Author gtk

Lately there have been releases that are primarily characterized by singers, whose voices can be described as “characterless”. That may sound extremely disrespectful, but it is by no means meant to be. Singing per se is not for everyone; not every voice can be used universally and only a few have this clear recognition value, which I would like to call "vocal character". It is this unique intonation, diction and manner that - if you want to put it that way - gives a voice its character. The reggae genre was and is rich in these unique vocal specimens: Michael Rose, Winston Rodney, Marcia Griffiths, Peter Tosh, Gregory Isaacs, Eek-A-Mouse, Dennis Brown, U-Roy, Earl 16, Apple Gabriel, Don Carlos, Vaughn Benjamin, Leroy Sibbles, the Marleys, etc. etc. - each and every one of them is unmistakable and instantly recognizable at the first note. It is completely unimportant whether the tone is right or wrong; in reggae you don't see that so closely and sometimes the slightly crooked tone - the one between the notes, so to speak - becomes a stylistic device: Winston Rodney aka Burning Spear knows how to sing one or two songs about it; for Anthony B. intonation is a lifelong "Universal Struggle".

It is no coincidence that the above name dropping mainly includes the big players from the 1970s and 80s - a time when major labels still gave reggae great value - mainly thanks to Bob Marley, but also to the hype that followed his death arose: who would sign the next reggae superstar? Of course, even in Marley's time, other artists of the genre were more or less successfully built up; and as it was in those times, the majors made a rigorous selection: only the best of the best in terms of marketability, recognition value and ... yes, also ability. I assume that criteria such as naivety, docility and manipulability played a certain role; the investment had to pay off. If that wasn't the case, you quickly found yourself with small and micro-labels, which thankfully carried the genre into the new millennium after the major labels lost interest in sales.

The music landscape today has changed completely due to the dwindling music industry and new technical possibilities; the big sales drivers are live performance and merchandise. Everyone - and this is the key point - everyone, musician or not, can try their hand at in-house production, distribution and marketing with relatively little capital expenditure. There is no longer any preselection of the “best of the best” and the pyramid with the levels of success has become very, very flat - in the reggae genre, mind you. It is up to the subjective evaluation whether you want to see it as positive or negative.

So it's no wonder that we're confronted with a considerable number of releases today, which I would like to rate as mediocre at best. The reason for this could be a lack of expertise: Not everyone who has Pro Tools installed on their notebook can produce. Not everyone who owns an instrument masters it or can use it for the arrangement. Not everyone with a voice should sing - which brings us back to the starting point and the end of this little digression. And all because of Nick Sefakis!

Contrary to the suspected question mark on the face of one or the other reader, Sefakis is not entirely unknown: The man is a guitarist in the Californian reggae-rock-pop conglomerate Iya Terra and does a good job there, as you can see on YouTube:

Schuster, stick to your last: As a gifted string plucker, you don't have to sing too, especially if the voice in the lead doesn't do it due to the lack of the cheeky "character" mentioned above. Nick Sefakis can use his vocal cords sensibly: There are wonderfully layered, wonderfully harmonious old school background vocals on his solo debut "Foundation“- and to the great delight of the reviewer, he leaves it on Dub-Counterpart "Foundation in Dub“(Self-published) really come into their own. They put the hook lines in the limelight as smooth as silk and awaken memories of the great vocal trios á la Israel Vibration, The Viceroys / Paragons / Tamlins / Meditations / Heptones and whatever their names are. That and the absence or the reverb doctoring of the lead vocals over long stretches characterize this Dub-Album that can be described as successful from a production point of view: Classic arrangements and beautiful, balanced, if a tad too polished sound meets reserved, nonetheless fine Dub-Mix. Well, I would have liked to have had live drums on all of the tracks, but you can't have everything and I see the fine, live brass sections as a kind of compensation. I don't want to be petty either, and wave to AutoTune myself: If it fits, then it fits. With the occasional hip-hop beats it stops again, they don't have to be.

So can you “Foundation in Dub“As good DubRecommend album? Absolutely, especially compared to the rather boring vocal album. Even if Nick Sefakis probably didn't intend that: The Dubs are made for the soundtrack to the sundowner ... on 7-Mile-Beach in Negril, in Alfred's Ocean Palace. "Life is surely what you make it so I made a dream of it" - Mr. Sefakis is right.

