Category: Five Star

The Senior all stars seem to like conceptual projects. When the instrumental band from Münster released their recordings in 2010 to a crowd of international DubRemixers, they still followed a very common concept. When they - excited about the result - started doing the DubTo replay s live on stage - with each musician mixing himself - and finally to make a studio album out of it, the concept became much more idiosyncratic. The newest concept - Verbalized and Dubbed (Skycap) - is thought even further around the corner: “How about if we had our tracks externally again dubLet practice, but this time with singing? ”Uh? Okay, got it. As in 2010, the Senior Allstars sent their instrumental material all over the world: first to vocal artists who knitted a song and then on Dub-Mixer that adds music and singing to vocal-Dubs connected - followed by a classical instrumental one Dub to mix from it. The result is a work with 16 tracks: Part 1 is a vocalDub-Album, Part 2 a pure one Dub-Album. All right? If not, it doesn't matter, because in the end what counts is what comes out at the back. And that is - how could it be otherwise with the seniors - great. The eight songs are all beautiful, catchy compositions. I particularly like the contributions that do not come from the reggae cosmos, like z. B. Tokunbo's soul vocals or Pitshu's Latin American lyrics over a bouncing ska beat. Somehow that fits particularly well with the live sound of the Senior Allstars, which is slightly reminiscent of jazz - and could be a very promising idea for another concept album. Since the vocal part did not belong to the original material but from the Dub-Remixer was added, the music and vocals permeate each other in the mix much more organically than is usual with classic reggae songs. The separation between foreground and “backing” is dissolved, both merge into a wonderfully harmonious-musical amalgam.

Small fragments of the song also remain with the Dubs received in the second part of the album. As irreversible Dub-Purist, I love the "Dubbed “in Verbalized and Dubbed especially. The sound of the all stars is amazing again. The fantastic Dub-Mixes (including by Umberto Echo, Dubvisionist, Dubmatix, Victor Rice) combine to form a wonderful flow into which the listener can let himself fall, to listen to this or that instrument, to feel the groove or to follow an echo through space and time. Rare that Dubs are as multilayered, multidimensional and full of atmosphere as with the all stars. The vocal element now enriches the sound even more. Keep it up, dear seniors. I'm looking forward to your next concept.

The concept, well-known works of music history one Dub-Treatment seems to be very popular at the moment for many reasons: 1. The awareness of the original expands the target group of potential buyers. That's not bad. 2. Nothing is more difficult than starting "from Scratch". So a good template is a blessing. 3. You don't have to worry about good melodies, because the original comes from them. 4. Traditional of course Dub anyway as a remix. So what could be more obvious than an existing album dubben? 5. There is great music outside of reggae that has only one drawback: it lacks the reggae beat. With a DubVersion, this flaw can be easily remedied. 6. Playing with quotes has its own charm. Rediscovering familiar things in a different form triggers wonderful aha effects that release a small dose of dopamine. Whether the French Thomas Blanchot aka Mato ever analyzed his motivations cannot be clarified. But Dub- Remixes of well-known French hits from hip hop and pop have been his trademark for years. In the present case he has chosen the Daft Punk classic "Homework" dedicated and unceremoniously in "Homework Dub" (Stix) transformed. He went through every track meticulously, added a reggae beat and chased it through the echo chamber. Even the cover is a meticulous remake of the famous “Daft Punk” lettering embroidered in silk. Do I have to mention that the music of the French popper as Dub is simply great? "Around the World" with a fat bass and in a one-drop guise is just good. Also "Da Funk" comes perfect. It's hard to believe that these tunes, which sound so organic, so natural and natural here, haven't always been reggae numbers. But thanks to Mato, they are finally there, 17 years later.

The Dub I still think spontaneously of England and then of France. But if I really think about it, then Germany should actually have to be among the topDub-Nations belong. A label like Echo-Beach alone ensures that in good old Germany one of the most productive sources for Dub-Music bubbles. We also have some highly innovative ones here Dub-Artists at the start that some UK steppers epigones cannot hold a candle to. One of them is Felix Wolter. It is no exaggeration to say of him that he is the father of Dub is in Germany. He started working in the mid-1980s Dub to experiment and in 1987 brought the first German with his band "The Vision" DubAlbum out. Countless albums and sound excursions later, his debut album is only released today King Size Dub Special (Echo Beach), in which Felix does not hide behind band or project names, but as the "Dubvisionist ”emblazoned on the front cover. Echo Beach Label boss Nicolai Beverungen is deeply into the oeuvre of des Dub-Veterans and Studio Masters immersed and has 17 dark Dub-Crystals brought to the light of day, which Felix polished again to shine on the occasion of the publication. “It's the basic atmosphere that makes you Dub matters. Quality Dubs are based on vibes, but bad ones are only based on technology ”, says the master and proves this with his album. Felix ' Dubs are delicately woven acoustic works of art, harmoniously balanced, finely tuned, of captivating precision. The superficial effect is not Felix's business. You have to listen carefully to fully enjoy the subtleties that are in each of the tracks, to immerse yourself in its atmospheric flow and to lose yourself in the vibes. Although Felix emphasizes that atmosphere is his most important quality Dubs, but in no way relies on the mere vibes. Rather, he aims to entertain the listener with his mix, to add a constantly changing, always surprising quality to the repetition of the beat that breaks up the listener's expectations. At Felix, the mix is ​​at the center of the Dubs like a "lead voice". This is where the mixer really becomes an instrument. It is the definition of made sound Dub. Hats off.

