#in the beginning i was like: this guy has the most funkiest name others are just Alice Vincent Sharon Liam Ada etc. etc.

[fivekrystalpetals]

something I don't understand-- ok, so to begin with, my guess was right and the Abyss is indeed a place with enormous power to bring unliving to life and turn humans (or living beings like cats too) into chains. what I didn't expect was the Will actually had the power to turn back time as well.

At Break's request, she did change the past. and the tragedy got delayed by four years and happened as a result of a different turn of events. the original timeline is something like:

-- 10+ years after Tragedy of Sablier, Sinclair family is murdered by a thief, leaving Kevin Legnard and the younger daughter as sole survivors

-- Kevin makes an illegal contract, murders 116 people and gets dragged into the Abyss where he meets the White Alice

-- while in the Abyss, time is fluid and moves back to right when Tragedy of Sablier is taking place; Vincent and Gil enter the Abyss as well

-- White Alice/Will gets triggered seeing Vincent, the dimension starts breaking apart bc of her turbulent emotions; at the same time, Kevin strikes a deal with her

-- the Will changes the past for him and he gets thrown 30 years into the future

Now, under the name of Xerxes Break, he gets to know from Shirley Rainsworth that the Sinclairs lived for four more years. In the changed timeline, the older daughter was assassinated and the younger daughter turned an illegal contractor and sacrificed her entire family to the chain. Seriously, I don't know which outcome would have been less guilty for Break? In the changed timeline, there was not a single survivor.

But my question is-- if the changed timeline replaced the original timeline, then how come Rufus Barma knows of the Red-Eyed Spectre? Kevin was in the Abyss while the past was changed, and he directly appeared thirty years later at the Rainsworth's house. there should be no killing of 116 people either. I don't understand why Kevin's records of illegal contract and his killings still exist in the changed timeline. i mean, yes, as far as the Will is concerned, his contract and the completed seal on his chest can't be erased but the killings happened only because and after his master was killed. it's something only Kevin and the Will should be aware of in the changed timeline, no?

Or.... is it like only people who lived after the incident would be affected by the timeline? as in the Will changes only the events of the past not rewrites the memories of the people themselves. if that's the case, then yeah, the older Barma who was already investigating the case of Kevin Legnard must have been stumped by the sudden disappearance of evidence and change of events too . won't that be hella messy going forward....? oh but again, I guess it's only for Break that the Will changed the past so far bc he was the only one who didn't lose his mind even after being dragged into the Abyss,

me: yes!! finally I have some time to get back to my reading!!

PH: *getting ready to hit me with Break's backstory*

me: ah maybe another day hahaha byebye

[thegroovethief]

#TGTfeature 006: Dr. StrangeDub [Echo Chamber (KFAI), Around The World In Dub: Minnesota, USA] Hopefully you’ve had ample time to appreciate the diverse creativity of emcee and singer MAS1A, as #TGTfeature 006 switches frequencies to speak with veteran reggae radio host Dr. StrangeDub! He’s been a personal inspiration to me since I’ve gotten involved with KGNU community radio here in Colorado, so it’s a real honor to interview him. This and forthcoming #TGTfeature articles will highlight dedicated musical talents by featuring their recent work as well as an in-depth interview. Known for his passionate support of dub, reggae, and all related genres on the Echo Chamber show, Dr. StrangeDub (Michael Rose) has been a DJ at KFAI-FM (Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA) since 1996. Pictured above with Lee "Scratch" Perry, the good doctor has plenty of knowledge to share on the joys and importance of non-commercial radio, on how digital music has affected his role, and on the challenges of compiling for his ongoing Around The World In Dub series. A bit about Dr. StrangeDub: - Host of the famed Echo Chamber – which pounds and soothes the brain with the heaviest dubs, the most conscious roots, and funkiest club beats on the planet - Has released eight full-length and free-to-download Paris Around The World In Dub compilations on Dan Dada Records. He’s currently at work on volumes 9 & 10, producers take note! - In addition to radio and dubwise music, passions include home-brewing beer, cooking, gardening, the Green Bay Packers... and of course his children and family. Besides 20+ years of radio, the doctor has been a software engineer for over 30 years

