Basically we don't have to talk further about the 31-year-old New Zealander Christopher Martin James. In his early teens he was quite successful in hip-hop. As Christoph El 'Truento, he has fundamentally changed his musical sphere of activity since 2013 and now mainly works in: Ambient with swirling, cosmic soundscapes, alternative, experimental and noise. So actually nothing for him Dubblog.
If it weren't for Christoph El 'Truento: "Peace Maker Dub“(In-house production), on which he recalls his musical roots. In an interview he reveals that reggae was the first music that he consciously came into contact with. His much older brother - a reggae connoisseur - has (had) a huge reggae collection and albums by King Tubby, Lee Perry, Winston "Niney the Observer" Holness, Errol (ET) Thompson or the other suspects were often on the turntable . The thought, a Dub-Album making El 'Truento carried around for many years. From the start of the DubProject took more than two years to achieve the final result. One reason for this was that there were always worlds between the music that El 'Truento had in mind and the one that was ultimately recorded. According to his own information, he failed at the first Dub-Try miserably. You can hardly believe this problem when listening to the album today. OK, he then brought energetic, experienced support to his home studio in Auckland (NZ). The wonderfully relaxed saxophone and flute passages by JY were recorded in just two hours! Lord Echo from Wellington (NZ) was hired to support the percussion and Truento's big brother was allowed to take over the "chinna-esque" guitar parts.
In an interview with the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, Christoph El 'Truento stated that some of the recordings were initially made with rather poor / cheap equipment. His declared aim from the beginning was not to make the sound appear as crispy as many new productions. Much more, he wanted the album to sound a little more low-fi, like (very) early Perry / Tubby recordings. "Pep's Chant", a compelling upset remake in which El 'Truento's 7 year old son sings the part that was originally taken over by Lee Perry's son. With two takes, Pep's vocals were in the can, which Papa Christoph then tinkered together. A title like “Bush Walk Dub“Had to be. Even as a child, El 'Truento was always extremely enthusiastic about Perry's goat and cow noises with his Dubs linked. So it made sense to integrate some typical animal noises from the New Zealand bushland into the recordings. Soundscapes that have been slumbering in the archive for some time have now been created with the Dub-Tracks interwoven.
Overall, the individual tracks on the album read like lost recordings from bygone times. Reminiscences of the early Jamaican inventors Dub-Arts are unmistakable. The sound sounds a bit muffled in places, which, according to El 'Truento, is quite intentional.
I am convinced “Peace Maker Dub“With wonderful guitar solos, whimpering organ sound, flying cymbals, nyahbinghi drumming, flute, sax, thumping bass, xylophone, classical DubEffects and analog sound. Memories of trend-setting originals from that time will certainly be with everyone Dub- Connoisseurs awakened.
So: Everything is there that a Bud- um, Dubheads beat faster.
Categories
Christoph El 'Truento: Peace Maker Dub
4 responses to “Christoph El 'Truento: Peace Maker Dub"
As a matter of fact ! Everything is there, what the heart of a DubMakes heads beat faster. Just like it was with Lee Perry's recordings.
Yes, the bass is very muffled, but most of them Dubs here are so good that you (I) can accept it. I also take part
“Bush Walk” had a certain amount of reverb on the bass. A stylistic device from the Dubwhat I first heard about some (many) recordings of Mad Professor,
especially with some Dub Me Cracy but especially with "Dub De Goeblin ”from robotics and that has always had me
fascinated. Something like that only exists in Dub !!!
Bush Walk is my number one here anyway! The guitar snippets (ok, let's call them solos or solos) have this surrealistic sound that inevitably reminds me of images of
Salvador Dali remembers and that, although I probably don't know more than two or three pictures of Dali. Anyway, the main thing is surreal!
The disc goes with “Fishermans Dub"Already started really well and continued very well with" Bath Tub Skank ". Somehow “Stormy” doesn't grab me at all, which is again mainly due to the bassline. But even the "whirling around" from the keyboard doesn't catch me at all. All the instruments seem a little boring to me.
"Give me Dub“Has such a RiddimGuitar that has been charmed so beautifully that sometimes I think I'm going on a trip to the Blue Grotto. It sounds so nice like water droplets falling into the water in the different areas of a cave, creating a wonderfully natural effect. “Night Train” sounds most like King Tubby to me. The flying cimbals also protrude a little out of the water, but I think that they are used here in a really discreet way. Of the Dub mediates a DubFeeling what really comes across as “underground” or yes, I call something like hard core or art core. When the Nyabinghy drums kick in, the “Rumble In The Jungle” really starts, whereby the whole thing does not appear superficially spectacular, but screams deeply and profoundly for revolution.
"First side Dub“Actually starts very well, but the saxophone and the flute are not in top form, I would say. Yes, and the basins flutter a little.
“Can't stand the pressure” is also on my wavelength, but “Don't Rock The Boat” has an agonizing saxophone in between. The xylophone is not that bad here. So all in all a successful one DubDisc, where you (I) are a bit smarter after each subsequent run.
Unfortunately, my time for today is up again and I haven't really got to my point. I ask myself why you should
tried again in 2020 to copy the old heroes. It turned out very well here, but basically we've been listening to the music from King Tubby to Lee Perry for over 40 years and enjoying it. I have nothing against it, but when you try to make almost exact copies like here especially with “Peps Chant” and “BushWalk”, I ask myself whether that is a little superfluous. And actually I'm also glad that you don't have to rely on particularly cheap and outdated equipment these days. So why ride the very old bike when you have a nice new e-bike? Ok Ok, Bushwalk is not a copy and I think it's really great and the little animals that sing along are really an asset. Therefore, one can argue about my question.
Until ……………… .. lemmi (no time for spell check)
hi lemmi,
my speech, why should you buy an album that sounds like 40 years ago? The most apt answer I have read so far was given by René in his riddim column in the “Mafia & Fluxy remembers King Tubby's” Review. And he's damn right about that.
El 'Truento's album prompted me to dig out the old sweethearts again. African Dub I - III by Joe Gibbs, Keith Hudson, the Upsetters, Niney ... there is a huge lack of sound dynamics everywhere. Many have probably asked themselves why old reggae recordings are being pulled from records and digitized today. The answer ist quite easy. In Jamaica, high-quality tapes were still in short supply in the 70s and therefore they were re-recorded over and over again. And so, firstly, the original recordings were deleted once and for all. I myself used to be the proud owner of a Revox tape recorder and can say from my own experience that, secondly, with every new dubbing, the sound quality and brilliance got worse and worse.
A few weeks ago i discovered this blog for the first time and i'm very happy about it. This classic dub style album is really fantastic. Thanks for recommendation, every single track is a pearl in itself. Love it!
[…] Martin James alias Christoph El' Truento is for us in Dubblog since his album “Peace Maker Dub“ is no longer a blank slate. In the meantime, Christoph El' Truento has become a […]