The dub virus has now spread out from its late-‘60s Jamaican origins on into the 21st century via modern roots, dubstep and virtually all other electronic beat music. Producer Dub Gabriel’s new album, Raggabass Resistance offers some compelling coordinates towards the only place dub has truly gone—forward.

Gabe’s first two albums, 2003’s Ascend and 2005’s Bass Jihad, saw him ground himself as a producer in the multi-tempo global-Southern dub vision established by folks like legendary multi-instrumental producer-naut Bill Laswell. But while Laswell stretched out his compositions in an ethereal jazz-influenced way, Gabe maintained a more compact aesthetic that reflected the edgy grit of the post-punk/second-wave hip-hop era during which he came up.

By the time he self-released his third album, Anarchy and Alchemy, in 2008, Gabe had started honing in on an electronically infused reggae framework that both anticipated the breakout of dubstep and introduced his consistent use of modern dubwise MCs like Jahdan Blakkamore, Juakali and Dr. Israel, all of whom also appear on Raggabass Resistance.

Drenched in analogue warmth and released both digitally and on heavy vinyl, Raggabass‘s nine tracks comprise Gabe’s most focused manifesto on what eclectic roots- dub music can sound like in the digital age.

Between the driving rhythm and compelling dub-poetry of “Is This Revolution” featuring The Spaceape…

 
…the quasi-Andalusian one-drop vibes of “Draw the Line” featuring Dr. Israel and Gogol Bordello MC Pedro Erazo…

 
…and the heavily psychedelic “Live and Luv,” which features old-school MC U-Roy and bass by Bauhaus’s David J…

 
…you know you’re getting into some eclectic territory here.

But cuts like the rocksteady-infused “Nearly There” featuring veteran Brixton UK rhymer Brother Culture…

 
…and the mega-rootsy “Silent Warrior” featuring new-school singer/MC P.J. Higgins

 
…find Gabriel showing ultimate respect for the dubwise tradition as he seeks to launch it deep into this new century.

And as the product of a successful Kickstarter campaign, the beautifully designed Raggabass Resistance also serves as yet more proof of the kind of quality package artists can offer up in a crowdfunding situation.

Raggabass Resistance is available in various formats via Destroy All Concepts, Juno, Beatport, and the other usual venues…

 
Neither of these acts need an introduction, so let’s just let the music speak for itself (a Burial remix of a track from Massive Attack’s forthcoming album):

Massive Attack vs Burial ‘Four Walls’
 

 
Folks, the wonderful Voltage Music label has seen fit to release my EP “Shock the Sound” today under my Shockman guise.

It features remixes of two tunes of mine by the dub & bass music talents Dubmatix, Subatomic Sound System, earlyW~Rm, and Bakir from the Spit Brothers.

You can get it on Beatport, Amazon, and iTunes.

Here’s the whole thing streamed with earlyW~Rm’s excellent remix downloadable…
 

 
…and here’s a video I put together for the tune “Shock Out”…
 

 
End of plug, thanks for your indulgence…

 
Black Lantern Music is a British netlabel that folks in the States probably haven’t heard, but should. Based in Edinburgh, and launched in late 2009, the label deals in hip-hop, electronica, dubstep, breakbeat and jazz. The bastard children of Grant Morrison’s late 90s sigil experiments and early Rawkus, with a healthy love of poetry and politics, It is closely associated with the Weaponizer website (well worth a read when you have a few spare hours). The label mostly centers around the work of artists Texture, Morphamish, Asthmatic Astronaut and Harelquinade, who have a supergroup of sorts called the Chemical Poets, also featuring the producer Gung Who and the MC Tickle. Although they’re not even two years old yet, the catalog has swelled to a very impressive 32 releases. Here’s a selection of what’s on offer:

Texture is Bram Gleiben, the main man behind both Black Lantern and Weaponizer. A talented MC and veteran of the Scottish poetry slam scene (yes, such a thing exists), he addresses the “non-sequitur” of the idea of “Scottish hip-hop” on the track of the same name, which opens the Synaesthesia EP. The production comes from Salem Anders and fellow BL artist Morphamish, and guest vocals come from Little Rock‘s Kid Ritalin.
 

