The Cypriot Dubophonic Records have just re-released an instrumental album that was supposed to be released in the early 2000s by the now defunct Springline Records: Stefanosis meets Samson Benji: "Brass echo chamber". The online release had already failed then and so the album was forgotten. The lost original recordings on a CD have been in the shadows for many years until they have now been rediscovered. The American Stefanosis aka Steve Steppa once single-handedly recorded all the instruments for this low-fi production. Then Samson Benji - a musician from Freiburg i. Br. - the recordings to superimpose the saxophone passages. The whole package then went to Gibsy Rhodes from Corsica, the man behind Springline Records. After adding a few effects and nice samples, he mastered the whole thing for the final album. Now Stefanosis has taken on the recovered music files, thoroughly revised them and raised some audio levels with the help of modern technology. Almost twenty years after its actual release, the “Brass Echo Chamber” shines in a new light, polished and cleaned.
Still, the only 25 minutes long album can't really convince me. It has a weak point that almost all “saxophone reggae albums” have: It sounds a little too good, too conservative. The brevity of the album even has something positive here, it makes the opus audible in one go, without getting bored. With the first track "Brass Down Babiwrong", a remake of the traditional "Rastaman Chant", we get the flying cymbals on our ears in typical Bunny Lee / King Tubby manner. The classic tubby sound runs like a red thread through (almost) all recordings. On Dub-Fireworks or at least some exciting ones, dubBut we don't really get good sound effects here. The seven tracks sound more like “dug up”, slightly dusty Bunny Lee / King Tubby meets Tommy McCook recordings. For me, “Brass Echo Chamber” is a rock solid, unspectacular album with some very interesting passages, no more but no less either.
14 responses to "Stefanosis meets Samson Benji: Brass Echo Chamber"
Good Morning !
I think the review hits the nail on the head. “An unspectacular album with some very interracial passages” !!!
And these passages start with “Brass Nuckles” and even more with “Kingston Brass”. Just a small effect that reminds me of an echo sounder lets me immerse myself deeper in the music, which shouldn't be surprising, since you are with one
Sonar can finally explore the shallows of the seas. And it is precisely this exploration of the shallows that attracts me DubMusic is always fascinating. DubMusic likes to look behind the scenes and bring the hidden to the surface, making it even more mysterious. If that sounds contradicting itself, for me it gets right to the point. Because reggae and Dub is and remains for me pure magic and not just music, which everyone immediately and immediately
opens up. Not even me. The more I click on it, the more I like “Lost Satellite”, although here I find a bit of the hidden mysticism of an enchanted one DubTunes are missing. Still has Dub a certain charm that I don't want to evade. "King Tubby's Brass" has a somewhat conservative melody for me, but the drum and bass line travels out for me. I am not saying that Dub and reggae should only consist of drum and bassline for me, because I also like all the trappings very much, but if this basis of drum and bass fits, then you can do a reggae or DubTune almost no longer break for me. And it is exactly this drum and bass line that fits exactly into my wish list for “Luffy And Tuffy” and for the high-flyer on this album. For me, this high-flyer is by far “Conquering Brass” !!! For me this part is a really fat board with a pithy bassline and mystical drums. The saxophone also plays here nicely free of any constraints and is made possible by the DubTechnology raised to the highest sound level that a lemmi can imagine. In addition, the keyboard plays at a very fine frequency, which leaves nothing to be desired for me.
Even if the album got "only" three stars here and is not able to convince everyone, I have to say that it was definitely worth it for me to talk about it. Because “Conquereing Brass” has to be in my All Time Evergreen Favorite List. A really fat part, I like to repeat myself.
The biggest weak point is the overall sound of this disc for me. Sounds like pushing water through a nozzle that is leaking and most of the pressure is squirting out the sides. Or like an athlete who draws secondary air due to an incorrect breathing technique. It sounds too breathy to me than breathy. But sometimes you have to go through it when the music is so good.
Until ………………… .. lemmi
Hi Lemmi,
a little more than three stars would have been possible. But if I put in relation which albums got four stars from me, then that's okay. After all, three stars are still a "good", so not terribly bad.
We can also say positively that Stefanosis managed to create an album in the classic 70s style with a few nice hook lines and a Mikey Dread jingle at the very end. I'm a little surprised that you don't mind the “Flying Cymbals Sound” during the recordings. We have already discussed the topic / problem several times. The main thing is that "Brass Echo Chamber" is, by and large, pleasing.