TGT: How did you first get into reggae-related music, and why has it become such an important part of your life? DS: Well, unlike any kid growing up today in most parts of the world, I had no exposure to reggae music whatsoever – other than Eric Clapton’s cover of “I Shot the Sheriff” – until the age of 17 or 18. I was a senior in high school I believe when Peter Tosh was on tour with the Rolling Stones and one of the concerts was broadcast on the King Biscuit Flour Hour. I was hanging out getting high at a friend’s apartment and we awaited hearing the Stones live. Then, this music came on, this firebrand of Rastafari came on and started singing… and I was like – what the heck is this music? I put down the bong and said ‘I got to run home and get a cassette recording this!’ Or something on that order… so I did, and I was hooked. At least on Peter Tosh. So I went off to college having heard a bit of Peter Tosh live, Tosh & Mick on SNL performing “Walk and Don’t Look Back,” and old Eric C. doing “I Shot the Sheriff” on 461 Ocean Boulevard. And for a while, my reggae exposure didn’t expand much. But a couple things changed that in short order: first one was meeting my great friend Craig Krueger who turned me on to Bob Marley & the Wailers, Burning Spear, and a couple others… maybe Third World? Craig might remember. But it was his Wailers collection that made me a reggae fan. The second big thing in the college years was discovering dub! I started a bit of a reggae collection shopping at this store Flat, Black, & Circular (where I bought Black Uhuru since the lead singer had MY name), and one day with just a couple dollars in my pocket I bought this album in a very cheap sleeve titled King Tubby meets the Upsetter – at the Grassroots of Dub. This one here:

I put this slab of heavy vinyl on the turntable and this weird inside-out music came on. This seemed to sound nothing at all like the Wailers, or Black Uhuru, or Spear, or any reggae I had heard. Was there something really messed up in the recording of this? And who’s this guy King Tubby? Not the singer, probably, as there’s not much in the way of vocals on here. Is he the bandleader? Remember no Google at this time. I started asking around. And reading the zines. Not sure exactly when or where I was told that he was an engineer. What he did was to take existing music – or the separate recorded tracks that compose a song – and mess with it. What he created was called “dub”, which was short for dubplate. His one-off mixes were being used as the b-sides of vinyl “dubplates” where the original song was the a-side. It would be many years later that I came to see how riddims can be infinitely recycled in Jamaica! Can’t forget the other big exposure that came from my college years. And that would be discovering or being turned on to artists like The Clash (thanks again to Craig), and Jah Wobble, and Holger Czukay & Can, and Kraftwerk, Eno, and Joy Division. You know what I’m saying – those artists that came from a Rock & Punk background who experimented with electronics, and recording techniques, found sounds, and dub. Jah Wobble’s “Bedroom” album was big! Of course side six of “Sandinista”! TGT: Having just celebrated 20 years on air, the Echo Chamber radio show continually covers the whole dub/reggae spectrum. How do you and Baby Swiss collaborate to maintain such a diverse mix of music week in and week out?

DS: Right now, and for the past 10 years, I have and receive more music than I can possibly digest. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if things hadn’t gone so much digital and web based. Sure, I’d still have a ton of vinyl, but I would have Terabytes of music! But, back in ’96 when I jumped into radio broadcasting, I was a record/CD store hound. I searched the bins like all DJs, and made my annual spring trip to Chicago to visit my pal (and Echo Chamber co-founder) Terry C. and buy music. Of course I also started emailing record labels and distributors… and artists direct. Nowadays, I am on a member of a number of music promotion companies/sites like Distiller, and Fatdrop, RDX (RadioDirectX), Riddimstream, and many more. Also, many artists or their management contact me directly in email, or Facebook, and send me music in email or through DropBox, WeTransfer, or whatever. As for collaboration, it’s mostly just word of mouth while we are on the air. Sometimes we share stuff through email. Of course, we both burn many CD-R copies of music we want to share with each other. The only time we talk about an upcoming playlist for a show is when we do a special theme program. Like when we do our “Fistful of Dub – Dread Western” special. Or the late July “Lunar Lunatics” outer space special. Or the “Magic Dub Carpet Ride” dubwise journey to the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. I’ve run into Swiss (Elmar Romain) a few times at record shops (not sure the last time, as it’s been years), but we’ve never gone record shopping together once! TGT: What do you enjoy about live radio work, especially compared to performing as a DJ? DS: Well, first off, I’ve only done the live DJ thing a handful of times. I want to move in that direction, especially as I begin to wind down the 9-to-5 employment thing, but I am a seasoned radio DJ, and a newbie club DJ! One of the things I love about radio is that there is no face-to-face audience, so I can drag my ass into the station no matter what I look like or feel like. Then, I can play whatever I like. I am not doing what a club DJ does at all – at least not as far as the aim of the endeavor. He or she is aiming to get a club dancing! Or, if it’s a really late-night chill club scene, the aim may be to have a lot of guys and ladies enjoying each other’s company… And you know what that means. They don’t have those darkened VIP corners with the bottle service in clubs for nothing… Broadcasting radio out over the airwaves, and especially the internet has a different aim entirely. Sure… some of that dancing and lovemaking may be going on with the radio blaring out some choice Dub. But it’s not that face-to-face aim for the radio DJ as it is for the club DJ. Or at least the good club DJs! The overlap between the club and the radio is of course the toys and techniques… and the selection of music. And some nights on the radio I am more of the old school “selector,” whereas on other nights I’m a wannabe King Tubby or Lee Perry, messing with the controls, overlapping the tunes, and dropping in the found sounds and other sound bites. So I can learn a new mixing board, or come up to speed on some mixing software without too much trouble. And I am pretty comfortable in a small club on a small stage mixing things up much like I do on the radio. Would like to more of this as I said earlier. But, I have no plans to become one of these live mixing wizards like so many club DJs. Of course they usually deal with high BPM levels…whereas I’m much more into downbeat, chilled out music. I think of myself as a selector first, and messing with the mix as a secondary bit. And on the radio, some artists actually get offended if the DJ “messes with” their recording very much. TGT: You’ve obviously had a long-running relationship with KFAI. How did you initially get involved in non-commercial radio, and why is it still so important and relevant? DS: This one all goes back to my friendship with Terry C. (aka TurnTableTerrorist at WLUW-FM) and our long-running home-brewing hobby. We began home-brewing back in 1991 after we became friends at work. And, each time we brewed, we inevitably talked about “how much fun it would be to have our own radio show.” Terry told me about a neighbor of his who volunteered on Saturday mornings at a public station (KBEM-FM) doing a bluegrass program. The neighbor suggested we just show up sometime when a station has an open-house and volunteer. So… finally, after talking about it for four to five years, we volunteered at KFAI-FM community station. We signed on to work two hours per week sorting and cataloguing new CDs in the music library. After just a couple months the station offered a free “become a DJ” class. So, over a six-week span we learned all about radio board programming and running the equipment. Given it was 1996, we even had a class on splicing reel-to-reel tape! Of course, we also learned about the seven dirty words and other FCC regulations. For the exam, each of us had to do our own mock radio show (something like 10 minutes) to show we were competent. When the class was over we each got our FCC radio-programming license. TGT: The Echo Chamber has also released the 8-volume (so far) Around The World In Dub series, all on Dan Dada Records. Featuring dozens of artists, including dub heavyweights like Dubmatix and Vibronics, the entire series is free-to-download. How did this project come about?

