Dr Dubenstein
HHH Conspiracy Theory ECHO BEACH. CD/DL DC-based dub monster’s trippy debut, featuring heavyweight players. During his tenure at RAS Records, Derrick Parker rubbed shoulders with many prominent reggae musicians. The label is dust, yet Parker has since reemerged as Dr Dubenstein, harnessing respected luminaries from the Roots Radics, Dub Syndicate and Steel Pulse for a playful dub ride that draws on hammy horror flicks, old-school news spoofs, and the conspiracy theories of the title. Tracks like Flabba’s I Pad point to Dub Syndicate as the primary blueprint, but the diverse nature of the album yields a unique dub beast, with Black Men In Dub edging towards Gaslight Troubadours territory, despite the inclusion of fragments of revolutionary speeches by Garvey, Selassie and Obama. Just who does what is something of a mystery, with members of the Wailers band reputedly involved; the CD release is limited to 777 copies, so strike while the iron is hot. David Katz