Rapha Pico, singer from the Netherlands, fell for the first time with his EP "Continue The Glory" on. First and foremost, whether his voice, which could be classified somewhere between Ras Batch and Army - that is, a voice without qualities, quasi the basis of life for background singers. Secondly, whether the texts, with their simplicity and the effort of the simplest images, do not go beyond the usual and well-known Rasta sensitivities. So far, so bad - if it weren't for a steadfast backing band called "The Noble Chanters"; if it weren't for an extremely successful production that couldn't be more classic:

Well, the hard-working reviewer always finds something to complain about - even if it's just the drummer who imitates Carlton Barrett very nicely, but with time it gets annoying: there is only one Carlton Barrett with his extraordinary drum style; Clones cannot get close to him and are superfluous - with the exception of the drummers in the various Wailers incarnations post-Marley, of course.

So let's turn to the freshly appeared Dub-Counterpart of the EP, aptly "The glory of Dub“Titled (Noble Chanters Productions). Acoustically rougher and not as polished as the vocal album, drums and bass with amazing dynamics are in the foreground. The vocal explosions that appear again and again in the pieces are very well chosen and mostly reflect the essence of the respective lyrics. The Dub-Effects couldn't be more classic: calm echoes and reverbs run through the whole album; one or the other soundtrack fades in and out gently. And that's it, nothing more is needed. Listeners carry this through six tracks, which together last an astonishing 42 minutes - while the vocal counterpart with six tracks only lasts 28 minutes. Somebody has a lot of fun with extra-long ones Dub Versions, and the joy is mine:

By and large, “The Glory of Dub“In other words, a successful one, if not one that likes to experiment Dub-Album which, with its unobtrusive nature, is ideally suited as background music for working, reading or snoozing. For the reviewer, it would be worth a smooth 4-star rating, if ... yes, if there weren't inexplicable and senseless seconds of silence at the beginning and end of every single track. It takes 5 seconds, believe it or not, 20 seconds. That is extremely annoying, it spoils the listening pleasure massively and, in my opinion, cannot be justified as a stylistic device. Why there was no editing here remains a mystery that the readers of this review may be able to clarify. Until then, I regret to deduct two stars from the rating.

The Echo Beach label knows how to recycle its published productions one or more times. With a bit of goodwill, this can be interpreted as sustainable upcycling or even further research on the musical microbiome; In the present case, however, I see it more as a revitalization measure for a… well, suboptimally successful album. In short, Dubblestandart's "reggae classics“Collaboration with the Firehouse Crew has been given a bold makeover. After Paolo Baldini for his fine Dubblestandart remix album has already mixed up and cleared out two tracks, is now taking it Felix Wolter aka The Dubvision is grateful to the entire album that just under the title "Dubvisionist meets Dubblestandart & firehouse crew“(Echo Beach) is out.

The Dubvisionist does his job very briskly, not to say: inconsiderate, and he does not think about taking prisoners: fly like this Paul Zasky's stiff vocals are completely out of the mix and are only allowed to return, if at all, as highly alienated snippets. So for the first time it is actually possible to put fragments of the voice at the service of the cause and thus to remedy a major shortcoming of the original album. Felix Wolter is also not squeamish with other audio tracks; Guitar or drum parts have to believe in it to make room for the synths that are more conducive to the intended mood. As a sound carpet they play an important role in the mix and spread a solemn, sometimes mystical-melancholy atmosphere that shapes the basic tenor of the album.

I'm struggling with this resolute, uncompromising approach of the Dubvisionists pay some respect; what he still gets out of the given sounds is astonishing: if the originals danced along too lightly, he now gives them a proper foundation - a piece like “Hypocrite” turns into a pounding furiosity. Other tracks, on the other hand, seem to float ethereally; the opener "I'm No Robot" conjures up the basic mood of the album for more than a minute - before borrowing the drums on the hook of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is taken. A dramaturgical highlight, no question about it. The new, spaceier version of Burning Spear's “Fly Me To The Moon” was just as successful - it was amazing how the new mix animated the material and impressively demonstrated how two Dub-Mixer - Felix Wolter and Robbie Ost - interpret one and the same material differently.

