Producer/musician Dan Harper hits the jackpot!  Dub, the new album from his Invisible System collective is a masterful and fascinating fusion of the music of East and West Africa and the Caribbean.

HEADY FUSION

Invisible System is the vehicle that musician/producer Dan Harper uses to transport the music he makes with his mass of collaborators.  Usually, that music is heady fusion of Ethiopian influences with any kind of musical genre that you might care to name.  Over an extensive career, Dan has piloted projects that blend the sounds of East and West Africa with reggae, drum & bass, psychedelic rock, folk, punk and more. 

His collaborators have included artists and bands as diverse as Mahmoud Ahmed, Captain Sensible, Baka Beyond and Ozric Tentacles, on a string of albums that date back to 2009.  Dan hails from the Somerset town of Frome but his years as an aid worker in Africa allowed him to develop a great admiration for the local music.  Dan expresses that admiration through his Invisible System moniker and albums such as Punt (Made in Ethiopia) (2009), Street Clan (2011) and Tiga Tej Tibs (2013).  In between times, Dan has figured as a member of Robert Plant’s backing band, The Sensational Shape Shifters.

The new Invisible System album, Dub, is as the title infers, a collection of music that fuses African influences with the dub rhythms and tones of Jamaica.  This time around, Dan’s guests include Ethiopian musicians Mahmoud Amed and Sydney Salmon, Shape Shifters Juldeh Camara and Justin Adams, Reggae maestros Dennis Wint and Flash and Malian traditionalists Ousmame Dagnon and the late, lamented Banjougou Koné.  And, as if to emphasise the diversity on show on this fascinating album, UK punk vocalist Dick Lucas also puts in an explosive appearance.

MORE THAN JUST A COLLECTION OF TUNES…

By any measure, Dub is an outstanding album.  It’s fusion of cultures is remarkable, engaging and – above all – thoroughly enjoyable.  Occasionally, an album becomes something more than a collection of tunes and achieves the status of an artwork.  I believe that Dub is one such album.

There’s a lot to take in, that’s for sure; 16 tracks – and Dan has made sure that every guest musician has been given all the space that he or she needs to put their point across.  It is, perhaps, churlish to do so, but I’ll try to pick out a collection of highlights.

PULSING GROOVES AND GLORIOUS AFRICAN SOUNDS

Dennis Wint and Flash are the first guests up.  They’re both sometime members of The Rhythmites and Flash was also Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s touring bassist.  They’re the ones charged with the responsibility of getting Dub underway and they do so with Women Love, A slice of classic Jamaican dub that gives few clues about what Dan has in store.

The African input really makes its presence known with the excellent Fruit (Is Good For You), a track that features Shape Shifters Justin (guitar) and Juldeh (vocals and African pipes).  It’s a song with a pulsing groove, a shuffling rhythm, gritty bass and spacy synths.  And – front and centre – those glorious African vocals and sounds.

Mahmood sits in for the jazzy Melkan Dub.  The organ tones are truly sinister and the Beefheartian horns add to the disquiet.  And, just listen to that relentless drumbeat – it’s enough to convince any listener that someone is coming after them…

FROM ETHIOPIA TO MALI

The delicious Muma Yey is, quite possibly, the album’s most convincing fusion of Jamaican and Ethiopian influences.  A pulsing reggae bassline is the bedrock for scattered percussion and keyboard runs that dart all over the place, whilst the rapped vocals bridge the distance between Addis Ababa and Kingston.  There’s more of the same with Hode Baba – a heady amalgamation of solid reggae basslines, African pipes and exotic vocals – and Nati Dub, in which guest Nati’s intense, intimate, vocals are rounded off by a few jazzy sax licks.

Ousmane and Banjougou are pretty well permanent fixtures for the second half of the album, as Dan switches the source influence away from Ethiopia and into Mali.  Both musicians are masters of their respective instruments – Ousmane on n’goni and Banjougou on kora – and the sounds that they contribute are breathtaking.  A nice twangy guitar figure keeps things moving, whilst Ousmane and Banjougou do their stuff on Bakomo and there’s more of the same on Astou Dub and the smoky, smouldering, Sambou Dub.  Malian rapper Penzy contributes a cameo on the quicker-paced Penzy Dub but, for me, it’s still the kora and n’goni that take the plaudits. 

In between all of this, we’re treated to a real epic, with the slow-building, slow-burning Nati in Dub.  Lush, sleazy sax roams from speaker to speaker before Nati makes her belated, impassioned, appearance – and she keeps our attention for a riveting 13 minutes.

PUNKY SIGNOFF

The dreamy Samé Dub is yet another cracker, with traditional African instruments blending magically with bass, electric guitar, xylophone and all manner of electronics.  Loaded with echo-y guitars, K-trek is another stunning cultural fusion, before we’re returned to the joy of the Caribbean sunshine for Terror System, a song that features UK dub ensemble Zion Train.

And finally…

The crashing guitars that introduce closing track Sky High suggest that something different is in store – and so it transpires.  Culture Shock/ Subhumans vocalist Dick Lucas is the guest on this one and he announces his arrival in a punky vocal explosion.  The sharp dub backing is the perfect accompaniment to his brash messaging and it all seems a fitting way to conclude a tremendous album.

Listen to Fruit (Is Good For You) – a track from the album – below:

Invisible System: Bandcamp

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