The French have it good. As well as delicious food, good wine, Paris, Alsace and a really nice helping of Alps, they also have a vibrant and extremely prolific Sound System scene. There are even 14 sound systems in towns like Grenoble! The Subsquad Prod label has set itself the task of making the most important Dub-Hotspots of the beautiful country to introduce successively. In addition to Bordeaux and Grenoble this time the spotlight falls on Marseille and its small neighboring town of Aix-en-Provence - both located in the sunny climes of Provence. There are 13 sound systems in Marseille alone. In Aix and surroundings more. The subsquad team has 14 tracks for "City Squad: Marseilles + Aix" collected. Another impressive collection. Steppers clearly sets the tone here. But it is not so much the - quite different - musical quality that makes this series so interesting, but much more the ingenious and yet so simple concept of presenting the sound system scene in France in the form of a - also free - sampler series. On a tour de Dub, sort of. I would like something like that for Germany too – in the hope that we wouldn't do much worse than our dear neighbors (which I actually doubt).
Similar to Grenoble, in the south of the republic the Dub-Culture to depend directly on a vibrant festival landscape. The initial spark was the "Musical Riot Association", which was founded in 2002 and under its own name Dub- hosted festivals. From 2010 the well-known followed a few kilometers outside of Marseille Dub Station Festival - Incubator of many local sound systems. Because the subsquad crew takes their business seriously, you can read a summary of their meticulous research into the subsquad website ...
4 Responses to “City Squad: Marseille + Aix”
OK, I admit it. I guess I'm really too old for this kind of music. The first Dub I still think it's pretty good. I also hear a certain sound quality, but after that it gets cheap. the Dub“Effects” still appear sterile and lifeless. The snare sound sounds like you're tapping on a palm oil barrel and everything else doesn't sound like love for Dub, but after a youthful urge to take action. No problem ! I can understand and tolerate that. It's also so easy to make music with ComputerTools, but it also sounds correspondingly simple. There is no need for me to emulate it. The young people certainly don't care what's so old DubHeads like me say they keep doing their thing. But they don't know what Nutella tasted like before it was laced with palm oil. In other words, their ears have become accustomed to the sound ( taste ) of on/off sound. Sounds like I want to further divide society into young and old, but that's far from my intention. I'm just trying to find an explanation for myself as to why young people let themselves be fobbed off with this b - ( b as in cheap ) variant. I also don't understand why animated films for children are shown on prime time on Saturday evenings. Am I so humorless, old and ossified, or why do I get the urge to gag just by looking at photos of these humorless, cold and not very lithe figures in the program guide? What am I missing there!
Well, the truth (my truth) is of course that I'm not missing anything. Rather the opposite. I still know the good old, lovingly drawn animated cartoons ( without palm oil ) and I keep asking myself how people can survive without these beautiful films today. Ok, I admit it, I found Ice Age quite nice too, but most of the characters that you think up these days all look like Playmobil figures. They have a charisma and a charm, like a non-alcoholic beer or a joint with cbd weed.
(I ask myself again whether I really want to send such a “nasty” text but they are “to blame” for such comments Dubs that leave me so hungry and give me little to no room for euphoria ).
“The Earth dies streaming” …………….. lemmi
uhhh… now it seems our generation is raving about the “good old days”. I am also very happy to have witnessed various things and feel sorry for the young people who are so devoid of good experiences. In fact, of course, you don't have to feel sorry for the youngsters - they can create their own (sound, etc.) worlds with unprecedented freedom. For example, I thought with the last Rihanna album, it can only be a first fragmentary demo, there is still a lot missing before you can think about releasing the part (far from it - the target audience cheered the album). People generally have a hard time with changes - and that doesn't get better with advancing age. And while some experienced musicians run the risk of repeating themselves over and over again and simply becoming boring, the up-and-coming generation gives us tinder.
However, I think it's good that "non-musicians" let off steam... that also brings a certain freshness into the action. That can definitely be seen as a dilution and I even deny the genre of some “Reggae” albums. That may be dancehall, afrobeat, reggaeton or whatever, but not what the individual “I” considers reggae.
By the way, I'm surprised that so many sound systems try to be producers/artists in addition to their actual field of activity. It is obvious that the talent is not evenly distributed.
Respect gtk you even listen to Rihanna albums. If that's not tolerant, then I don't know what is. Which person over the age of 14 hears something like that?
I'll put it this way, "to each his own" (5 euros in the Frasenschwein). If there are people for whom music is primarily “the text” that talks about sex practices and the prince or princess who has passed or has just been lusted after, then I have to tolerate and accept that too. I just always hope that something like this doesn't become standard soon and you're just bothered with this musical kitsch.
I also think it's ok if non-musicians let off steam somehow, but their "results" ultimately only provide additional information ballast and also get the most clicks on Spotify because they stick to the simplest sales scheme. (I saw it in a documentary on Arte). Maybe I really see it all too dramatically or just too theatrically, but the general sinking level, both in terms of food and music and not to mention movies (...furious 5 part one + x times) is real soon unbearable. Sorry if I always come with my Nutella, but the stuff only makes me want to vomit because it only "tastes" like palm oil with an overdose of sugar. If it were up to me, I would ban it. Just a small step further and I'm in reggaeton. "Now let's be honest", that's no longer a rhythm, that's a malfunction! A group of unmusical non-dancers who want to wriggle around to every piece of shit. The main thing is that it's "new" and not from the "old". And abusing the name reggae for it only raises the question for me, who is actually supposed to save this planet for? They're not afraid of anything. Also have no problem reinterpreting the word phobia, from fear to hate.
In the end it doesn't matter. Every generation retires at some point.
I always ask myself, have my taste buds changed or am I just really getting old. Or both.
The generations before us, for example, didn't understand the Beatles anymore (me neither, by the way / although they weren't that bad, a few tunes are quite ok).
But it always strikes me that my (our) generation is sitting on a golden throne in this regard. We can compare our time when people like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Burning Spear, Ras Michael and many more set the musical tone with the time of our ancestors, when people like peter alexander, heintje and die Egerländer have tried to hit the tone. And that's how we sit on the golden throne as we watch generations today try to match the strength of Bob Marley and Friends without even coming close. And when you see that they're trying to do that with simple ones and zeros, I think it becomes clear to everyone that it can't be anything. There were people like Aston and Carlton Barrett, Sly Dunbar with Robbie Shakespeare and thoroughbred musicians from all classes at the Alpha Boy School and they ensured untouchable music quality. And I find it almost logical that you can't replace that with simple ones and zeros. So I proclaim from my golden throne that replacing musicians with mouse clicks doesn't work.
“I am the angel gabriel
who was sent from heaven
to collect all the money,
all the cash, all the riches,
all nations world,
to turn all politicians and popes
into skeletons,
with my remington space gun"
Quote from Lee Scratch Perry …………….. lemmi
Very good tip, thanks!! On the Subsquad website (see link above), there are many albums for free download, on which I found some very nice tracks.