Dub in Babylon, as the title leads you to expect, focuses on the impact the musical genre has on what is known to its followers as ‘Babylon’ – a term mainly used by Rastafarians with reference to western civilisation and society.Footnote ¹ On the surface, the impression of the title is likely to suggest that dub is a musical style. What most of us fail to understand is that dub, along with its father genre, reggae, is more than a musical genre. Dub and reggae music offer a political stance based on the historical and sociocultural context of the genres which are appreciated, understood and consumed by their audiences. The author, Christopher Partridge, demonstrates a thorough understanding of the historical, religious and sociocultural context of dub. To facilitate his thesis, Partridge divides the book into two parts: the history of dub, and the impact of dub in Britain.

Chapter 1 addresses the roots and culture of dub. Partridge gives a detailed account of the slave trade in the Caribbean (notably, the island of Jamaica) and, later, the effect it had on politics and religion. Here, we may instantly be reminded of the slave trade in the United States and the impact it had on African-American people in subsequent years. In the Caribbean, African people, and indeed other migrants, had their fair share of ‘suffering’ during and after the slave trade.Footnote ² This concept is supported by Partridge as he provides a historical understanding of the slave trade in Jamaica, and explains why, later on, many of the Jamaican people started to focus on religion, in particular Rastafarianism. The religious context of Jamaican culture and its contribution to the musical genres of reggae and dub serves as an advantage for Partridge because he is a theologist. He examines the origins of Rastafarianism very carefully, something which proves to be extremely beneficial to the reader as it presents a clearer insight into the religion, and the reasons why it is a major factor in the musical genres of reggae (mostly the style of roots) and dub. Partridge then discusses how Rastafarianism grew amongst the British Caribbean communities in Britain, as well as describing the five main concepts and practices of the religion: the struggle and suffering in Babylon; the belief of ‘I’ (the self); the importance of being ‘dread’ (righteous); the biblical practice of having dreadlocks; and the biblical and spiritual practices of smoking ganja (p. 29).

This chapter neatly provides the setting for the next, which primarily concentrates on the musical aspects of dub. To understand the musical aspects of dub, one should understand the ancestors of the genre, which are ska and reggae. Here, Partridge discusses the musical origins, by tracing it back to traditional African drumming (such as Burru) and Caribbean folk (mento, for example). Once the styles are in place, Partridge then discusses the genres of ska and the early styles of reggae. At this point a significant feature of Jamaican music and culture is introduced – the sound system – which, along with dub, became the foundation of later musical genres and styles such as hip-hop and electronica. Partridge addresses the various uses of the sound system: by selecting and playing records accompanied by toasting; and by forcing out the intensifying and powerful sounds of the drums and bass which are accompanied by the manipulated sonics of dub. King Tubby and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry are fully discussed as they are the major contributors to dub music. Along with the pioneers of dub, Partridge does not ignore the significance of the musical and cultural roles of the bass, and the experimentation with sound effects (such as reverb and echo), which are musically intended to convey political and cultural codes in Jamaican society. The musical-cultural codings of dub are a link to the second part of the book, which focuses on dub in Britain.

Partridge begins by discussing the first wave of Caribbean migrants in England. As well as highlighting crucial racial and political issues and incidents during this period in British society, Partridge again demonstrates the significance of the historical events as a contribution to dub and reggae. Like the sound engineers and producers in Jamaica who manipulate sounds to signify political messages as a form of musical protest, this form of dub practice has been adopted in Britain by the likes of Jah Shaka and Sir Coxsone. The significance of musical effects working as political signifiers may remind the reader of Jimi Hendrix's version of the ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock. The use of studio effects was already evident in psychedelic rock music (such as the use of distortion and flanging). Partridge, however, argues that dub influenced psychedelic rock groups such as Can and Hawkwind, who went on to make the transition from this style to progressive rock – a form which is characteristically known for sound experimentation.

It may astonish some readers that dub (including reggae) inspired punk groups such as The Sex Pistols and The Clash (Chapter 4). While the musical elements of dub may not be entirely evident (say, in the music of The Sex Pistols, with the exception of John Lydon's later projects), it was the political, sociocultural context of dub that inspired punk. Partridge is passionate in arguing how dub and reggae influenced the punk scene. He is also convincingly quick to eliminate the stigma that punk in general was associated with racism, although he does not deny that the scene did wrongly attract a minority of groups mainly connected with skinhead culture and far right movements.

Partridge's take on dub culture is a much needed book as there is currently a gap in this subject in academia. Although Partridge demonstrates a great understanding of the dub genre and is an enthusiast about the music, the only criticism I would make is the lack of musical analysis when discussing certain rhythms and musical styles. He does, however, overcome this minor flaw by focusing on the scope of dub music, attending to the historical, religious and sociocultural matters that must be understood in order to appreciate dub. For this reason, Partridge's book is an essential contribution to the understanding of dub culture.