The Groove Thief

DubRaJah brings some real heady dub vibes on Terai, letting the full force of the subcontinental jungle take control. “Mentawi Dub” is a massive track, pulsating steppas beneath a smooth melodica; “Papua Dub” goes deep while the summoning call of “Sumatra Dub” pairs well with the twangy percussion; “Tharu Dub” is as serene as Nepal’s Bardia National Park, “Newars Dub” combines tribal drums and digital rhythms, and closer “Nepal” is a sparse, churning epic. This is clearly musical anthropology gone dub, or is that dub gone anthropological?

Indidginus’ Sab Kuch Milega EP takes a worldly approach to bass, featuring numerous vocal styles while letting the beats fiercely drop. The South African producer/performer starts with well-crafted claps-and-drums on the future-electro of “Arab Spring” before nicely twisting into drum-and-bass; haunting strings introduce the track, but once the beat begins, “Vajradanti” is hardly predictable tabla but rather huge subcontinental vocal hook atop thick dubstep; final full-length “Timewave Zero” is fresh-off-the-spaceship intergalactic digital-dubstep. Also available for your listening pleasure are the Friction Labs remix of “Fitteh Moo” along with several potent minimixes. Much more than Bollywood-gone-bass, this is what happens when the tribes unite:

An EP mix is also available:  

New Cape Town label Bombaada unleashes three fierce dubs as 7FT Soundsystem Meets Fletcher In Dub for a nice free digital download.  Billed as a “once in a lifetime” aural adventure, all avenues of the depths of dub are explored: opener “Monkey See Monkey Dub” has a classic vibe - spacey and teasing; “Monday Dub” is more melodic and uptempo, yet still light; “Evil Bush Dr. Riddim” takes a few choice vocal samples and then drops synths and basslines all over them, resulting in a rather tongue-in-cheek finale.  Hopefully more bass-xploration pops up from Bombaada in the near future…

As a bonus, here’s the latest riddim from 7FT Soundsystem:

Alpha Steppa may officially be out of control.  The dub-technician, currently residing in Korea, continues to release huge huge steppers dub/reggae tunes.  I really try not to multi-post on artists, preferring to continue the hunt for the most elusive and awesome music out there, but in the last month several new tracks, dubs, and a full hour-long mix have surfaced, all of which are well-produced and intelligently-designed enough to deserve their own write-up.  Alpha Steppa Japan Tour 2012 Promo Mix is a swirling assault of echo and bass, that perfect balance of slow and fast that makes steppers so appealing, full of original tracks, remixes, and other worthy heavy bass tracks.  ”Highest Grade” (Original & Dub) continue the collaborative effort with Flex Zagazzow that began with “Alpha Steppa Sound,” while another collaboration, with Addis Pablo takes the future-past vibe of Steppas Records to a whole new level.

7FT Soundsystem & myself have both worked over a live track from Mickey Simpson titled “Don’t Cry.”  I’ve done a re-edit/mashup with Fira’s track “Hummer” (Version) while the talented South African producer has done his own refix.  Much respect for the co-release, both tracks are available for stream and d/l below, so please check them out!

This re-edit is the final track of my upcoming Asian-inspired dub/reggae mix “The Groove Thief Meets Wu Xia For Dim Sum” which will be coming out on my Mixcloud on April 19 just in time for 4:20!

7FT Soundsystem is also releasing a new free EP next month: 7FT Meets Fletcher In Dub.

South Africa’s 7FT Soundsystem take the digital-dub ethos and meld it into something truly magical.  Their mantra of “reggae for robots + dub for droids” doesn’t quite do justice to their excellent blend of well-crafted riddims, dubplates, and remixes - though this would tear it up in C3PO & RJD2’s favorite cantina.  A prime example is their most recent mix, Live on the High Grade Show, which features only their riddims in a smooth-and-sublimely crafted upbeat jaunt through all facets of the digital dancehall.  Seriously, this is some impressive stuff - and I listen to a fair bit of dub/reggae as you might have noticed by now if you are a regular reader.  Some other fresh 7FT goodies are included as well: an excellent U-Roy refix and another mixtape.

Crizzly Presents Crunkstep is Southern hip-hop meets dubstep/electro/bass music.  In the world of ever-evolving genre flavors, this is a heavy aural assault, clearly designed to destroy speakers and unsuspecting eardrums.  Yes, this includes a Bird Peterson track (the excellent “Pimp Storm”) but goes louder, deeper, and harder than just trance beats meet crunk vocals.  Synths wail, machine-bass staggers, and then rappers get real angry when the beats decide to share the stage.  40k plays in one month - this is how underground EDM producers blow up, right?  After forty-three minutes of Crizzly’s apocalyptic bass-rap, your perspective on the lifetime of standard dubstep may have changed.  Like Dieselboy’s recent Wake The Dead mix, this mix has the potential to redefine and redirect an often stagnate genre by pushing the boundaries…

The Digitaldubs Sound System are a Brazilian… well, digital dub sound system.  They make nice low-end music, with a distinctive South American flavor.  They follow the dub tradition, while clearly having plenty of other influences and inspirations.  In addition to remixing and producing the following tracks, they also did the score to the fantastic dub documentary Dub Echoes.  Check out the preview for that as well:

Dub Echoes (2009) - trailer from Bruno Natal on Vimeo.