Harry Mudie Meets King Tubby's in Dub Conference Volume 1 (Moodisc, 1994 [originally released 1976])

Truly one of the best dub albums your money can buy, from a long underrated producer.  Released in the mid-'70s, this is old-style dub, with definable instruments and without the digital bells and whistles and slick production of '80s and '90s dub.  His classic "Roman Dub" rhythm (used to magnificent effect in Lloyd Jones' "Rome," showcased on Sufferer's Choice) has a simple guitar rhythm that is truly enticing.  A uniquely appealing track is "Dub With a Difference," which utilizes classical string instruments.  Along with these two songs, "Heavy Duty Dub" rounds out the best 3 cuts on Dub Conference Volume 1, but almost all of the songs are wondrous.  Don't be fooled by the nondescript packaging -- this is spectacular stuff.

Harry Mudie Meets King Tubby in Dub Conference Volume 2 (Moodisc, 1994 [orig. released 1977])

As much as I loved Dub Conference Volume 1 is as much as I was disappointed by Dub Conference Volume 2.  Although the simple dub sound is similar to the previous volume, only one track, "World Dub Conference," with its big bass, jazzy flute, and flying cymbal sound, rivals the material on Volume 1.  The rest is relatively dry by comparison and ends up sounding like a generic mish-mash of canned dub.  "Planet Dub" does stand out for its mix of classical elements with the reggae sound, but it fails to meld them properly -- much less successful than Volume 1's "Dub With a Difference" -- and just ends up sounding sloppy.  "Jungle Walk Dub" and "Drifting Dub," which should sound familiar to fans of Cornell Campbell's "Drifter" and Don Carlos' "Johnny Big Mouth," are nice, but don't make Volume 2 a worthy follow-up.