Recording review - Dub Pistols, Worshipping the Dollar (2012)

Fresh mashup mix of island sounds with DnB

Back in the early '90s, Jungle brought reggae and dancehall elements into the rave scene. Within a few years, drum and bass evolved and moved on to wider sounds. Barry Ashworth and Dub Pistols call back to that era, mining the jungle sounds and updating it. On their latest, Worshipping the Dollar, the band offers a cool mix of ska, dub style reggae, and hip hop that's been mashed up with drum and bass to satisfy a clubby, pop-centric ear.

The album offers a small initial taste with Alive, featuring Barbados reggae artist Red Star Lion. Splashes of brass open the track before the beat kicks in. While the electronic beat sets a solid dance pace, Red Star Lion's island accent and phrasing feel fresh.

Things get deeper with the next cut, West End Story. Hip hop artist Akala gets socially conscious over a backing track reminiscent of 10cc's Dreadlock Holiday:

What is the cost of freedom and who pays it?
Is the world not one big slave ship?
Where some stood whipped and stripped naked
All your freedom is written in your pay slip

Worshipping the Dollar takes its title from another line later in the song. Akala's message rides on a smoothly flowing delivery. The music is nicely layered, with cool funk touches and samples extending the reggae groove.

Dub Pistol's formula of bringing in guest artists gives each of the tracks a unique personality, from the poppy sheen and heavy rap of Rock Steady to the dancehall-meets-Latin-bop of New Skank But my favorite is the skanking soul of Bang Bang. Kitten and the Hip get slinky over a TwoTone ska jam. It feels lightweight compared to the socially conscious themes on some of the other tracks, but it's clever and fun:

You and me, we've got no future
Truthfully, I'd love to shoot ya
Bang bang, you're dead
Take a bullet in the head
Got to say I never felt better
I could shoot you a million times
Punish you for all of your crimes
But you wouldn't ever get deader

The only thing I would have liked better if the taste of dub step from the intro could be mixed in and out during the track to push the genre bending vibe.

Worshipping the Dollar sounds fresh even though this is a vein that the Dub Pistols have been working for some time.

Concert review - Kraddy with Archnemesis, Seth Abrums

3 February 2011 (Aggie Theatre, Ft. Collins CO)

It's a treat getting world grade electronic artists like Kraddy here in Ft. Collins. At first, I thought it might have been wasted on us because the crowd was sparse and some of the first people to show were more into the scene rather than knowing Kraddy. I shouldn't have worried. As the audience swelled, it was clear that the fans were out in force. It was rave night at the Aggie and all was well.

Seth Abrumz

DJ Seth Abrumz led off the show, starting to an almost empty house. Tapped into his own private zone, the lack of an audience didn't seem to phase him. In classic DJ fashion, Abrumz ran his set on the fly, maintaining an active hand in the mix.

The mix featured a dance heavy sound, with elements of techno, drum and bass, and acid house. The grinding bottom end filled out the room and set the mood, even when the crowd was still thin. Between the growing crowd, the light stick jugglers, and the powerful beats, the set developed a cool rave vibe.

Abrumz DJ skills were pretty good, slicing and mutating tracks with a casual flow. He laid out a some nice break beats, especially on I Like My Bass Phat.

All in all, it was a strong set, I just wish he'd have interacted more with the audience. In addition to last night's show, he'll be part of the Got Bass lineup at the Aggie on 5 February.

Archnemesis

Archnemesis nailed the electronic band feel. With two DJs, they could build a heavily layered sound with more interaction between the parts. Laying out echoes thick enough to get lost in, the two (Telepath and MO Theory) guys traded off foreground and background roles. Their grooves were spectacularly heavy, but there were plenty of subtle details to fixate on beyond the bass and beat.

Archnemesis' strongest ace was how they mixed in some great retro samples -- soul, bop style jazz, and early R&B. The horn parts they stirred in were particularly spicy. This gave them a unique mix of old and modern, while they wandered through electro funk, glitchy, drum and bass, and some experimental something or other. The sound was more cerebral, adding a trippy crystalline vibe here or a heady bit of trance there.