Now it is probably the case that two hearts are pounding in Felix Wolter's chest - there is the cherished one Dubvisionists, but also the PFL (Pre Fade Listening) project that is more or less dedicated to lounge music. Both influence and fertilize each other to a certain extent, which is undoubtedly based on "Dubvisionist meets Dubblestandart & Firehouse Crew ”is understandable. This mixture is what makes Wolter's mixes so appealing, but it is for the Dubhead becomes a problem at the latest when PFL takes over the command and leads a track like “Babylon The Bandit” into shallower lounge waters. A one-time slip that is just caught by a dominant bassline.

In terms of sound, we are moving here in the typical Dubvisionist dimensions: distinctive, more centralized bass; holding back the heights. Anyone expecting crystal clear, glittering Trebbles will be disappointed. Everyone else knows that a sonic high-gloss polish would be wrong here - Dub is more of a steamroller than a greyhound, more feeling than intellect. Under this premise the transforms Dubvision is a formerly stiff, wooden release into a soulful, worn-melancholy, but ultimately also into an album with a positive outlook.

PS: For those interested in sound technology, I recommend the mixes by Robbie Ost, Paolo Baldini and vom Dublistening to visionists back-to-back; the differences are as striking as they are astonishing: a short journey through three different worlds of sound.

The Elovaters - one of those stereotypical West Coast reggae rock pop outfits you might think. And in fact, at least musically, it is about the same: light-footed reggae, which goes a few more Mys in the direction of elaborate songwriting and can come up with a number of hooks. That may feel like a musical death sentence Dub-Read the universe, where melodies are virtually vaporized and sometimes only float through the sound space like ghosts in homeopathic doses; where the bassline and nothing but the bassline forms the stage on which we like to be fooled into a multidimensional listening experience. However, I warn against hasty judgments that you could make if you read the album "Defy Gravity"And the video for the single release" Meridian "has an impact:

There are penile prostheses, skate and surfboards on the East Coast, as the Boston Elovaters emphasize in their promo videos. That seems to be taking hold and the success proves them right: Long and successful tours are followed by the recording of the above-mentioned album with producer Danny Kalb, who is more appreciated for his work with Beck or Ben Harper than for his isolated reggae productions. For the band, the collaboration with the producer-Kapazunder is obviously a stroke of luck; he puts the focus on melody and lyrics, tight arrangements and an easily digestible, hip sound. That the singer once had a scholarship for opera singing is superficially (thank god) not noticeable; But such a training is undoubtedly helpful to move so easily and accurately through highs and lows of sophisticated polyphonic singing. Overall, a round album that was very well received by the intended target group and catapulted the Elovaters to new heights in popularity.

And that could mean the end of this review, if ... yes, if not the last one Dub-Counterpart for the vocal album would have come onto the market: "Defy Dub“(The Elovaters) appears a full two years after“ Defy Gravity ”and actually surprises with basslines that im Dub-Mix have been excavated and exposed. That takes specialists - these include Gaudi and Victor Rice, among others, who give light-footed pop reggae a certain grounding. But the bird shoots a certain EN Young, who in his Dub-Mixes brings in current and trendy sound effects - so he packs the vocals in the musty box and then lets the tweeters cut up their echoes. One should keep an eye on the boy - as Dub-Mixer, mind you; his own attempts as an interpreter in the reggae genre are still ... well, capable of development.

Six in total Dub Mixers design “Defy Dub“Varied and so give the vocal album a 2020 update - with the younger generation clearly setting the tone and leaving behind something like Gaudi and Victor Rice. The overall result is fresh, catchy and sticks in the reviewer's ear - that may be due to the extraordinary summer 2020, the unfulfilled longing for sun, sea and mild evenings on the beach; maybe also the desire for lightness in challenging times. Who would have thought that the soundtrack would be one of those Dub-Album could be ...

Who thinks the melodica is the most annoying instrument ever in reggae and Dub Has made its move into the hotel, be taught better: It's a few floors lower, dear friends of the well-groomed Dubs.

Which I ask the theremin in front of the curtain. A curiosity as a musical instrument, it has been up to mischief for 100 years. It is the only instrument that is played completely contact-free; the upper extremities control pitch and volume solely through airy movements in the field of tension between two electrodes. The resulting changes in the electric field are amplified and reproduced as sound. So it says in Wikipedia that for those interested, far more relevant Information about the Theremin ready. 

