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DubXanne: Popwave in Dub

Guido Craveiro's project "Dubxanne" is back after a long break - it's really been an incredible 15 years since "police in Dub" past? If you listen to the new album "Popwave in Dub“ (Echo Beach) time doesn't matter anymore: Craveiro's productions then as now are flawlessly produced and mixed, the sound very balanced and highly polished. But that brings us to the first point of criticism: Such brilliantly clean productions inspire for the time being, but after repeated listening, signs of fatigue are spreading. Everything is so neat and tidy that you want to scratch the vinyl to create a bit of shoddy. Before the vinyl fans among us get outraged: This review is based on the album stream.

The album title “Popwave in Dub“ sets the direction: reggae-fected cover versions of 80s titles, located somewhere between new wave and simple pop – right across the board, so to speak. This sometimes works impressively well, as the early releases of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" and Blondie's "Heart of Glass" or the furious "Tainted Love" show; sometimes less good (Depeche Mode's "It's no good", Visage's "Fade to Grey") and sometimes not at all: Cindy Lauper's chewing gum pop "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is available here in the male version, which lacks any liveliness of the original leaves.

The album finally offers six more Dub-versions, which naturally interest us the most: The mixes are up-to-date, but a bit restrained when it comes to the effects. The latter does not always have to be a disadvantage, especially if you want to put the repetitive element in the foreground or simply want to intensify the atmosphere. See (or hear) the successful ones Dub Versions of The Cure's languid "Lullaby" and Blondie's "Heart of Glass". "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", on the other hand, is also available as Dub a flop – there was nothing left to save.

Such a hit & miss album is difficult to rate and the number of stars can only be a considered compromise. So on the plus side there's a nice idea, a skillful production and some nice titles and Dubs. Negatives are the clinically clean sound and one or the other mistake in the song selection; you can't ignore the Cindy Lauper total failure either. Therefore, may each form his own opinion; for the reviewer, the positives ultimately outweigh the negatives.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

7 replies to "DubXanne: Popwave in Dub"

I like things a little dirty too, but this album is so well produced that it's a value in itself. How good the production actually is becomes even clearer when you listen to the record (or the CD that comes with it). Extremely clean and perfectly mixed, even at high volume. It's really fun to crank this album up with the right equipment.
"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is really unpleasant: harmless, well-behaved and rewritten as "Boys" in the chorus because a man is singing here.
I find the other songs very strong and interpreted with the right feeling for changes (e.g. the tempo of "Video Killed..."), so that some titles here shine in new splendor. I like hearing "Heart of Glass" in this version for the first time.
At least 4 stars for me.

Guido Craveiro is undoubtedly an excellent producer, Claas - just think of the excellent "I Don't Like Reggae" album or Delle's first solo release. And yet, over time, the feeling creeps in as if his squeaky-clean tunes came from a 3D printer, with all sharp edges finely sanded down to be on the safe side. That feels a bit sterile and despondent.

Every listener will judge their current title selection differently; I find them quite safe and not tingly. There will probably be a consensus on the Cindy Lauper crash. Or not?

Reply

With the choice of title, you address another justified point of criticism: all titles that are on every cheap “Best of Eighties”. A little more surprise would have been good here. Craveiro might lay too much emphasis on the fastest possible catchiness for the listener. That he after the last. The fact that Stranger Things has taken advantage of the Running Up That Hill hype and quickly released two versions of it shows that he generally has a good feeling for trends.

Ouch!

But the question is on the tip of my tongue, how much did they give you GTK for actually reviewing the disc?
(I hope you understand the question correctly and your trouser leg GTK doesn't get wet ;-) )
So I think we don't necessarily have to talk about such productions here, although I'm fully involved right now ;-)
With most good ones DubDiscs, the first impression is usually pretty good, but then it gets a little bit better with every round (or stream). Here it is exactly the opposite. I got bored more and more each time. And the third time "Boys wanna be idiots" or "wanna have fun" even got a bit angry in me. I also found the original "Zündie" annoying because I believe that this blaring is also used to tune most saxophones. I'm so upset now that I can't keep to myself what I really think about this album.
But that is really the appropriation of a foreign culture regardless of its origin. On the one hand, these are only reciclete hits from exclusively white music buffoons, which were already supported by radio politics at the time, and on the other hand, the completely soft-washed is easy dubrelated not very deep music.
It sounds nice at first, but then it quickly gets nerfed because it comes across as ice cream without sugar and any taste, right up to a vegan pizza. I'm really out of there now.
Or is Helene Fisher coming soon? Dub on the market ?

Yes, sorry, maybe I have …. wanna have fun” (and the rest) but heard it twice too often (besides, a “double boom” or a twice as long weekend has just come to an end for me too) ……………………….. lemmi

And the funny Dubblog.de Echo Beach show continues. Thank you lemmi, I could not have put it more aptly. Horrible 3.5 points for nothing, I can't understand that.

Yes, I usually feel a bit bad when I've given my opinion quite bluntly, but actually I also like to read a real slating when the music doesn't grab me at all.
Reggae and Dub have never been just good vibes for me. Especially in reggae, the lyrics hardly mince words. I like it a lot.

Greetings ………………… lemmi

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