It was only seven years ago that then bassist/drummer of the Legendary Pink Dots, Ryan Moore, was premiering his Twilight Circus Dub Soundsystem in front of unsuspecting American LPD audiences. He was a long-haired joker prancing around on bass, with pocket theremin, and playing the drums along with hypnotic dub loops and saying whatever came to mind on the mic. ("Welcome to Gothic Jamaica!," "Give it up for the Monica Lewinsky chorus!," etc,...) In the time since, over ten albums of material have surfaced along with a handful of singles and collaborative projects. Moore has gone from being known for his comic antics as the primary rhythmatist of the Dots to one of the most critically acclaimed producers of authentic dub in the modern age. This recognition isn't unwarranted: none of the recordings as Twilight Circus is anything less than top-notch.
Since the first release, 1995's In Dub, Vol. 1, the Twilight Circus Dub Soundsystem has been effectively paying tribute to the most basic dub that appeared on old 7" single b-sides emerging from Jamaica in the 1970s. Twilight Circus isn't and has never been some hybrid electronic software-based clickety mess bastardizing reggae beats so white journalists can herald it as the second coming of dub, Moore plays every instrument and produces a sound that has won him respect amongst the most knowledgable reggae and dub insiders worldwide. Moore is a talented producer and multi instrumentalist, and it's clear on every recording, whether the lead instrument is a guitar, deep organ, or melodica. The pinned-in-the-red thundering bass and echoed drums sound so beautiful along with every other instrument in the mix that it doesn't matter if Ryan's from Kingston or Vancouver. Moore's history stretches back to the 1980s where he was a session musician in Vancouver, eventually hooking up with Nettwerk, the Tear Garden and other Skinny Puppy offshoots, and joining the Legendary Pink Dots as a drummer, bassist and guitarist in 1991. It's no wonder that the guy has accumulated a massive amount of gear over the years and knows his way around a studio amazingly well. On this, his first release for the legendary dub/punk/cassette label ROIR, Moore has collected his own unreleased music allegedly stretching back twenty years, including old cassette recordings. The collection lacks a bit of information, however, in terms of when and where each song is from. While tracks like the sparse "Bassie Dub I" (and II) sound muffled and warped like a fading old four-track cassette, it's sandwiched inbetween tracks "Slyy" and "Other Worlds of Dub," each of which sound mysteriously deeper, more refined, and modern than the dub I remember from the first Twilight Circus releases. I could be completely wrong in my assessment of tracks but I'm sure there's a number of relatively new recordings included here. Dub from the Secret Vaults is a great collection to introduce new audiences to Moore's Sounsystem as ROIR will probably be able to hit more shops than M Records could have. Tastefully, there's no overlap with other TC recordings so it's also good for existing fans. I'm personally anxious to see where Moore's going as he's currently working with new people and releasing a number of 7" records on his new imprint, Fleximix. (It's worth noting that images of his gear, friends and collaborators, and links to some of his favorite dub resources can be found at his own website, twilightcircus.com.) Dub from the Secret Vaults is hopefully the first of a number of Twilight Circus releases ROIR will make widely available for the rest of us.
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