The third power

>> Montreal dub don Mossman on mantras, metanoia and Mutron Bi-phasers

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

"Mutatis mutandis: things being changed as they ought to be."--from the 1836 edition of A Dictionary of General Knowledge; or An Explanation of Words and Things Connected With All the Arts and Sciences (edited by one George Crabb, A.M.)

From somewhere in the labyrinthine chaos of his basement studio/office space, Dub Lounge organizer Mossman has unearthed the tome quoted above. "Just read that," he tells me with a knowingly arched eyebrow. "That's what this is all about."

It rapidly becomes clear that what was initially intended as a chat about Mossman's triple-play launch party (CD, Web site, animated short by his dad) was about to become something a whole lot bigger and deeper.

Three to get ready

Let's start with the surface stuff. The launch party itself is a benefit--"Half the money from the door is going to the legal defence fund for the Quebec City activists. Also, part of the proceeds from the CD--15, 20 per cent? I have to talk to my accountant about that."

The CD in question is Mossman vs. the World Bank, a live-band dub affair featuring the likes of Jon Asencio (Pest 5000), Bob Eaglesham (Shine Like Stars), Noize proprietor Tony Laboa and Evan Cranley of Stars. "Myself," says Mossman, "I do the percussion, the mixing, scratching, producing, arranging, the yakking and whatever."

"It's got that authentic roots sound to it," interjects guitarist Eaglesham, "just from the fact that we were using very limited equipment, nothing high-tech." Nothing? The cool effects on Matt Watkins' trombone, Mossman informs me, are produced by nothing less than a Mutron Bi-phaser (Spock wants it back when they're done).

The album introduces Mossman's indie label Dispensation Records, actually the vanguard of yet another triple play. "The non-profit stuff I'm planning to put out will be on Cultivation, and the re-issues of old reggae and other kinds of music that inspired me will be on, obviously, Inspiration."

Untangling the web

And then there's the site, www.dublounge. net, which Grim Skunk's Peter Edwards is overseeing. Friends at Ninja Tune are aiding Mossman in the e-commerce aspect, a clearing house for Dispensation products and anything else he elects to sell. But that's just part of it. The Dub Lounge section is about what's happening with the nights (now an export!), while the More Time section will be history, things like a Lee Perry singles list or a piece on Haile Selassie's visit to Canada for Expo '67.

"The Lifeline section, that's where we're talking about the delegates. The 'world' sub-section will have a map of the world, and you can click on a particular city and contact the delegate there. There'll be many sub-sections, each with its own delegate for music, science, the power of the trinity--all that Eastern philosophy and metaphysics that I'm getting into, the metanoia."

Meta-hello? Here's where the heavy stuff starts. "Metanoia," Mossman explains, "is the awakening of the mind. Metaphysics, as the dictionary explains it, is the science which considers beings as abstracted from all matter, as actions, relations and the like, but particularly beings in their nature purely spiritual, as gods, angels and the soul of man. It's the study of the correlation between all the religions.

"People can use the intrinsic, intuitive capabilities of the primordial mind, what I like to call the amoebae-fish-lizard-bird-monkey brain, the cerebellum. It's there to teach you everything you want to know, once you're ready."

Manifesting the mantra

It's easier to connect dub to mysticism and transcendentalism than, say, disco or polka. It's a deeply physical music, rhythmic but irrational. Mossman takes it further: "Dub is a mantra. The term 'mantra'--and I'm taking this from the Dalai Lama's Kalachakra Tantra, one of the biggest initiations in Buddhism--is etymologized as mind protection, specifically protecting the mind from ordinary appearances and conceptions of being ordinary.

"You gotta see that dub can be esoteric, mystical--like what was going on at Lee Perry's studio, which is why he's thought of as the pinnacle. It's something that you would reflect on, meditate on. It's to show you the magic of life. Life is not an ordinary thing, it's something special, probably much more than you or I are able to perceive."

Mossman spins his beloved "dawn of dub" yarn to illustrate his point, how King Tubby's effects- board first turned a regular, old-school Kingston-ghetto dancehall party into a terrifying, chaotic and ultimately enlightening experience for those fortunate to be there on that particular night.

"You gotta understand how dub manifested--these are people who have nothing at all, no jobs, just food, music, that's it. Their life is suffering. They are at the bottom of civilization. These people are hearing it, though, that this is a mantra--it's not ordinary, it's special. It kicked in right away. They were elated, overwhelmed, excited. They were in the moment, right there."

Launch party at Blizzarts' Dub Lounge night, Wednesday, June 6, 10pm, $5