This presumably first electronic instrument was primarily characterized by its playback capabilities - glissando and vibrato were not possible in this form before the invention of the theremin. Today the modulation wheel on the keys does this job with the left (in the truest sense of the word); So there is no need to lift the part into the studio or onto the stage. Or is it? Well, seeing a theremin player in action is a cool retro experience; the sounds are spontaneously reminiscent of the sound effects of science fiction trash movies of the 1960s and 70s ... and among us: who does not know the most famous piece of music with a weighty Theremin reference?

In any case, the Centennial is reason enough for exiled Italian Gaudi to bring out an entire album that is dedicated to this instrument and - no na - the title "100 Years of Theremin - The Dub Chapters“ (Dubmission records). The strange combination of reggae /Dub and theremin has existed before - who still remembers with horror "Theremin in Dub"-Album on which Gary Himmelfarb aka Dr. Dread fine Dubs from the RAS Records catalog with howling sound effects. Why, why ... only the doctor himself knows.

It is different with Gaudi production. The renowned musician, whose output moves along the interface between electronica and world music, has an audible mastery of the Theremin instrument and creates melodies that go well with the album's backing tracks. And they don't come from just anyone, but from Dub-Cracks like Adrian Sherwood, Dennis Bovell, the Mad Professor, Scientist and Prince Fatty. No new productions, mind you; rather jewels from the back catalog of these producers.

I have to admit that I wasn't interested in this recycling of old tracks at first - no matter what fun, no matter what. As a music lover and reviewer, I am always looking for new sounds and effects, for fresh musical and technical possibilities, for the next ear and stomach orgasm. I see old and reboiled items as a reminiscence and expression of its time, which unfortunately can no longer be experienced in its original form today - but also as a benchmark against which current productions can be measured. 

And yet it is a great pleasure to hear Style Scott (again) on classic On-U tracks. The rest of the backing tracks on the album are also of consistently good quality, that Dub-Mixing is flawless. And how is Gaudi and his theremin doing on the recordings? Well ... on the one hand excellent, after all he has been playing the instrument for 18 years. On the other hand, it all depends on what role the theremin was given in the mixing. When it is in balance with the rest of the instrumentation, it merges completely with the Dub - see Scientist's "Smokin Dub". With the other tracks it seems obtrusively loud and extremely annoying with its not very versatile timbre - Adrian Sherwood's "Dub out of theremin“Is mentioned here as an example. That is exactly the crux of “100 Years of Theremin - The Dub Chapter “: The instrument is almost always“ on top ”and pushes itself into the foreground like a diva. And as it is with divas, you quickly get tired of them and their mannerisms.

So how many tracks on the album can you listen to in a row without throwing in the towel? If you count on the excellent Dub-Work concentrated, you can possibly make it through the whole album at once. Otherwise the RDA is a maximum of three doses; But some people will be much more sensitive, I'm afraid.

First of all: Art-X, the musician, has absolutely nothing to do with the large Austrian erotic supermarket chain of the same name. The man from Tours has taken on the Melodica like Augustus Pablo and has been booming for a few years - if the reviewer is allowed to formulate it a bit brashly. Whereby “to trot” can definitely be the wrong verb, especially since experts are unlikely to be sure whether the melodica is a wind or keyboard instrument. In any case, the technical principle is the same as that of the harmonica. The name “Melodica” and the instrument itself were invented by the long-established Hohner company in Trossingen, Germany - or in other words: by the world market leader for harmonica and accordions. Augustus Pablo, Addis Pablo, Art-X: They all play or played Hohner Melodicas.

Well, you could of course now note that such a melodica is a very easy to play, excellent for children and also extremely inexpensive entry-level instrument. That's right, and after doing research for this review, I'm very tempted to do something like that - from drummer to melodica player, why not? No more lugging around a drum kit, just drop in a stylish case and blow it carefully into the mouthpiece. Making music can be so easy ...

