steppers – devizine.com

What an electric and energetic night of dub-fuelled goodness at the Muck & Dundar in Devizes, with Omega Nebula; I need a historical rewind to express how much, and why, I loved it!

The Omega Nebula is between five to six thousand lightyears away, so I’m glad they came to us, as I was on foot, but it surely was an unmissable night in town. Now, I know you know I know you know I Googled that for the sake of the joke, I’m not professor Brian Cox. But what I can adlib is this: in 1989 Osbourne Ruddock was shot outside his home in Kingston, Jamaica. The gunman made off with his gold chain and gun, but the world lost a music pioneer, known as King Tubby.

What has any of this got to do with the tropical holiday-at-home Devizes rum bar The Muck & Dunder you may well ask to bid I quit waffling! I’m getting to it! For in an interim period between ska and reggae known as rock steady, where brass sections waned in favour of more economical vocal harmonies, Tubby noted people danced to the instrumental breaks. With this simple notion, his sound system and experimental sound engineering techniques created dub.

Tubby’s echo delays, erratic pitch changes, and techniques like “rolling the stone,” which predates drum n bass by twenty years, became the blueprints of modern pop. His influence on Kool Herc alone is definitive; a Jamaican immigrant to New York, who, fusing it with funk and disco, would create hip hop, the rest cascades from this point. Hence why the dub style of Omega Nebula was so thoroughly accepted and enjoyed by, mostly, conventional millennials last night, rather than the niche subgenre which has, for the past few decades, been recognised as a steady plod and penchant for the crusty hippy types. But, there’s more to it than this.

Bristol husband and wife duo, Omega Nebula, play to steppers riddims, with all the offbeats, one drops and Tubby’s dub effects, pre-dubstep, yet cherry pick dubstep elements to retain a certain freshness. They turn dubstep on its head with these nostalgic dub traditions; it’s a win-win formula.

See, dancehall may chant “rewind” but reggae rarely looks back, it faces progression head on, often fiercely competitive to create the next sound. I love reggae for this neverending development, but for me, personally, of a certain age I find it difficult to take dubstep underwing. I’m stuck, groundhog day, in a bygone era whereby the trance-techno fusion of Zion Train and Dreadzone was my final frontier, at least I thought so until last night.

Talking final frontiers, I could suitably review last night at the Muck & Dunder as Mr Spock from Star Trek! “There’s a sonic pulse coming from the nebula, Captain, transmogrificating into kinetic energy upon interaction with organic life!” That kinetic energy was felt by all in attendance, it didn’t matter if you were the ageing hippy like me, or youthful enough to acknowledge Little Mix as influential! What Omega Nebula has crafted is simple yet incredibly beguiling, as is reggae in general.

Steppers remains the most upbeat of reggae drum patterns, ergo the Muck jumped, the vocals chanted encouragement, like an MC, yet were as beautifully delivered as dancehall greats Sister Nancy or Lady Saw. The result was the whole vibe was energetically stimulating, contemporary throughout with this nod to the traditions of dub; a truly lovely recipe, which made for a truly wonderful occasion.

But the bottom line is the most important, and that being, perhaps Omega Nebula is groundbreaking, or perhaps they’re simply part of a bigger and blossoming scene in cities like Bristol, neither way matters when you’re an old nutter living in the sticks. I’m not so far gone that I’m unaware of Glasgow’s Mungos HiFi or the Gentleman’s Dub Club from Leeds, but fear I’d do myself injury clubbing as I once did! Here in Devizes it’s something altogether different, and it was immensely well received. For which, again, we find ourselves saluting the Muck & Dunder, and to James Threlfall for suggesting them, who, incidentally DJ’d through to the end, for bringing us such diverse acts in such a hospitable and attractive setting, with piña coladas and rum cocktails to die for; I don’t care if it’s November in Blighty, when in Rome…..!!