I had the courage to leave a gap Ras Vorbei ;-)
The truth is, I just forgot about the Flying Cymbals. In general, I'm at first Dub Tune
“Brass Down Babiwrong” was not received at all. If everyone were here DubTunes like that, then I would probably not have left a single “green hair” in my comment on this album. Nothing suits me here except for the basic rhythm. Even if the saxophone warns the melody of “Rastaman Chant”, it touches me Dub not in the least. The flying cimbals are so bad here (for me) that I dared to do this one DubTune not even to comment. With everyone else Dubs
I don't find any flying cymbals, at least nothing annoyed me in that direction. Except that the whole album sounds like it was only recorded via the Flying Cymbals microphones. But this “rustling” from the cymbals is only for me with the first one Dub badly heard. Overall, I like the EP file. But I also have to say that King Tubby and I don't know who else recorded it so brutally have exhausted the number with the cymbals much more than
the Stefanosis, completely unknown to me until now. Unfortunately, I also know from my own experience that flying cymbals are not necessarily worse than "flounces". With the "Mouches" you have to turn a blind eye every now and then and with the cymbals you press Skip (Mc Donald ;-))
Cheers ………………. lemmi
Salle miteinand us'm Schöni Freiburg;)
Just wanted my dad to hear the link (http://www.dubophonic.com/2020/01/stefanosis-meets-samson-benji-brass.html) - and afterwards I came across this review while googling.
What can I say - I often read net reviews of my music, so it was interesting.
Don't think we know each other - the story, how the whole thing came about and what I am Dub-Sax has been doing quite an interesting thing at this point for years ... As far as I can remember, the recordings are about 15 years old. Was active on the Versionist.com forum back then (you know it, don't you?) And met Steve there. Collabs were a thing, and as an instrumentalist I thought it was nice that people were interested in getting recordings of me. As a plug with a blower and a rough fetish for big fat basslines, I thought it was cool. The links brought me to London, to Murcia, to New Orleans (!!!)… It was an Irie community. I think you would recognize a few others right away - Don Fé, for example.
To me - I've been blowing for years since I was twelve. I went to high school in Canada and got jazz ed there. Years later, a few things with Fred Locks (album "Music is My Calling"), Selections ft. Frankie Paul, Warrior King and so on. I did a few things with Don Goliath. And I'm particularly proud of this one, give it to you and be as honest as above, please - sure, it's just "saxophone reggae";) https://www.reverbnation.com/samsonbenji/song/30615768-samson-benji-satta-pon-mountain
To Steve - nice guy, California style ... Who knows, feels it.
Hope you run into each other somewhere on a sound system dance - come by and make a wish, I'll blow everything for you;)
UP
Ewig's long comment was written - it didn't go through, I think.
Give yourself https://www.reverbnation.com/samsonbenji/song/30615768-samson-benji-satta-pon-mountain.
Greetings from Freiburg from Dub-Sax
Tek-weh-knowledge-eeh ...
Recordings are about 15 years old. Originated in the Versionist.com environment ... Others from the clique - Don Fé, for example. The links brought me to London, Murcia and New Orleans.
See you in some sound system session with a lot of bass - come and make a wish!
UP
Or this one;) https://soundcloud.com/dub-caravan/timeless-version-sax-cut-feat
Or a little harder and more local? https://soundcloud.com/dubstepdivisionrecordings/05-don-goliath-ises-to-jah
OK, enough about me now - wanted to take the opportunity;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C_4qSOeEOs
Regarding the review and your comments: Thank you, Feedforward from Heads is always very welcome - I would have expected nothing else!
At that time I was working on the collab with Steve via the Versionist link - recording more than less haphazardly in difficult, humble circumstances alone with an outdated version of Cubase, fucking myself down over my poor workflow ... and doing it Experience gained, how's it, right?
I think the three stars are nice, think about four au Irie, thank you;)
I get bored after 25 minutes. Unlike most DubHeads I get bored after just 20 seconds, so everything's cool.
Can't even remember that the Flying Cymbals were so moderate back then - personally found it refreshing to hear it again, I can also listen to a few tracks more than once; p
Tommy McCook Compare Irie, I get it a lot - but I prefer Cedric Im Brooks. The comparisons come because of the jazz background.
Good Morning !
lemmi - "An unpectacular album with some very interracial passages" !!! ;)
Well described… “Just a small effect that reminds me of an echo sounder lets me immerse myself deeper in the music, which shouldn't be surprising, since you can finally explore the shallows of the seas with an echo sounder. And it is precisely this exploration of the shallows that attracts me DubMusic is always fascinating. "
I wouldn't have come up with “honest” with “King Tubby's Brass”, but I can understand.
“Conquering Brass” as the big tune of the project? RASpekt to your taste - I hear it the least, because after a few tracks I get bored at the latest when I turn it on;) "Free of any constraints / highest sound level" - JAH know, thank you, I gave channeled, forwarded, simply forwarded - sharing is caring! These are the inspired creative "moments", which is why I make music and am a bass fetishist ...
Overall sound: yes, far too much reverb to somehow retouch the terrible quality of recordings, as I would say. As I said - haphazardly recorded, how do you record a sax, what do I know, is too stressful for me, and then again? I am too stupid;) That about half my life later comments come in such a way that whoever hears the music and who is busy with and writes about it, and then in German? Hammer, winner - longevity is the name of the game. I'm a vibesman, and after all these years people still react to vibes from me - it flashes me, you entertained me more than I entertained you ... Five stars for it, hihihi
Big UP lemmi: if you ever hear me blowing somewhere, come "over" (!!!;)) and say 'who you like' and make a wish for you, I'll play everything for you, inna real life, for real, for real, straight UP.