This is where the energy really started to flow. Always in motion, Archnemesis connected with the crowd. Even though they didn't say much beyond greeting us, counting, and asking us how we were doing, their exuberance on stage was contagious.

The track Diamonds and Glass was a great example showing off their horn and soul mixing. This is the title cut off a free EP you can download here. The trance drive break in the live show bounced off some time interactive work between the two DJs.

Archnemesis brought their game, now the crowd was psyched for Kraddy.

Kraddy

Kraddy casually took the stage and promised us a good mix of new stuff and music off Labyrinth, his recent EP (my review here). The press release for Labyrinth suggested "Led Zeppelin 3000" as its inspiration. Kraddy's set delivered on that idea. By the end of the show, we had been rocked with bassy crunch that had throbbed through us like some kind of infrasound scanner. This physical sensation paired perfectly with Kraddy's grindy, glitchy, dub step, drum and bass sound. With the dancing and the lights, this low end groove was like a rave set inside a boom car.

Kraddy's show was more of a standard DJ style, because the tracks were basically already laid out in his studio. Kraddy played them with some minor mixing and loops, but it wasn't built as interactively as the Archnemesis set. The secret here, though, was that most of the familiar tracks sounded fresh and remixed for the show. Between the fresh take on the tunes, the occasional breaks mixed in, and Kraddy's constant motion, this created a full live band vibe.

Kraddy's giant physical presence -- whether he was goading the crowd or interpretively dancing to the track -- was key to building the party mood. While he's gesturing for the crowd to bounce or triumphantly raising his hands, all eyes are on him.

As promised he hit most of the Labyrinth tracks, with a heavy remix of Minotaur being especially good. He also laid out a new remix of one of his notable tracks Android Porn. This version was more laid back and dreamier than the original. The slower progression built up the intensity that set up a nice dub break.

Rhythmic light dances by the audience, pounding beats, sub-bass rattles, and an ecstatic DJ. Ft. Collins got its club on. And there were giant robots in my dreams...

More photos on my Flickr.

CD review - Kraddy, Labyrinth (2010)

"Led Zeppelin 3000". That's the inspiration that electronic wizard Kraddy used as he put together his new concept EP, Labyrinth. Appropriately, the sound is massive with intense bass. It stands in stark contrast to the milder electronic music I've reviewed in the last couple of weeks.

Kraddy, a founding member of the Glitch Mob, has been a driving force for a classic drum and bass sound. On Labyrinth, the music moves between a straight D&B, picking up an occasional dubstep feel. You can listen on ear buds, but the sub-bass grinds and booming kick drums are best heard out loud, where your body can feel the visceral punch of the sound.

The conceit behind Labyrinth is the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Kraddy intends each of the songs to fit into this myth. At the same time, he's said that he's using the theme of the labyrinth as a metaphor for personal growth and overcoming fear. The first single, No Comply, seems to map to Theseus deciding to stop the tribute of sacrificing youth to the Minotaur. It's an intense song, starting with a monster drum and bass and heavily distorted vocals. The grinding electronic lines also fuzz out along the edges. It moves beyond the initial plodding rhythm to take on a glitchy pseudo funk groove that's similar his old band's work. There's a nice dubstep drop out in the middle of the song that hangs for a moment before the weight of the groove settles back.

Let Go features a hip hop/toasting vocal along with the electronic groove. It serves as a good anchor point leading into my favorite track. Into the Labyrinth begins quietly, with a feel of impending doom. The tension and the music build with a tip of the hat to Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. There's a dubstep pause, then the grind begins. The bass is ponderous. The accompanying music takes the earlier threat and turns it into determination. After another pause, the music moves from determination to the stalking of the minotaur. But the threat still lingers in the background.

Labyrinth is a wonderfully trippy, intense bit of electronic groove. Is it Led Zeppelin 3000? Well, it's certainly heavy, whether metal or otherwise. Mikkeller's Beer Geek Breakfast, an imperial stout can handle the beat. Can you?