Subset: Gathering the Threads

Rhythm & Sound – the Berlin duo Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus – achieved something rare in the early 2000s: They created Jamaican Dub Minimal techno was folded together in such a way that a new, third language emerged – one that still audibly carries both of its source languages ​​within it. A language that continues to have an impact to this day – even on the other side of the world.
Subset from Brisbane and the Australian label Primary Colours Music operate precisely within this coordinate system. Gathering The Threads (Primary Colours) therefore sounds like minimal techno – and in a way, it is. But the reggae offbeat shines through, and the hypnotic DubThe overall scheme comes into its own. The grooves are patient, the arrangements sparse. Every element is given space in the mix. The bass rolls in long arcs, the DubChords move smoothly through the stereo image, spring reverb units give the whole thing a haptic texture.
What makes it particularly beautiful is that this music knows exactly what it is and what it doesn't want to be. It doesn't seek resolution, but rather tension – “Dub "We Bring," the closing track, reduces the material to an almost skeletal minimum, where the space itself becomes an instrument. Pugilist, a producer from the same Melbourne scene, further deepens the center of gravity in his remix of "Dust Breather," making the atmosphere denser and the groove more introspective. A beautiful example of this... Dub It doesn't have to be reggae – and yet Dub remains.