Loudspeaker Speaker Meets Clearly Human
"Like Ten Feet Tall" CD
Broken
Twilight
Genre: dub, electronic
Aug 2008 |
The dub genre has certainly produced its fair share of treasures -
everything from King Tubby to Bill Laswell - which is
quite the mean feat for a genre of its unmistakable homogeneity.
Still, there is something queasily singular about the genre to those
who haven't immersed themselves in it. Like the three chords of garage
rock or the trademark breakbeat loop, the iconic dub bassline
makes the whole genre seem to outsiders like
mere variations upon a theme. It can be pleasant - even damn
fun - but memorable? Rarely. And despite my delusions of critical
grandeur, I must admit my appreciation of dub is at a relative
infancy. Still, slapping Like Ten Feet Tall in the stereo and
sending it for a whirl, I am taken aback by how impressed I am.
A collaboration between percussionist Clearly Human (Jason
Falk) and everything-else-ist Loudspeaker Speaker (Chad
Imes), Loudspeaker Speaker Meets Clearly Human has produced
an instrumental dub trip heavy on atmosphere. Particularly impressive
are the electronic waves and guitar lines of "When Square Waves Cry"
and the rapidly metamorphosing structure of ironically-named "No
Change." What is most striking about these nine tracks is their
indelible ability to hook you - despite being a dub release, Like
Ten Feet Tall is a constantly evolving and frequently surprising
journey. Seriously, this is the type of stuff that has you
continuously edging your volume knob in an effort to soak up all the
goodness. The startling effect of the disc owes a lot to the
fabulously crisp production values and tight technical prowess behind
the music, but can be largely
attributed to the songwriting, which manages
atmospheric and melodic variety within the constraints of dub music's
characteristically laidback flow.
As may be fairly obvious now, I am fairly impressed with this
album. One curious thing that I've noticed is that I have trouble
grasping Like Ten Feet Tall as one cohesive entity. It covers a
fair amount of ground over its thirty minute duration, and hence it is
difficult to get a working grasp on its logical progression; whether
this is a problem per se, or simply a fact, is up for debate. As it
is, Loudspeaker Speaker Meets Clearly Human have produced a
marvelous dub record that ranks among the
finest I've heard from the genre. Curious readers are urged to give
this a listen - and make sure to play it loud when you do.
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Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 9 tracks, distributed by
CD Baby,
released 2008] |
