Divination

Divination is a United States ambient dub and electronic project associated with Bill Laswell, who is credited here as one of the members alongside Jeff Bova, Buckethead, DXT, Anton Fier, 細野晴臣, Jah Wobble, Laraaji and Robert Musso. It sits within Laswell’s wider body of collaborative projects and focuses on ambient, dub and electronic textures.

Ambient dub releases

Under the Divination name, two albums appear in the early 1990s: Ambient Dub Vol. I and Divination: Ambient Dub, Volume Two - Dead Slow. The first release leans on textured guitars, dark synthesisers, electronics and Laswell’s bass playing. The second shifts further towards ambient sound, with swirling pads, looped percussion, little or no vocals or guitars, and less emphasis on Caribbean dub elements.

Style and context

The project works in the area where ambient, dub and electronic music overlap, using spacious production and layered instrumentation rather than conventional song structures. It is one of several Bill Laswell-related collaborations that explore hybrid forms of experimental music.