It's always exciting - but often frustrating - to hear how artists from other genres are approaching reggae. If this approach comes from the field of rock, I am skeptical per se. If, on the other hand, it comes from the direction of electronic music or from the huge field of world music, then I hope for good. In the present case, an artist who is usually at home with art punk and noise has made his way to reggae. “Urghh” - the spontaneous reaction is - let's call it: cautious. But completely wrong. It's reggae (Asthmatic Kitty) by Rafters is a real find. The cool thing about such reggae experiments by strange musicians is that instead of “same, same but different” they promise real variety, true innovation and fundamentally new things. I am of the opinion: Rafter succeeded in doing this. He describes himself as "The most intense and powerful music nerd you may ever meet", lives in California and discovered his love for reggae on a trip to Maui. He then wrote a love letter to the genre and produced 12 absolutely extraordinary ones Dub-Tracks. (Who asks for a reference: Hey-O-Hansen would most likely fit). It starts with the sound. How can he be described? Brittle? Experimental? Arty? At least it's the opposite of the clean, precise, digital studioDub-Sounds that we are used to. Then there are the compositions and arrangements: their components are familiar, their weird combination, on the other hand, is "strange" in a positive sense. Samples from hits from the 60s meet fat brass sections, ska rhythms meet synthetic sounds, heavy basslines meet ultra-light children's melodies, comb blows meet steel drums. The music deliberately has something naive, ultra-simple, which stands in sharp contrast to the bulky, heady sound, which nevertheless - and this is really remarkable - wonderfully grooved. I have no idea how it all works, but: it works, and very well. I love this album and listen to it all the time right now. And not as an intellectual compulsory discipline, but for the sheer fun of beautiful grooves, beautiful melodies, beautiful brass instruments and generally such wonderfully positive, relaxed, fresh interaction with Dub.

Dubmatix - the name says it all: it's about Dub. After some DubReleases at the beginning of his career, this program seemed to have been forgotten. Dubmatix albums like System shakedown, Renegade rockers or Rebel massive are - although the sound is always Dub is - strictly speaking, none Dub-Albums, as they were voiced by numerous old-school artists. All of them wonderful albums, but secretly I had long wanted that Dubmatix back to his Dub-To find roots back. And finally he has heard my wishes: a pure, pure, genuine one Dub-Album by the mixing console master from Toronto is fresh on the table in front of me - and it has the most programmatic of all possible titles: In Dub (Echo Beach). Who with this title to a DubVersion of the Dubmatix-Back catalog thinks, wrong. In fact, Jesse King (aka Dubmatix) here only original material, especially for In Dub recorded, mixed by hand in the old fashion and subtly decorated by organs, brass or melodica. So it is a full-fledged one Dubmatix album, which is on an equal footing with his other releases and is by no means just a derivative. So it gives up In Dub no compromises either. Every rhythm was created to be a Dub to become - which is why the sound here is even deeper, more powerful, militant and powerful bass than from Dubalready used to matix albums. The King plays virtuously with the steppers scheme without ever becoming schematic. He plays earthquake-inducing beats without using worn-out four-to-the-floor clichés. With a dreamlike security he strikes a path between the genres, makes use of the power and impact of steppers and combines them with sophisticated compositions and arrangements as well as fresh ideas. The result is the best of both worlds: music for the head and stomach alike. Hence developed In Dub also such a fantastic flow. As the mind loses itself in conscious listening and analyzing the details, the body and soul are immersed in overwhelming bass frequencies and gently but decisively into the spheres of the world Dub-Metaphysics kidnapped. That's exactly how I wanted it.

