Book of Exit: Dub Chamber 4

Amazon.com
For those expecting the deep dub throb and surreal ambiences of previous albums in Bill Laswell's Sacred System series, the gentle strains of the opening track, "Ethiopia," will be a surprise. It's a serene lament from Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw. She calls out in pitch-bending eddies on a caressing wave of glassine synthesizer textures, with Laswell playing guitar in a koralike cycle. But by the next track, "The Lower Ground," the familiar sound of Laswell's dark dub bass and Karsh Kale's trancey tabla throb under a melody played into echoing space on a melodica (or sample thereof). It's an homage to Augustus Pablo, the Jamaican reggae artist who built his career around the wind-blown keyboard instrument. This is a smaller crew than usual for Laswell (just three instrumentalists), who doubles up on keyboards and some very snaky guitar. As with all Sacred System discs, there are moments of torpor and grooves without a guide. Laswell remains an avatar of ambient dub space, but he pushes it in unusual directions, as on Gigi's closing "Jerusalem," which gives the album an unlikely but welcome anthemic lift at the end. --John Diliberto

Product Description
"Book Of Exit", in essence Chapter 4 in Laswell’s ongoing series of Dub Chamber & Sacred System albums, is a departure from the rib-rattling bass workouts of his previous 3 ROIR releases. Retaining many Dub elements, "Book of Exit" charts new territory by melding a female vocalist into the mix.

Book of Exit: Dub Chamber 4

Tracks:

Ethiopia
The Lower Ground
Shashamani
Bati
Land Of Look Behind
Jerusalem

Amazon.com

For those expecting the deep dub throb and surreal ambiences of previous albums in Bill Laswell's Sacred System series, the gentle strains of the opening track, "Ethiopia," will be a surprise. It's a serene lament from Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw. She calls out in pitch-bending eddies on a caressing wave of glassine synthesizer textures, with Laswell playing guitar in a koralike cycle. But by the next track, "The Lower Ground," the familiar sound of Laswell's dark dub bass and Karsh Kale's trancey tabla throb under a melody played into echoing space on a melodica (or sample thereof). It's an homage to Augustus Pablo, the Jamaican reggae artist who built his career around the wind-blown keyboard instrument. This is a smaller crew than usual for Laswell (just three instrumentalists), who doubles up on keyboards and some very snaky guitar. As with all Sacred System discs, there are moments of torpor and grooves without a guide. Laswell remains an avatar of ambient dub space, but he pushes it in unusual directions, as on Gigi's closing "Jerusalem," which gives the album an unlikely but welcome anthemic lift at the end. --John Diliberto

Album Description

"Book Of Exit", in essence Chapter 4 in Laswell's ongoing series of Dub Chamber & Sacred System albums, is a departure from the rib-rattling bass workouts of his previous 3 ROIR releases. Retaining many Dub elements, "Book of Exit" charts new territory by melding a female vocalist into the mix.

Customer Reviews:

For Dub Heads Only.......2002-12-31

If you love DUB and drum & bass, etc., and prefer your dub
clean of vocals, you may have avoided buying this CD because
of the presence of a vocalist. But I am here to tell you,
3 of 6 tracks on this CD are not only vocal-free, but absolutely
up there with the best DUB Bill Laswell has ever done; and it
is on the brilliance of these dubs that I rate the CD 5 stars.
There's nothing wrong with Gigi, but for dub-heads only, if
you program this CD for tracks 2,3 and 5......you will be treated
to some of the best DUB of all time!

Going out in slow style.......2002-12-20

For the final installment of the Dub Chamber cycle, we are presented with Bill Laswell's "Book of Exit." Armed with bubbling, broiling, glooping sound effects, in addition to shadowy echoes and whispers, the overall sound is slow and mysterious. The closest thing to compare this sound with is the soundtrack to the computer games "Myst" and "Riven." It's creepy; washes of audio gurgling up and fading out suddenly. Something you'd want to meditate, fall asleep or read to.

Then there's the other side of the album. Laswell's self-proclaimed prodigy Ejigayehu Shibabaw. "Gigi" has sung on every one of Laswell's albums since her own debut (entitled "Gigi," a cd that i HIGHLY recommend) to varying degrees of success. But her wonderful raw voice seems out of place in this cd. Gigi must carry the cd with only her voice, as Laswell's sounds turn boring and slightly droning after a bit.As soon as you hear her for over 5 or so minutes, you want the track to wrap up, but as soon as a track without her comes burbling through the speakers, you want her back to alleviate the monotony.

This seems to be the contradiction: which would you rather listen to? Somewhat dull and uninspired audio washes, or a voice that (while beautiful) has to drag the rest of the track along behind her?

Overall, I enjoyed this cd to its fullest, which isn't that full at all. (And if the lyrics on the song "Jerusalem"-- the only English on the cd--were any more trite, i'd have to hit the skip button. repeating the words "blood reign" (or rain, who knows?) doesn't make a song poignant and refined.)

Laswell goes out not with a bounce in his step, but with a shuffle, a murmur, a gurgle, and an echo.

book of exit dub chamber 4.......2002-12-07

I feel this is Bill Laswell's best cd in the Dub Chamber series. If you are a Laswell fan this is definately one for the collection. I feel the best tracks are " The Lower Ground ", " Bati ", and " Jerusalem ". Gigi's vocals are quite pleasent to listen to. I hope this can be helpful to a future buyer.

Average customer rating:

Book of Exit-Dub Chamber 4

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00007F08X
Release Date: 2002-11-05

Tracks:

Ethiopia
The Lower Ground
Shashamani
Bati
Land Of Look Behind
Jerusalem

Album Description

Chapter 4 in Laswell's ongoing series of Dub Chamber & Sacred System Albums, a departure from the rib-rattling bass workouts of his previous releases. Book Of Exit charts new territory by melding a female vocalist into the mix, Ejigayehu Shibabaw, better