Here’s a quick recap of dubby releases I’ve enjoyed this year. I’ve limited this selection to dubstep andubstep, but there’s lots of roots Jamaican music I’ve shortlisted that I might post here.

All 2008 releases from Ikonika, Appleblim & Peverelist, hiphop queen Georgia Anne Muldrow’s newest project Pattie Blingh & The Akebulan 5 , Benga’s new one Diaries of an Afro Warrior, new single from Kode 9 and The Spaceape, and 2 releases from the end of 2007 namely Boxcutter’s Glyphic on Planet Mu and Skream’s massive Oskilatah on Skreamizm Vol. 4.

Ikonika - Please
Appleblim and Peverelist - Circling
Pattie Blingh & The Akebulan 5 - Brother: The Point (2562 Remix)
Kode9 & The Spaceape - Konfusion
Benga - Zero M2
Boxcutter - Skream - Oskilatah

Another EP on Earth Monkey is by London’s Halal Kabab Hut. Halal Kebab Hut is a band of improviseurs de junk, and by junk we mean real junk, like tin cans, balloons, electric toothbrush, bubble wrap, whoopee cushion, food mixer, vacuum cleaner, hack saw, kazoos etc. Composer Simon Katan gives rules as in game pieces that bind the performers actions together. It’s like 15 kids making noise in a structure only known by the performers, funny improvisations which last about 5 minutes each. Not possible to release on a conventional label for sure!.

Radio Scotvoid - They’re A’ Happy (Chai Tea Mix)
Radio Scotvoid - A’ Don’t Care (Hinges Mix)
Halal Kebab Hut - The Freemasons
Halal Kebab Hut - Variazioni con Shish

I did grew a little tired of jazzy-go-lucky shows which i always do and go for a little something different this time. Since summer is here and we’d spent the previous weekend watching Rockers and trying to sound Jamaican, i started things off with a little dub-ska-reggae icing from Skatalites & King dubby, Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace who’s also the star of the movie Rockers and the Junior Murvin piece i re-heard in the movie and remembered i had it in my archive somewhere. Then we head off to a nice little mesh of elektro-dub, idm and various blip-bleep, 8-bit and what-not. Among them there’s one Flvxxvm Florvm stuff which i found from mister Jeff Robertson’s blog who is a NES enthusiast and an 8-bit whore:) salutes.

cylob - majorette
the skatalites meet king tubby - heaven’s gate
leroy horsemouth wallace - herb vendor
junior murvin - police & thieves
prince jammy - megabyte
hey-o-hansen - shining commas
antibalas - hilo
tomboy - flamingo
copy - could you like her
flvxxvm florvm - annies alibi
underwood - leonardo dicaprio game
soundcard - thula
wagon christ - kwikwidetrax
tussle - pow
boomish - 17 kitsch of the day

available for stream from archive.org and as a podcast on odeo

Undomondo Radio Show #17

On his new Diamonds Dub EP, The A-side is the Paul Simon classic “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes” dubbified with the percussions very upfront as the song takes a dance orientation, while on the other side is an extended dub of Curtis Mayfield “Give Me Your Love”, with wah guitars & strings and laidback percussion. But the song I chose is the last track, which is Astrud Gilberto’s “Black Magic”, with the unforgettable hook “You got me turnin’ you got me spinnin’ around“, the song has a great happy disco feeling now and if doesn’t move you what will?

The second tune is a remix of Isabela Antena’s 1983 Electro Samba classic Camino del Sol on Permanent Vacation (now isn’t permanent vacation the nicest label name?), which is an almost balearic chilly remix with shakers and reverbs, Mr. Terje chose to keep the lovely vocals and add some synths on top, while on the flipside Joakim has a no vocals dancefloor anthem with hard synth leads, which is a must for every DJ, but you’ve got to buy the record to check that out!

Todd Terje’s Top Charts on Raw Fusion.

As a big dnb fan i dunno how 2 explain my feelingz on this album! When i first heard this guy on Digital’s “L-Plates” label I bought the single straight away without any hesitation. This single (erazer/snake pit) was his first release under the name “Amit”. Back in the day he was usin the name “Tronic” and mostly workin with another producer called “Rage”. Anyways, after that very first release i started hearin’ this guys stuff on some dj’s sets like Klute and Bailey. It was so nice 2 hear that some ppl were supportin Amit and this new exciting sound.

Well ok, now lemme explain you the sound: it is repetitive and minimal just like dnb but the beats are like slowed down, imagine dubstep and add this more dnb feel with the cymbals and percussions. But the best explanation would be “King Tubby on a space rocket!” as they once said on Knowledge magazine in a review 2 one of his singles.