... or not: blowing into a melodica and pressing the right note key at the right time is of course not enough. There are also the most diverse varieties and techniques to get the best out of the instrument - like those interested in Video by James Howard Young be able to understand impressively. And then there is the possibility of indulging in the simplicity of the instrument, capturing the perfect mood in the minor key and turning the whole thing into a timeless one, carried by an excellent riddim Dub-Masterwork to transform - Evidence: Augustus Pablo's "King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown"(Aka" Cassava Piece "). It couldn't be better, hands down. Pablo himself was audibly not the great virtuoso, but he had an unmistakable feeling for the instrument and its possibilities in the genre - and has refined almost all classic JA riddims with one or the other version. His father's shoes are still a few sizes too big for his son, Addis Pablo, who also plays melodica - his musical output seems disoriented, the quality may not level off and fluctuates considerably between respectable and  miserable. Time will tell if he can live up to his father's legacy.

And then there would be the Art-X mentioned above, currently the personified France branch, so to speak, within the rather small reggae melodica world. As a co-founder of Ondubground and the web label ODGProd. By no means a stranger to the reggae electronica scene, he has been doing his own melodica thing since 2014. The first releases seem a bit awkward; the combination of digital backing tracks and melodica doesn't really ignite: when cold meets warm, the result is sometimes just a mild breeze. However, it looks very different when Art-X embarks on the adventure of a live band - as here with The Roots Addict:

That fits, sits & holds; has energy, exudes vibes and leaves that Dubhead happily with your eyes closed. We all know this deep feeling of oneness with the music, the bass, with echo and reverb. Fortunately, the Art-X / The Roots Addict team is also doing well in the studio, as you can see on their latest release "Polarity“(ODGprod.) Can listen. Cleverly conceived as a 6 track EP, the risk of melodica overkill is very low. The original riddims in the classic arrangement were allowed to keep their natural dynamics in the mixdown, which is particularly evident in a (sometimes almost too) present kick drum. All in all a rock-solid release, over which, thanks to the melodica, there is always a touch of melancholy; which even comes up with one or the other surprising audio snippet, but ultimately lacks some variety in the band arrangements in the overall impression. Art-X's previous album "Nomad“: Here the backing tracks come from different bands who, with their different arrangements and musical energies, ensure that monotony or even boredom has no chance.

So is a second Augustus Pablo growing up? Probably not, thinks the reviewer - Art-X (still) lacks musical personality, an unmistakable style; a certain mystique that gave Pablo's game and his recordings this special atmosphere. And of course: The vibes of the 1970s and the combination King Tubby / Augustus Pablo created recordings in JA which, due to their uniqueness, defy comparison anyway. In this respect, a second Augustus Pablo would make no sense today - but an original, independently developing Art-X.

Acts like Rebelution, Stick Figure, Tribal Seeds and whatever their names seem to have been designed on the drawing board: the music is a hybrid somewhere between reggae, rock and ballad, the lyrics without references to any dogmas, the target groups with college kids , Beach Bums, Surfer Dudes and Dopeheads clearly defined - brand white middle class with a penchant for beer and canabis; with the necessary change, but still open to social issues. The All American Boy with his All American Girl, so to speak, preferably residing in the Sunny States. You can make money with it - less with releases, more with tours, merchandise, beer and weed. Rebelution are leading the way and have brought your brand into the brewery and cannabis business and for their 2021 tour you can of course already buy the premium tickets including merchandise bundle - with Rebelution stainless steel water bottle, Rebelution guitar picks and lots of Rebelution -Things more - by cheap +/- 115 dollars. At gigs in California, Oregon, Colorado, etc., the range of merch will be expanded accordingly, no question about it.

Rebelution & Co. have apparently managed precisely where Jamaican acts failed miserably: To bring reggae back into the consciousness of a wealthy clientele. Well, from a puristic point of view it has its price - then there is no one drop, no Jah and no Rasta patois; and if you thoughtlessly called yourself “Soldiers of Jah Army”, you simply change your name to the more harmless “SOYA”. The Tingel stages still remain for the Jamaican grandfathers - or they can be taken on a big tour as a support act. Every nickle makes a muckle, Yardie!

Sarcasm aside - it's not quite like that. The bands mentioned were by no means created on the drawing board, but simply developed from their natural environment: college dude smokes weed, college dude listens to Marley, college dude strumming on guitar & the rest is band history. He has remained loyal to his first fan base, even if the next generation of spring breakers is already pawing at the starting blocks. The niche has become a more than acceptable market, because there are colleges across the country in the states. Good vibes, man!

