However, this album does bear quite a resemblance Laswells RadioAxiom: A Dub Transmission album, a collaboration with Jah Wobble released early last year.

Every year, this guys name comes on the spine of three to seven albums, not to mention being buried in the credits of probably a dozen more.

His brilliance isnt really up for debate-- the sheer consistency of his releases guarantees that-- but after a while, consistency can get a bit numbing.

Laswell is excellent at what he does, but truly definitive statements, like the amazing Invisible Design, are rare in his catalogue; his best work is spread out over too many discs to count, instead of being concentrated in one place.

Over the years, Laswell has released a veritable pantsload of dub-themed releases, and this new one follows in the much the same vein: deep bass, slow tempos, cavernous echo, and a nebulous sense of composition.

As dub releases goes, its fairly minimal; while there arent piles of freaky samples-- in fact, theres really no clutter at all to speak of-- its nothing Laswell hasnt explored many times before.

While Laswells chilled-out dub instrumentals arent bad by any means, they dont hold a candle to the vocal tracks; Im not sure what language GiGi is singing in when she leaves English behind (Ethiopia has six major languages-- the principle being Amharic-- and several more minor ones), but in the context of the music, its beside the point, as her mellifluous delivery is ultimately what cuts through the dubby haze.

Percussionists Karsh Kale and Aiyb Dieng are consummate craftsmen, but on the dub tracks theyre limited to a small window, making it difficult for them to break things up with the virtuosity theyre known for.

Theyre given a freer hand on the vocal tunes, though, which invariably results in a much more palpable sense of urgency and fire.

Under usual circumstances I might recommend this, but if you dont already own Laswells essential releases like Psychonavigation, Invisible Design, or the various and excellent records by his other projects Praxis, Tabla Beat Science, Material, and Massacre, Sacred System can easily wait.

While the previous Dub Chamber releases leaned more toward hard Jamaican-style dub music, with instruments dropping in and out and plenty of reverb and delay, this is altogether a different beat, in large part due to the vocals of Ethiopian singer Gigi.

And what Laswell, Gigi, drummertabla player Karsh Kale, and percussionist Aiyb Dieng end up with is really ambient dub -- something lighter and more flowing because it adapts itself to the vocals.

And Gigi is in excellent form, possibly better than on her own debut, whether on Ethiopia or the memorable, beautiful Jerusalem, which mixes a slight RB inflection with dub for something outstanding, beautiful, and ethereal.

Laswells light hand at the controls (even the discs heaviest track, The Lower Ground, is hardly the stuff of Lee Scratch Perry and King Tubby) works subtly -- shifts happen gradually, making for a sense of movement and focus about the pieces.

And his work on guitar, bass, and keyboards is as accomplished as his colleagues.

Slightly unearthly but always lovely, this dub chamber is a place worth exploring.

This fellows got his fingers in so many diverse musical pies of his own and others (whos baking he supervises) its dizzying and therein lies the rub, bub.

But hes thrown us a curve w his latest, and its a humdinger.

For one thing, its got a vocalist: the excellent Ethiopian singer Gigi Shibabaw, who has an entrancingly high, translucent, ethereal voice (a wee bit like Flora Purim), with strong Middle EasternNorth African overtones (though with a heart-rending touch of modal Irish-ness on the closer Jerusalem), though she does not overdo the melisma common to most Arabic singers.

This stuff is as heavily rhythmic as before (re: the other fine discs on R.O.I.R.) and Laswell still uses the holy language of Dub to communicate, but its not as ominous and bass-heavy, more spacious and a little brighter.

The instrumental sounds seem to gently, gracefully soar over (and occasionally down) yawning chasms.

Laswell plays a few guitar lines encompassing shades of both West African guitar music and the late Jerry Garcia.

You can actually listen to this one in the daylight, while the other volumes are definitely for night or darken rooms.

Thats not a put-down, btw.) This particular Book Ive been able to sit through twice in one sitting, and theres not many discs out there that have that power.

This album is mysteriously billed as Dub Chamber 4, and since I havent heard the first three Dub Chambers, Im questoning my qualifications to write this review.

Bill Laswell Discography Torrent