughout the decades
that followed.
It was during these days, that yours
truly as a teenager had discovered the sound
of DUB and after buying several chapters of
the DUB ME CRAZY series phoned the number
that was printed on the record sleeves. The
Mad Professor took like half an hour, just
to talk with this Dutch teenager that was
"dubbed crazy". A memory that is
precious and a half hour that turned out
decisive.
dub, lovers' rock and roots daughters
Good vibes and always a place for known
and unknown musicians and vocalists. Back in
the days of MP3.com, several artists had a
Dub of their music mixed by the Mad
Professor. In the same time, he recorded
Reggae Greats like Yabby You and Michael
Prophet and created more essential Dub
listening like New
Decade of DUB with JAH Shaka.
Legendary for his DUB, another side of
Mad Professor is his many Lovers' Rock
releases. Lover's Rock is a very sweet,
silky form of Reggae to which the UK seems
to have some kind of signature and ARIWA
plays -just like with that other trademark
UK DUB- a central role. Usually, slackness
is far away with Lovers' Rock and it's
absolutely gone with the ROOTS DAUGHTERS
that Mad Professor recorded and released.
His recordings with singers like AISHA
have reached classic status.
massive attack and the orb
ARIWA has not just recorded Reggae Music
of the highest kind. Mad Professor has made
a rather classic remake of Massive Attack's
album No Protection, the ORB used his recordings
with AISHA, and that's just two examples
from the 1990's.
thief can't hold him
He got an enormous blow when it turned
out that in spite of the good and necessary
vibrations produced in Ariwa studio, some
wicked person(s) decided to become a thief
in the night and robbed
everything. A wicked, wicked thing
indeed which too not just a lot of time from
Mad Professor and his Ariwa crew.
Fortunately he regained his desire to share
his music with the rest of mankind and we
are now obviously at the point where ARIWA
is the name for one of the essential sounds
of Roots Reggae that is present in this
time.
reel to reel reggae
With the rise of the computer and other
digital technology came the rise of
computer-based music. After the initial time
it took to overcome prejudice,
computer-based music is now considered to be
equal to that which is not directly
programmed into a Pentium or what have you.
Mad Professor released the second volume of
"Reel To Reel Reggae",
an excellent sample series for producers
which is purchased, reviewed and used by the
Dubroom.
reel to real dubwise
Only a short period after Reel
To Reel Reggae Volume Two was released
and reviewed by the Dubroom, this website
released a three-track EP with extended Dub
created directly with Mad Professor's Sample
Pack. A tribute called "Reel
To Real Dubwise", which can be
downloaded for free from the Dubroom and a
variety of Online Music Distributors like LAST.fm,
REVERBNATION.com,
and VERSIONIST.net.
world wide web
It is not so difficult to find
information and music by the Mad Professor
on the Internet. Take YouTube,
where it is rather easy to find several
video's where he performs live or gives
interviews. Even tutorials, when you
look a bit deeper. It's not so hard to take
a listen, for example at ARIWA's
Channel At Youtube or straight from the ARIWA
website.
|
