Just Browsing: Free stuff on Soundcloud ... Part Three: Dubmatix

It’s fair to say that with a handful of full-length album releases and a large number of other digital releases safely stashed away in his swag bag, Toronto-based producer Dubmatix (aka Jesse King) is no mere novice or low profile newcomer. But he’s worthy of mention here simply because in Soundcloud terms he remains my most reliable “go to” guy whenever I’m looking for a fix of conscious roots or steppa-style dub … which, it’s also fair to say, is quite often these days.

I first stumbled across his work in late 2010 via a remix of Bob Marley’s ‘Is This Love’ (Dubmatix Re-Visioned) and have subsequently over the past 18 months found myself repeatedly returning to his Soundcloud and/or Bandcamp pages to dig out new gems from the vast back catalogue of free downloads available. Seldom am I disappointed with what I find there.

It isn’t just the work of other artists that King explores; he is a brilliant musician in his own right, a multi-instrumentalist, and many of the releases are exclusively his own work. There are plenty of collaborations to sate the appetite too, with a veritable who’s who of more established artists right across the spectrum – from rocksteady (the late Alton Ellis) to roots (Mighty Diamonds, Michael Rose) to more current flavours (Brother Culture, Easy Stars) – having all benefitted from the gritty down to earth Dubmatix treatment.

On all of his releases, somehow this Canadian white guy manages to conjure up the spirit of a long repressed Jamaican exploring his deepest darkest Ethiopian roots, all albums (look for CD releases as well as digital files) are recommended listening, and I retain personal affection for his 2011 Clash Of The Titans – The System Shakedown Remixes set.

Spoil yourself here:

http://soundcloud.com/dubmatix

http://dubmatix.bandcamp.com/

And have a listen to one from the archives:

And a truly respectful tempo-bending variation on one of Bob Marley’s best loved treasures … great stuff: