Shatter The Hotel: A Dub Inspired Tribute To Joe Strummer

Shatter the Hotel
Reviewed by Sadie O., 1/22/10
“A dub-inspired tribute to Joe Strummer” – now that I think about it, why did it take so long for someone to think of a reggae collection of covers of Strummer’s songs? Some of these were already quite reggae-oriented in the original, some of them were punk. I think this comp was put together in the UK, and there seems to be a British slant, although there are US and JA artists. Lots of great stuff here.
Marginal FCC on track 2. I like 1, 5, 12, and esp. 3 and 13 best.
1. 5:25 ****emphatic midtempo skank, rather slower and bouncier than the original. Don Letts doesn’t have Strummer’s delivery (who does?), but does a credible job and the music is good – esp. the dub. Gets better and better as it goes along.
2. 4:16 FCC? “how to be a dick” **starts with bit of low-key ranting in patois, then downtempo roots skank – much more reggae and less punk than the original. Are any of these the actual lyrics? How could they tell? Fades to random noises about 20 seconds early.
3. 2:52 *****starts with horsehooves 3 seconds late. Then a fine slow dub bubble with lots of echo on the vocals and syndrum. Perfectly off-key.
4. 4:52 ***midtempo club dub, female vocals – very slinky and not like the original (or Rachid Taha’s great cover) at all…
5. 4:04 ****super-cool downtempo dub skank.
6. 3:39 ***announcement intro, downtempo swingy skank. Lots of political ranting – very dark, and in the punk ethos.
7. 3:40 ***antique recording intro, then midtempo bouncy bubble with deep dub. Only scattered vocals, just dubbity dubbity dub.
8. 4:59 ***horn flourishes, downtempo rock steady (not really ska, like the original. Sweet, actually. Twangy guitar solo, then real ska for last 30 seconds.
9. 4:20 **kinda spy movie feel intro, then British-style dancehall and dub skank. The dancehall bits skate a bit close to disco, but the rest of it is nice.
10. 3:58 ***uptempo skank, a bit ska, dubby instrumental.
11. 5:17 **”Watch Out!, then slow minimalist bubble, vocals in working-class British English and Spanglish. Dancehall rap in Spanish.
12. 4:56 ****weebles and squeeps – jaunty midtempo dub. Minimalist but interesting. Nice growly sax solo in last minute or so.
13. 5:41 *****slow dub skank – classic roots dub sound, unusual vocals. Very different from original, but very recognizable – like a cover oughta be.
14. 3:26 **the single (rather than 12” mix) of track 1. The dub part in the second half of track 1 was my favorite bit…