Rebelution is in any case by Figurehead of the relevant Californian reggae bands and a very successful tour act - not so much in Europe for lack of ... nuja, colleges; But it's enough to support Groundation on stages at home, where they are really worth their money. Something like Roots Reggae, driven by dirty rock drums - that makes a difference and comes out of the speakers with a lot of power. Amazingly, Rebelution succeeds in this drive and the typical one Live sound reproduce in the studio and maintain on all of their albums. It looks fresh and at the same time heavyweight - an important antithesis to the often over-implicated texts ("Lazy afternoon“) And simple vocal lines.

Text & vocals should be "Dub Collection“Not be a problem. The album features a selection of tracks from all of the Rebelution albums that have been released to date - and some of them are 13 years under their belt. Nevertheless, everything fits together in terms of sound and looks like it is made of one piece. For the digital Dub-Mix is ​​responsible for a certain Kyle Ahern - tour guitarist for Rebelution. “Why him?” Asks the reviewer after the first listening session; why not Dubmatix, Prince Fatty, Roberto Sanchez, Paolo Baldini, why not anyone who understands his craft and Dub understands it as an exciting, thrilling journey filled with surprising effects into infinite sound widths? The album leaves me speechless - so boring, lifeless, fun and tensionless DubI haven't heard it in a long time. When a Dub-Mixer cannot, does not want or does not dare, then such arise Dubs. It can't be because of the selected tracks themselves - they would have always had the potential for something great, but it shouldn't be. Then rather the "Falling into place"-Pull album into the streaming pipeline ... Rebelution at their best, hands down.

You always meet twice. Do I just have Robbie Ost from the Go East Studios a "not a particularly impressive mix“Assuming that a new album is around the corner that makes my ears flicker - in the most positive sense, mind you. I have seldom heard such a nicely balanced mixdown - even though the sound layer is obviously layered on top of the sound layer and a wonderful analog one Dub-Effect follows the other. The whole thing results in a tightly interwoven network of sounds that, even after the umpteenth time listening, still reveals something new and unheard. And yes, Robbie Ost contributed to this really impressive mix and you can find it on the album "C Jones meets Ale X: Kalimba is my Telephone in Dub“(Echo Beach).

I fully understand everyone to whom neither artist nor album title say anything; I was no different. So here's a quick run-through: Ale X is Ali Tersch, drummer for Dubblestandart and Supermax, who was also on the road with Steel Pan musician Courtney Jones and flautist Lore Grutschnig as a trio "Steel Pan meets Kalimba". While the Trinidadian steel pan is well known, the kalimba is the African "thumb piano" that is still used ceremonially in Zimbabwe to communicate with ancestors. Ali Tersch and Lore Grutschnig have further developed the instrument and used it as an electrified version for performances: 

Five years after the death of Courtney Jones, Ali Tersch aka Ale X has now finalized the trio's studio recordings. Originally planned as a regular release, the tedious mixing of the tracks gave rise to the idea of ​​a DubAlbums. Its title “Kalimba is my Telephone in Dub“, Says Ale X, stands metaphorically for the contrast between the latest digital and millennia-old musical communication - but ultimately it is also an expression of the bond with the late Courtney Jones.

Electro Dub? World Dub? Ale X defends itself against categorization - and it is indeed difficult to classify the music. Memories of the Howie B / Sly & Robbie production, which is now 20 years old, "Drum & Bass Strip to the Bone“Are awakened - could the new album be understood as a contemporary further development of this concept using today's technical possibilities? Ale X sees the comparison as a compliment; Sly & Robbie were and are still in charge for him. In fact, he not only worked with the original studio recordings, but also with audio snippets and field recordings that were made while traveling, for example in India. The main roles, however, are played by the electric kalimbas and the steel pan - both were sometimes only recognizable as such to the reviewer after listening to them a lot. This is also what makes the album so appealing: steel pan, flute, kalimbas, percussions - everything on board; but never “in your face!”, but rather carefully integrated and interwoven in the mix, so that new nuances are constantly revealed.

Therefore, to assume a naive, lovely, perhaps even instructive ethno-world music mentality would be a fatal mistake: Ale X creates a decent groove with loops and beats and uses it Dub-Techniques not just for individual effects, but as a stylistic device - or as an independent instrument, if you will. The whole thing results in a wonderful sound package, which may initially appear a little brittle - only to then gradually open up and reveal its many sound secrets. Ultimately no Dub-Album in the most conservative sense - but a substantial, through & through successful debut of an accomplished musician.

