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Nocturnal Emissions, "In Dub Volume 1"
On one of Nigel Ayers’ most recent musical efforts, his dissent against the nominal powers of church, state, and corporate enterprise are channeled into a chilled out, sinsemilla infused, studio session. These are protest songs without many words. This is a soundtrack for a revolution against reality itself. While Jah is not praised anywhere on the album, the spirit of liberation which is so much a part of ska, reggae, dub, and their children is apparent everywhere. It is obvious Nigel has studied the form. The tunes have been built from a solid blueprint of sub-bass beats and propulsive riddim. The reverberations, echoes, and background sound washes are subtle and complex. By washing off the grime he occupies a niche not emitted by diurnal producers.
Even though the resinous beats have been percolated through bong water they play at a slow, back and forth tempo standard to dub. The emphasis on the beat makes this work a sister or cousin to albums like Autonomia or Collateral Salvage. Undercurrents of friction and dirt swim just below the digital surface. The weird chirps and humorous samples are quirky and true to Nigel’s broad ranging style. These fuzzy textures, added to the usual stock, are what make this dubplate special unique.
The gentle tap of hi-hats starts things off on "Emissions in Control Dub," then a cogent bass line slinks in just before a steep upward synth glide. Stiff brass–or are those Tibetan thighbone trumpets—haunt the otherworldly background, gradually screeching into over-driven banshee wails. The real pleasure here for me is over the half-way point when I am teased for a brief moment by blustery break-beats. On "Every Day Is Sunday" there is a great background ambience coming from what could be old MIDI programs or just plain old Casio keyboards. It gives the song a sunny playroom atmosphere, of light passing in through a window and illuminating the floating bits of dust. The timbre of the tones reminds me of Robert Ashley’s work on Superior Seven.
On "Bodmin Parkway (Disintegrated Public Transport mix)" I am back in Nigel’s home territory, literally. The focal point in this scorching mix is a field recording of a woman's voice announcing arrivals, departures, rules and regulations through the loudspeakers at the Bodmin Parkway rail station. On "Levitation Dub" a nice and furious melodica or keyboard riff creates a quick air of buoyancy. In "Energy Crisis Dub" there is a twangy de-tuned guitar break which sits well with the soda fizz bubbles, bubble wrap pops and metallic bass phrasings. I am impressed not only by these rather quick moments that tend to happen in his songs, which give the whole an added flourish, but of the economy of beats. Nigel has been creating music from loops for a very long time (even creating three sample libraries for Sony Creative Software). He is a surgeon with the use of the loop.
There are two reprises in this collection of songs. The last track being the dub of "Escape from Religon." It is this version I am most enamored of. Not only does it escape from the often stultifying influences hovering around organized belief systems, it escapes the gravity well of Earth and moves into an extra-solar orbit, a fitting place to leave me in the end. I look forward to a second volume of In Dub.
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