DUBBING MY FRIENDS BY THE LOVING PAUPERS, VICTOR RICE

On the liner notes of the original release of LADDERS in 2023, the legendary UK tastemaker and DJ Don Letts wrote, “I don’t know how this Washington, DC-based dub reggae outfit was brought up, but for the most part, like me, they seem to have been raised with sixties pop hitting them in one ear and seventies reggae hitting them in the other.” That very apt description comes further into focus with the complete dub version of LADDERS, called THE GHOST OF LADDERS, to be released in May. Named to echo the pivotal Burning Spear dub album Garvey’s Ghost, the new record has every track from the original album dubbed by Latin-GRAMMY winner Victor Rice, who engineered the original album, and has done dub mixes for tons of artists, from The Soothsayers and Cas Haley to Easy Star All-Stars and SunDub. The original album was picked as an Album of the Year by BBC 6 Music for 2023. Guitarist Jorge Pezzimenti said about the project, “We are excited for fans to hear these dub versions of these songs, because it highlights how much energy and focus we put on the instrumental layers in our songs.”.