 
That man Morphamish again, this time hitting hard with the 3 track Urge Mode EP. This is heavy dancefloor dubstep, with Morphamish showing off his very impressive production chops that equal of anyone else on the current UK mainstream dubstep scene:
 

 
Church of When The Shit Hits The Fan is a collaboration between the Edinburgh MC Harlequinade, and the producer Asthamatic Astronaut. Taking its cues from industrial and electro, this is still very much hip-hop, with a political and esoteric bent:
 

 
That should be enough to pique your interest - there is lots more where that came from, with releases from Scottish hip-hop veterans Eaters, laidback jazz from Daddy Scrabble, the incredibly named Shit Hop Ninja Terminatorz, and some guy called Metatron.

 
One of the UK’s premiere dubstep producers Shackleton this week releases a new EP called Deadman on London’s reggae and dub imprint Honest Jon’s. Dead Man is also the name of a fantastic 1995 film by Jim Jarmusch starring Johnny Depp as a man called William Blake, wandering through a black and white recreation of the old West while nursing a fatal gunshot wound.

I don’t know if the Shackleton release (sleeve pictured above) is an hommage to the film, but the enterprising folks at The 29th Nov films have made a video for the track itself using footage from the Jarmusch film. It’s great. Rivaling Neil Young’s original minimalist guitar score for haunting atmosphere, Shackleton’s signature sound of Eastern hand percussion hits, disembodied voices and washes of dub noise prove a perfect accompaniment to the gorgeous monochrome footage of Johnny Depp slowly dying:
 

 
Shackleton’s Deadman is available to buy on vinyl and download from Juno.

Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man is available to buy from Amazon.

 
There’s currently a lot of buzz around the electronic artist James Blake in the UK. In January he came runner up in the BBC’s Sound of 2011 poll, and last week he released his self-titled debut album on Atlas records. Having made a name for himself with his forward-thinking dubstep productions on the labels Hessle Audio and R&S, he has gone in a very different direction on James Blake.

Though some of the dub-style production tropes remain, the sound is much more folk influenced, with some of the tracks featuring just Blake on vocals with spare piano accompaniment. This is most definitely not a dancefloor record, it’s much more of a post-club album, with shades of Anthony Hegarty, John Martyn and even Laurie Anderson. It’s a definite shoe-in for a Mercury Music Prize nomination, and it’s the kind of worthy project the judges love to reward. But is it any good?
 

 
Some of the production on James Blake is stunning, but unfortunately this over shadows the actual songs, that to these ears could have done with a lot of refining and a lot less meandering. For a dubstep producer to make a move away from instrumental bin-shakers it would be useful to have a few more songs of the standard of “Limit To Your Love” or “The Wilhelm Scream” - I find what I am drawn to more is the intricate production of “I Never Learned To Share” or “To Care (Like You)”, which are hugely impressive without being particularly engaging. There is a sense that this is mood music rather than pop, and as such it easily begins to fade into the background.

A lot of the press buzz around Blake’s album is about dubstep “growing up”, which is misleading. Dubstep may be a cornerstone of his career, but on this album it sounds more like a footnote, or a production flavor used to shade a very different palate. Where this record seems more aimed at is the gap left in the market by Radiohead being on hiatus or, dare I say it, the coffee table. The album is definitely interesting, but it’s something I want to like more than I actually like. One day when I am in a particular mood I am sure it will hit the perfect spot, but til then, I will continue to listen to “CMYK” instead.

You can hear James Blake in full here, streaming on the Dutch website 3VOOR12.

James Blake is currently available on import in the States via Amazon.

Thanks to Kelvin Brown for the link.

 
It’s always heartening to see electronic music veterans ably take on new genres and make them sing. One case in point is the UK duo Africa Hitech comprises producer Mark Pritchard and producer/vocalist Steve White (a.k.a. Steve Spacek). Pritchard helped shape the sound of British techno in the early ‘90s in his groups Global Communications and Jedi Knights, while White made waves in the early ‘00s with his avant-soulful warbling and knob-twiddling for the glitchy trio Spacek.

Both have been busy with lots of projects, but Africa Hitech bears special attention. The pair’s just-released debut EP Hitecherous weaves between lurching lovers dub, whomping dubstep, whizzing dancehall, and neurotic garage—all stripped down to their powerful rhythmic essences. Recommended new sounds.
 

 
Get: Africa Hitech - Hitecherous [CD-EP]