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Dubblestandart, "Are You Experienced"
This Austrian band's prior release, the spectacular Heavy Heavy Monster Dub, revitalized my interest in dub reggae and made its way into my "best of" chart in 2004. So why does their new one leave me less than enthused?
Don't get me wrong. I have much love for Dubblestandart as well as Collision, the Echo Beach imprint whose burgeoning catalogue includes contributions from such quality artists as Africa United, Dub Syndicate, and Keith LeBlanc. Yet I question whether the band's latest two-disc effort quite meets the challenge of producing what one could call "outsider dub" in the 21st century. Much like kindred spirit George Evelyn's Nightmares On Wax did with mixed end-results on 2002's Mind Elevation, Dubblestandart here veers into poppier territory. Judging from the material, they might have done better to journey towards Kingston instead of Vienna.
Nowhere is this Achilles' heel syndrome more apparent than in the group's selection of vocalists, most of whom are woefully detached from the spirit of the music, to say nothing of its roots. Noa More and major label singer Gudrun reach for the radio dial on their four respective tracks, doing a disservice to the groovy bass, guitar, drum, and synth arrangements that zealously toil below their voices. The lackadaisical G. Rizo seems far more at home on electroclash throwaways (she has recorded for Gigolo) than on "The Rhythm," as evidenced by her seemingly disinterested take. Thankfully, Ari-Up, an infamous performer who has previously impressed with her work in New Age Steppers and seminal act The Slits, unsurprisingly represents well, albeit minimally, on her sole contribution, "Island Girl Dub."
Although technically a remix album, Heavy Heavy Monster Dub shone a spotlight on the band's capabilities, and fortunately there are cuts on Are You Experienced that similarly display that strength. "Everything Is Go" has a classic vibe to it, while the dub of "Heights Of Paranoia" reaches cosmic levels, with the players jamming freely while maintaining listenability, a testament to their undeniable talent.
The spacey "Star Spangled Dub" closes the album out with uncharacteristic beatless brevity, a strange segue into the "bonus" second disc of generally unecessary and, at times, redundant remixes of previous material. It's good to have the two mixes of "Return From Planet Egalica" on CD, but was it really necessary to include previously released cuts like Keith Leblanc's take on "Terrarists and Inhalers" and the Sounds From The Ground remix of "Evil Empire" again? In a perfect world, I would've been thrilled over such an extensive package of new Dubblestandart material and remixes, yet taking into account all of these flaws I can't help but wonder whether the band has lost its way.
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