DR. ISRAEL
Inna City Pressure (ROIR)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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The outrageously talented Dr. Israel should be on your radar if you're into reggae, dub, drum 'n' bass or jungle, as he's mastered a powerful mix of all that and more. Inna City Pressure is a masterpiece, first released in 1998 on Mutant Sound. ROIR has resurrected this out-of-print gem, now remixed, remastered and sporting two bonus tracks and a new cover. There's so much to recommend this album it's hard to keep it brief. "The Doctor vs. The Wizard" is a mindblower, built on a sample from the main riff of Black Sabbath's "The Wizard." Ozzy Osbourne's famous harmonica part is replaced by Dr. Israel's melodica and Bill Ward's slamming rock drums are replaced with a churning drum 'n' bass beat. As if that wouldn't be enough to bring it over to the herb side (wait... the "other" herb side), the Doc gives it all a nice 'n' trippy dub production. Perfection. For "floaty" factor, there's nothing like "Survivor," which moves along on a slow current and a bass tone so deep it sounds like it's emanating from the Marianas Trench. The collaboration with Rancid ("Copper") isn't bad, but it's almost like a breather while Dr. Israel gets ready to come back with "Revolution" and knock you off your comfort zone and onto the dance floor with his special blend of roots reggae, dub and a crazy jungle beat guaranteed to make you crawl back off that floor. Dr. Israel will be releasing a new album in October, so you might want to pick this up and familiarize yourself with this guy. Odds are it'll just take one listen to Inna City Pressure to start you watching for the new one.

© 2005 - DJ Johnson