He also likes usin’ some ethnic vocals and melodies as well. Normally i really hate these “Hindu” or “Egypt” sounds mixed with electronic music but the way this guy does this thing is extraordinary. After releasin’ singles on some big labels like Metalheadz, Bingo and Timeless now finally his album is out on Klute’s Commercial Suicide label. His debut album is called “Never Ending” and you’ll wish that it never ends. If you like dnb or dubby spacey stuff just give it a try, you won’t regret!

More info and bio here.

Amit - Night Shift
Amit - Immortal

The first track is a dubby vocal house track by MKL and Soy Sos who are also responsible for the 3 Generations Walking project. The title of their new compilation MKL presents Suits and Dashikis, displays their point of view, roots music with an urban style. I’ve always been a fan of their soulful & spiritual music, and I guess I remember this song from before, the vocals by Zapology are truly heartfelt and unforgettable. The second track from the camp is “Midnight Bustling”, 3 Generations Walking’s timeless & overlooked classic with Zapology’s wise lyrics, this compilation features a Francois K version, but I won’t spoil the fun and post the FK one, but go back to the 2003 original, so you can go out and spend your money on something nice like this album.

I’m not particularly into the brokenbeat / house scene but UK’s 2000 Black label owned by 4 Hero’s Dego has released “The Good Good vol. 3” with some fresh urban brokenbeat house variants. The opener by Cherie Mathieson is totally urban radio friendly, with a good synthbass and laidback vocals and rhytms but the real gem of this album for me was Assassino Daninha’s Amizade, that takes the traditional bossa beat and adds a lively synth hook and a flute lead on it. Doesn’t the opening melody strangely remind you of the Mission Impossible theme?.

The Last track is from the Italian nujazz collective Montefiori Cocktail. 90’s Spaghetti Jazz at its best with Italiano vocals, loungy atmosphere, cool drinks and Vespas! Mamma Mia!

MKL vs Soy Sos - Her Song (Feat. Zapology)
3 Generations Walking - Midnight Bustling
Assassino Daninha - Amizade
Cherie Mathieson - Tomorrow’s Day
Montefiori Cocktail - Conversatione

Luomo’s long awaited third album is finally upon us on his own label Huume. His “Vocalcity” album and the unforgettable hit “Tessio” had established his status as an innovator in the house field, while he has also worked under countless aliases like Sistol, Uusitalo, Vladislav Delay and one half of AGF/Delay producing dub oriented electronica and experimental music.

Paper Tigers is the continuation of his experimentations in the sonic field, redefining the 4/4 house concept, and this is a successful album in that aspect, because he has set his trademark in the broken vocals and cold, dubby sound with huge bass and randomized beats. But, after listening to the album for a few times, I kinda think that he has not done much more than taking the poppified sound of Luomo and mixing it with Uusitalo. Yes, this is complex music, layer upon layers of clicks and changes, but after all, its constant change and chaos can be its own downfall. It hasn’t been possible yet to fall in love with the any of the tracks, apart from the single and frankly considering that there are a slew of boring imitators, I’d hoped that he would have innovated the sound and shown his creative sound a bit more. Plus the broken vocals tend to be a bit too much after listening to 6+ songs.

Here’s his first single “Really Don’t Mind“, which is the standout track of the album and I expect it to be well-received, also down is the opener from his 2006 Uusitalo album and an old AGF/Delay song which shows more of his creativity. Also refer to the magnificient 2005 AGF/Dlay album Explode.

Luomo - Really Don’t Mind
Uusitalo - Paskaa Musaa
AGF/Delay - It’s the return of us

Our Finnish friend Vladislav Delay aka Luomo and one half of AGF/Dlay (and countless others) is back with a full album on his own Huume Records, as Uusitalo. From what I remember Uusitalo’s previous efforts, were more dub fused filtered electronic stuff, this time I think he’s polished the sound a little bit and took the rhythmic elements up front as opposed to the textural reverby sound, more dancable stuff with hard kicks and synths. It’s not as experimental as AGF/Dlay stuff, or as bubblegum pop as Luomo stuff, something in between. Not a very varied and innovative album, but nevertheless a nice effort that is suited for dancefloors.

Here’s a track from the album, and also free stuff by The Dolls, which is composed of AGF, Delay and Craig Armstrong.

Uusitalo - Kalajuttuja
The Dolls - Choices (Exclusive Web Version)
The Dolls - Martini Never Dries
Luomo - Live at Ultrahang Fest 27.09.03