Kosmo Compilation – Vapors Of Dub [KOSMO 076]

To be honest, some dubtech EPs can leave me underwhelmed. I’m often left with the feeling that far from the great musical journey I was hoping for, the magical mystery tour bus just breaks down, leaving me exactly where I started.

Thankfully this isn’t true of the Compilation just put together by the Kosmo netlabel, called Vapors of Dub. There’s enough here to satisfy the dubtech purists and those, like me, who like their dub a little more “full phat”.

Galler’s “Return Of The Gamma Dub” starts in pure minimal dub style until the first drop and then it gives us a lovely dubby bassline before settling into a nice smooth groove, with Fabio Scalabroni’s “Chains”. Re-drum’s “Theme For The Lonely Sheep” is the closest to the reggae dub genre in this compilation, with its use of live instruments. This gently builds to the first drop and then delivers a nice fat groove which are complemented by layers of spacey xylophone notes. Triton’s “Dumont” is more trance-like, but with some nice dubtech touches, before leading into “Blue Snow” by Fingers In The Noise, which keeps the groove going. Dublicator delivers a nice beat in ”Unstable Manifolds II”, overlaid on top of some sonic waves, before we head back into “Jah Head” by J. Gillett, which crosses over between minimal and reggae dub quite successfully. Fabian Kempe’s “Dub Varmt” is a very dark, atmospheric piece, so stripped down it’s almost devoid of beat, leaving Interanima’s “Square Raindrops” to re-establish a subtle groove palate on which to paint some delicate nuances. The closing track, Isotroph’s “Aveni” starts off initially with a dubstep beat construction, before leading into a more driven trance sound, followed by a chillout section to leave you refreshed.

This album is definitely one to listen to, if you want to let your ears experiment with crossover dub genres.

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