The Answer Is In The Beat

MM Studio: Good Star Dubs (Albumlabel, 2016)

April 19, 2016 at 5:07 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Recorded in Berlin in 2007 but unreleased until now, this is a dubwise collaboration between Ann Arbor’s Tadd Mullinix (Dabrye, JTC, SK-1, etc.) and Bus member Daniel Meteo (who also runs Shitkatapult and Albumlabel). This is tripped-out digital dub modeled after ’80s dancehall rhythms and given wacky Mad Professor-like delay effects. Wicked basslines which expand and burst in a storm of echo, all set to metronomic rhythms programmed on acid house drum machines. Two of the tracks on here are presented in alternate mixes, and all of these tracks seem to draw from the same sound palette, so it doesn’t stray too much from its sound. I have no complaints about that, though; this is a type of music I can listen to for hours on end and not get sick of. “Digidubx” is 16 minutes long and I wouldn’t have a problem if it took up the entire album. The briefest track, “Other Dub Mix II”, sticks in a 4/4 beat and comes a little closer to the dub-techno of Basic Channel, but the halftime snare keeps it in the dub realm. “Dub 100” is faster and has some heavily vocodered vocals. A couple tracks near the end throw in some scratchy guitar licks. Sweet album, definitely worth the decade-long wait it took for these tracks to finally see release.