Search - Dub Syndicate :: One Way System

More minimal than most On-U stuff.

Allan MacInnis | Vancouver | 10/20/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Socca," the opening cut, begins with some fairly steady percussion, growing gradually more textured as a bass slowly materializes in the mix -- a very quiet bass, really. The CD doesn't start sounding like any sort of reggae, let alone dub, for a couple of minutes, and even then -- once keyboards and horns cut in -- the music remains much more spare and simple, and even *colder,* than most dub I've heard. It doesn't sound remotely like other Dub Syndicate releases like the LIVE 1991 thing or ECHOMANIA, either, which are much richer and varied. The remainder of the album follows the same pattern --some sort of dub minimalism has been undertaken on this release, leaving a LOT of space around and between the notes unfilled, and noticeably so. That makes it kind of INTERESTING, but certainly NOT the best place you could begin exploring this band. If I hadn't heard their much more engaging other releases, mentioned above, this CD might have made me think twice about exploring the band further, which indeed would have been unfortunate... If you don't know Dub Syndicate, the LIVE 1991 thing is a much better starting point, also interesting in that there really aren't that many good dub CDs that have been recorded live."