(... and for the extremely beautiful cover art I put half a star on top)

Ultimately, I can only reasonably (!) Objectively assess releases based on the temporal development of the artists. So my opinion about an album is actually only solidified when I have heard its predecessor and its successor. Without this before-and-after comparison, I only get a spontaneous impression; nothing more than a snapshot with no reference point - and I don't hesitate to say that this is the humble basis for my reviews in the dubblog is. With debuts this comparative criticism does not work per se; I ask everyone else what has changed over the course of three consecutive album releases. Has there been a change of direction, personnel changes, different producers or mixing engineers? If the albums move in different soundscapes, there are diverging concepts or perhaps even quality fluctuations; What is the relationship between the respective work and the musical reality of its time? In short: I sound out how and to what extent a (further) development caused by various circumstances has taken place. Ultimately, we are dealing with a creative area, with art - and that is not static per se.

With Paul Zasky and his Dubblestandart conglomerate, an artistic development has recently been noticed, albeit unfortunately a declining one - it was last with the album "Dubblestandart & Firehouse Crew present Reggae Classics“An unexpected, veritable drop in quality. We remember: Neither Zasky nor the Firehouse Crew were up to the task of reinterpreting monuments of reggae history. Mixmaster Robbie Ost also more or less failed with his not particularly impressive mix - probably it was from the recordings, which in stark contrast to the fine previous album "Dub Realistic“Stand, no longer to get out. A Paolo Baldini, on the other hand, who, like Zasky, is a bassist and can look back on a similarly long history in the reggae business, in my opinion eludes a temporal comparison: his productions and Dub Mixes, from “Paolo Baldini Dubfiles at Song Embassy Papine Kingston 6 "via Mellow Moods" Large Dub" up to "Dolomite Rockers“Releases are characterized by consistently high quality - in terms of both creative and sound-technical aspects.

The Echo Beach label has now joined forces for the length of an album: "Paul Baldini Dubfiles meets Dubble standard“Featured older and newer ones Dubblestandart tracks that Baldini with Dub-Mixes revised. Unsurprisingly, this combo works exceptionally well and I'm tempted to try the Italian Dub-Mixer the “Midas Touch” to blame: Everything he touches in his studio seems to be transformed into musical precious metal. 

How does the guy do it? I can only make vague guesses; but in my mind's eye, Baldini first spreads a handful of dirt on the tracks and thus takes the music away Dubblestandart's own perfection, which sometimes leads to sterility. “Squeaky clean” is probably the appropriate Anglicism for this. Next, Baldini should split the tracks apart to separate the good from the less good - only to then carefully add one or the other new sound again without the piece of music becoming an unrecognizable mutant. The result is an audibly well-ventilated base material into which he can work Dub- Can place effects in the best possible way. 

This process - whatever it actually looks like in reality - works like a makeover, especially as Paolo Baldini does Dub-Mixing approaches the matter with what feels like a dose of disrespect: nothing is cautiously or carefully placed; Echo and reverb often push themselves to the fore and remind a little - do I dare to say it? - to the Dub-Techniques of a King Tubby, whose greatest asset was also a certain disrespect for the music and the studio technology. Goods Dub must still from today Dub-Mixers are implemented with verve and filled with life; otherwise there will be studio stillbirths that cannot be beaten in terms of boredom, listlessness and cold sterility. So I wouldn't be surprised if Baldini got this Dubs worked out live: very old-school, speak spontaneously and creatively on the analog board. 

That Dubblestandart likes to hand over their tracks for remixes, is well known and often has a refreshingly beneficial effect on their music. Remember the remix battle for the Marcia Griffiths feature "Holding You Close“, Which has a total of 22 versions, including the great one Alpsdub-Remix. In the large circle of DubBlestandart collaborators are now joining Paolo Baldini and insisting, “Holding You Close” is another one Dub- Missing painting. The rest of the title selection for “Paolo Baldini Dubfiles meets Dubblestandart “he restricts himself to tracks from the last four regular ones Dubblestandart releases - including two of the unfortunate recordings with the Firehouse Crew, which, despite obvious efforts, only seem like revenants. The rest, however, come to life, breathe freely and vibrate through “Acres of Space”. A small, saving one Dub-Wonder that the bar has set high for his successor.