Steady Ups vs. Doctor Echo – Dub Disaster
Reviewed by Sadie O., 10/7/05
“Organic Dub” – steroid and automation free! Band and producer from Sacramento, originally recordings made on half inch 8 track tape between 1995 and 2000 and dubbed up by the Doctor for the record. Very definitely reggae/rock steady beats and not to be confused with electronica or any other kind of dub – this could as easily have come from Studio One in Jamaica. Very sparce – much of the record is minimal trap drum and a few distant bits of other sounds. It’s quite pleasant and enjoyable, but really all sounds very much the same. You can put on any track and it’ll be pretty much the same experience – and by all means, do!
No FCCs – very few vocalizations. Tracks 5, 8 10 and 11 are cool.
1. echo-laden, switching back and forth between reggae and rock steady beats, unidentifiable bits of vocals drift past occasionally.
2. upbeat and swingy, bits of horns and guitar wander in and out, but mostly it’s steady tom and snare.
3. rock steady riddim with bits of restrained guitar plucking and a few odd drum machine noises.
4. a bit slower, a bit more guitar in evidence, odd noises.
5. **uptempo, you get entire horn and keyboard riffs here, which is nice. Course, that also makes it slightly less spacy dub. Couple glitches.
6. slower, some melodica, making for somewhat melancholy sound. Slows almost to stop midway but comes back, ends with several seconds of shaker.
7. pretty bright and happy sound, walk in the park with a shaker.
8. **fast, almost ska, fun reverby piano. In fact, everything is reverby, the beat is skanky – fun cut. Pity it’s the shortest cut on the record!
9. uptempo, guitar and high hat prominent through much of cut.
10. **nice bouncy riddim, uptempo and highly syncopated. Good for finding your happy place.
11. **slower, reggae beat, lots of weird noises and distorted vocals, time changes. Definitely the most out-there dub on the record, but it keeps coming back to something you can relate to.