Review:
Given the current fashion for both UK funky - itself a reinvention of classic speed garage - and new house records inspired by old US garage, it seems a fitting moment to revisit a long-forgotten early British garage 12" from 1994. Partly produced by Grant Nelson and released on his Nice 'N' Ripe label 18 years ago, Dub Essentials Part 1 is something of a time capsule - an early example of US garage being given a distinctly UK twist. While some tracks are typical of USG at the time - see "Feelings Mutual" and the formidably skippy drum track "Gone Tracks" - others feature the deep, wobbling basslines and vocal edits that would later become a UKG trademark (most notably "Deeper" and "Scatter").