That's enough. I'll make a beat again in ten minutes, it will take me three hours to upload it to ReverbNation, where nobody will listen to it - and I don't care. If you have an idea what I should do, write to me - I'll do it as a thank you.
Over and out.
No offense to Samson Benji, but I would like to give you and all others who can still tolerate this my opinion.
Seriously now! What should such a recording give us? Nothing at all comes across from all that DubEvent. Above all, there is no bass sound that a cell phone simply cannot and should not convey, because cell phones are supposed to make us stupid and not enrich our lives. (Ok, you could argue about that again now).
In any case, that can't be an advertisement for our favorite music because you hardly hear the music. All I perceive there are a few shrill, scratchy, nasty tones that quickly make me skip on to avoid this "mishap"
to forget as quickly as possible. I am so rude and anticipate your answer. At least you could rightly claim that you only wanted to show us a few pictures in which you were also live and direct active. But ... and I hope you understand me as DubAs a fan, I need sound above all - as I wrote recently - MAXIMUM SOUND ala Cirkus Maximus with “Carma Coma in Roma” and whipped cream on the icing on the cake. No cell phone video can match that. And that's why it's no good to me.
The sound is - from my experience - a very special reggae /Dub Thing. I am not aware of any other music that the DJs screw their own system together to get the sound as optimal as possible
to get into the bellies of the audience. Then there are excesses that go in a different direction. This is how I feel, for example, the sound of the bass with so-called DubEvents in the same way as a whole Christmas tree perceives its mast to bring in as much income as possible at Christmas. But then it just becomes a fat whole and has nothing to do with enjoyment.
Ok, "now" should be enough of me for now. I hope I got it across that reggae was somewhat mild
and Dub without an almost perfect sound is not enough. So that we can stay “friends”, I remind you again that in another context I wanted to put whole galaxies at your feet and nothing has changed.
I'm in writing mode today ……………………. lemmi
High Samson Benji!
You ask below, “How do you record a sax?”….
Well, I'm just an end consumer and in the end I don't know how to record a sax, let alone how to play it. But I can say with certainty that if you take it in exactly the same way as here, I won't just tell you at least every time
Give 5 stars deluxe, but put a whole galaxy with billions of stars at your feet. However, I am unfortunately not the Almighty and so it will probably stay with this little enthusiastic exaggeration forever.
“First of all,” I find this spacious reverb on the saxophone sound overwhelmingly magical and what you play there is almost even more important. This is exactly the opposite of a staid melody. Even if I see it completely wrong, because I'm not a musician, I can still say that every note here feels like an improvisation approved by JAH
appears (yes, the saxophone is not just a wind instrument here, but an appearance!). Even if your role model is more Cedric Im Brooks, at least in this case I want to ennoble you by reviving my top saxophonist Brian Trevers from UB40 and telling you that you want me in this one DubTune very reminiscent of his style. And no matter if you mean now, I have no idea, I have to tell you, the man was in his heyday (and by that I don't mean the times when they made a lot of money and then rowed it again) from UB 40 for me the best saxophonist ever.
Mind you for me! Apart from that, I've also heard melodies from Cedric and all the other saxophonists in the world that seem so conservative to me that Max Gregor could almost be called Deadly Headly.
So, you have to deal with this kind of enthusiasm, because from now on there will be sharp criticism. Although it still works, the sound of the entire rhythm carpet is on the verge of “sound failures” a la Skrillex and David Getter.
Flying cimbals, on the other hand, sound almost like dull tones in the infrasound range. Ok, ok, is of course grossly exaggerated again
but that's the best way to get across how I feel. But it's not that bad and I have to say that the entire sound carpet - the riddim, so to speak - goes really well into my blood.
I hope the sound shows people up dubstepdivisionrecordings really, "which is a rake." Because this one DubStep phenomenon and the “success” that this music had, I can only describe as a kind of “early corona stage”.
Yes, I have what we call Dubstep wanted to sell it as a disease. The funny thing was that the first so-called DubstepTunes still after correct Dub have sounded. For that reason alone, I felt this whole phenomenon was just a name stolen. Dub is just the coolest thing that ever was and will ever be and that's why they tried to cut some of this coolness. Poor people like Skrillex then completely contaminated it.
Yes, "Pay It All Back" ...... the verbal revenge is mine !!! "One day when you think its over all the wrongs you have done, you will pay"! Raging Fyaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh !!!
Ok, please do not put everything on the gold scales too much, what I say about myself ...... .. I am "DUbCollossus "resp. DubColeric
or just a gentle choleric.
Love and Peace ………………………… .. lemmi
Yes, these computers are just too stupid. I specifically clicked the answer buttons under the respective comment in order to stay in the "context" as possible. If it was my fault ……… .. that can't be …… .. lemmi
That it was not my fault, you can see only from the fact that I felt badly about the answers at 14:45 p.m.
could what I wrote at 15:41 pm. Do I have to complain about it at all? Well, that's about writing
2 hours (with interruptions) on very important things and then it doesn't make any sense because you don't even know why I wrote something. Well, I'm built very close to madness.
At the moment it's a bit critical ……………………. lemmi