Groove: A Phenomenology of Rhythmic Nuance (Tiger C. Roholt)

Abstract

Paul Sullivan opens his Remixology: Tracing the Dub Diaspora by writing that "dub is a genre and a process", as he describes the intersection of Afrodiasporic and Rastafari soundsystem culture with bass-heavy music styles as "ethereal, mystical, conceptual, fluid, avant-garde, raw, unstable, provocative, postmodern, disruptive, heavyweight, political, enigmatic . . ." (2014: 7). Dub resonates as an echo through all of these signs, though Remixology tends to provide a lightweight treatment of the complex of metaphors Sullivan commences with. Less an intensive cultural study, even less so indulging in the kind of rich poetic license one would expect from a music journalist such as David Toop, Sullivan's make-do journalistic approach combines first-hand interviews with a repackaging of well-travelled tales to tell a rich narrative of dub's musical and cultural development, focusing on its producers, soundsystem operators, selectors and DJs. Avoiding the usual rounds of critique that gives cultural studies its edge-there is very little here on gender/sexuality, power/violence, colonialism/race or nationalism/politics-and leaving unremarked the sometimes provocative and interesting statements that arise in interviews, Sullivan nonetheless provides a gentle-enough grand narrative of dub's outward spread from Jamaica. In the process Sullivan lays the groundwork for naming the "dub diaspora" as a transnational network based upon postcolonial migrancy and the dissemination-through copying, remixing and versioning-of dub studio and performance practices.Remixology proves a readable and insightful treatment of dub for lay readers and studious scholars alike, beginning with a smart retelling of dub's origins in Jamaica, where Sullivan weaves the history of soundsystem culture into the invention of reggae and lover's Reviews