UPSETTERS - UPSETTERS 14 DUB Black Board Jungle *Pre-Order

Release Date Friday 20th November 2026
All pre-orders will be dispatched/made ready for collection on that day.

One of the most influential dub albums ever made. The remixing techniques
used – radically new for 1973 – helped transform the role of the producer and
the engineer to that of creative artists in their own right.
First released in Jamaica in December 1972, Upsetters 14 Dub Black Board Jungle is widely
regarded as one of the first full-length dub albums and a true landmark in reggae history.
Produced by the visionary Jamaican innovator Lee “Scratch” Perry, it marks the decisive
moment when dub evolved from incidental B-sides into a fully realized long-playing art
form. At a time when Jamaican sound system culture was flourishing, producers were
beginning to strip down popular reggae tracks into instrumental “versions,” emphasizing
the bass and drums for sound system deejays to toast over while adding echo and reverb
effects to make things more interesting and dynamic. While King Tubby, who was in charge
of mixing the tracks, was pioneering the technical foundations of dub, Perry expanded the
approach by adding the hypnotic and psychedelic sound effects that made this record so
rich in ideas, rendering the album more conceptually bold.
The album reworked previously released rhythm tracks by the Upsetters, which were
recorded between 1970 and 1972, shortly before Perry opened his own studio – the
legendary Black Ark Studio in Kingston. Their tight, groove-driven playing provided a solid
backbone for these radical studio manipulations. Using the mixing desk as an instrument,
tracks were deconstructed in real time – dropping vocals in and out, isolating drumbeats,
pushing bass lines to the front of the mix, and sending fragments of sound spiraling into
space through the heavy use of a spring reverb and tape delay effect units. Silence became
as important as sound, and the interplay of rhythm and echo created a hypnotic, immersive
listening experience.
Upsetters 14 Dub Black Board Jungle established dub as a genre defined by creative studio
intervention. It demonstrated that the remix itself could be the main attraction, influencing
generations of reggae producers and resonating far beyond into the techniques and
aesthetics of post-punk, electronic music, hip-hop, and ambient sound design. By

transforming the studio into a creative laboratory and elevating the “version” to an art form,
this foundational album reshaped not only Jamaican music, but the whole of modern music
production culture.
Tracklisting
A1 Upsetters Black Panta 00:04:40
A2 Upsetters V/S Panta Rock 00:03:34
A3 Upsetters Khasha Macka 00:03:52
A4 Upsetters Eleplant Rock 00:03:17
A5 Upsetters African Skank 00:03:17
A6 Upsetters Dreamland Skank 00:02:35
A7 Upsetters Jungle Jim 00:02:57
B1 Upsetters Drum Rock 00:03:56
B2 Upsetters Dub Organizer 00:03:25
B3 Upsetters Lovers Skank 00:02:45
B4 Upsetters Mooving Skank 00:02:48
B5 Upsetters Apeman Skank 00:02:30
B6 Upsetters Jungle Fever 00:02:22
B7 Upsetters Kaya Skank 00:03:05

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