I love very orthodox, super-classical steppers Dub: repetitive, stoic, physical. But I love the experiment even more: brave, unconventional, weird. Especially when sounds from different worlds come together and create something new and unheard. The more unusual, the more weird the fusion, the more exciting: Dub and arabic music, Dub and Balkan pop, Dub and Swedish folk songs - just to give you a few recent examples: all of them great combinations. But how is it with Dub and classical music? Can that work, or is that too far-fetched? Matthias Arfmann took part in 2006 Deutsche Grammophon Remixed a first attempt in this direction when he gave an official old Karajan recordings Dub-Treatment underwent. Which, by the way, thrilled me at the time (an enthusiasm that hardly anyone wanted to share with me). Now a second approach to integrate the supposedly incompatible: Op'ra Dub Style from Audio Art (One Drop / Irie Ites). The name suggests: Dub meets opera - embodied by the classic opera tenor Uly E. Neuens on the one hand and some superb DubProducers (TVS, Dub Spencer & Trance Hill, Aldubb, Dubmatrix, Dubbecame Dubble (Braintheft) and Tune In Crew) on the other side. The result of this clash is - well, how should I express it differently? - quite simply: brilliant! It's really fun to listen to this crazy experiment and to discover that opera singing, classical-looking compositions (but all of which were created exclusively for this album) and heavy duty Dub-Music sound congenial together, as if they were always meant for each other. This apparently self-evident fact that is not taken for granted is achieved on the one hand by Dub-Track and vocals are always fine-tuned, and on the other hand, opera singing is more of a melody than a word. Like an instrument, it fits seamlessly and harmoniously into the arrangement of the Dub a. The fact that Uly E. Neuens - a classically trained opera tenor who is at home on all the important opera stages in France - has been enthusiastic about reggae for many years may also be not entirely irrelevant. He has a good feel for the music of both worlds. He sang seven tracks for the album, another four offer remixes of the recordings and two tracks are on top as a bonus. The last one is a production by Aldubb with Uly's interpretation of the “Ode to Joy”. I think that's pretty good.

When researching some Dub-Acts I feel like an investigative journalist. Every bit of information I pull from the web is preceded by a tortuous click path over obscure pages. Some Dubheads seem to be such introverted nerds that something like self-marketing just doesn't occur to them. The Restless Mashaits this undoubtedly includes: website under construction, only photos are posted on Facebook and of course no artist info on Soundcloud. That much is clear: behind the restless Mashaits are bassist and percussionist Stuff and keyboardist Jill, two Dub-Addicts from Geneva who have been reggae and since the early 1990s Dub to produce. The first decade of their work is on the album Kingston Sessions 1992-2002 documented. Now place them with the Goulet Sessions 2003 - 2013 (Addis Records) testimony over the past decade. While they were finishing the Kingston Sessions (with pre-produced rhythms) in Jamaica, the Goulet Sessions hint at a secret location in Europe. According to information posted on Facebook, Dean Fraser, Jonah Dan, Stepper, Deadly Headly and Scully were involved. So much for the facts. Let's come to the tasting: The album begins with a grandiose instrumental, which, driven by wind instruments, opens the session with enormous dynamics. The next one Dub makes it clear that even after twenty years at the controls, the two Swiss have become anything but mild with age. They develop theirs in a determined, steady, powerful but not brutal manner or for a quick effect Dubs. Everything is well balanced, the basslines gentle but powerful, the arrangements reserved but inspired, the mix without smug effects, but very solid. Does that sound like a draw? By no means! The track Ghetto blues could be the acoustic definition of “uncompromising”: such a stoic bassline, such a consistently repetitive arrangement and such a soulful, classic one Dub-Mix have rarely come across me. In addition, fantastic brass sections and fine brass solos - everything fits here. And we're only at track 4! This is followed by 7 more tracks that are in no way inferior to the beginning. A superb one Dub-Album that already made me want to Sessions 2014-2024 awakens.

The now legendary jazz album was released in 1964 Jazz on Svenska (Jazz in Swedish). On it the pianist Jan Johansson interpreted old Swedish folk songs as jazz instrumentals. It was a groundbreaking album in Sweden that sold over a million copies and had a major impact on the development of Scandinavian jazz. One dark winter night, 46 years later, another Swedish musician, Tomas Hegert, probably inspired by the minimalist sound of the original album, consisting only of piano and a deep, calm acoustic bass, decided to start a new musical project: Jazz on Svenska in Dub! Now the result is available as a download album and bears the proud title Dub on Svenska. It is by far the most exciting and at the same time the most beautiful Dub-Album I've come across in the last few months. Hegert congenially transforms Johansson's warm sound into finely arranged and at the same time powerfully dynamic Dub-Beats, which are not infrequently used by rather atypical instruments such as z. B. an acoustic guitar. The melancholy, beautiful melodies of the old folk songs, once interpreted by Johansson exclusively on the piano, now sound, played by instruments such as xylophone, accordion, trombone, melodica or violin, almost floating above the earthy sound of drum & bass. What sounds pretty weird in the description is actually the perfect combination of two supposed opposites: how z. B. Chocolate and chilli - the synaesthesia of two worlds. By the way, Hey-O-Hansen have a similar approach, with their combination of Tyrolean mountain music and Dub. The Twinkel Brothers too Inna Polish Stylee come to mind or Mahala Rai Banda with hers Balkan reggae. Even if purists turn up their noses, I believe that Dub was made exactly for this: to dare the experiment.