Echo Chamber - Around The World In Dub Vol 7 & 8 by Dan Dada Records

DS: This came about through flattery… That is, the DJ and producer from Portugal known as Bandulu Dub knew about my show for some time and had sent me some of the releases on his netlabel Dan Dada. Then back in 2010 or 2011 he asked me if I’d like to release an “Echo Chamber presents…” type of compilation on his label as a free download – something that reflected the sound of the radio show. Of course I was flattered… and agreed. The next step was asking a bunch of artists to contribute a track – for free, and for a free release. Surprisingly – or maybe not – so many artists were happy to contribute something. It took a bunch of emails, and keeping track of a bunch of music files, but over a few months it came together. So, we have returned to the same formula and pulled in artists from around the planet for each of the 4 two-volume releases. The only problem, as with so many things, is finding the time in our busy lives. Heck, 2017 is now over half done and I have done nothing yet as far as recruiting a bunch of new dubwise music for a Volume 9 & 10 of the Around The World In Dub series. But, I am hoping to get on it soon! TGT: Somehow you also manage to see plenty of live music! What are your thoughts on the current scene in Minneapolis, and which local acts are you particularly enjoying? (I recently discovered Black Market Brass myself!) DS: Although I do not play a single instrument myself, I eat, sleep, and breathe music! As you pointed out, I do try to get out to as many live music shows as I can. Of course, for me then, one of the best benefits of being a radio DJ, is seeing so many great artists live (for free) and meeting and getting to know them. I live for the green room! I also live for the dancefloor and consider dancing as my “going to the gym.” Some time I’ll tell you about my theory – that every possible thing in life can be tied to dancing and the dancefloor. The title of my thesis is simple: Life = Dance. But that’s a subject I could write a book on… As far as the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) music scene, there are a number of artists and groups I really enjoy. Every Tuesday night for the past several years (why not many more years, I’m not sure) I have been going out to see and dance to the International Reggae All Stars (IRAS). As their name implies, the group members come from a number of countries – including Jamaica, the Virgin Islands, Trinidad & Tobago, and somewhere in Africa. The local band Dred I Dread is another excellent band who, unlike IRAS, have recorded and released original music – their new album Listen to the Evolution is quite good. Another great local band (which overlaps IRAS in personnel) is the soca-heavy Socaholix! A couple of great artists that have migrated to the Twin Cities are Rass Kwame and the man known simply as Innocent. As you mentioned, another local band that I love to see live, and DANCE to, is the afrobeat-centered Black Market Brass. They also have an excellent recent album release titled Cheat and Start a Fight! Across the border in Wisconsin, there are the excellent bands Natty Nation and Dub Foundation… STAY LOCKED IN WITH Dr. StrangeDub: Echo Chamber on KFAI Mixcloud Internet Archive Facebook Soundcloud Twitter