Renegade Rocker

Dubmatix – Renegade Rocker
Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/6/08
Killer roots rock reggae/dub from Toronto, loaded with top guest vocalists. This is the kind of new reggae release that warms the old substernal cockles! We get lots of fine reissues and retrospectives, and a decent amount of good new dancehall and dubstep, but a new roots release of this quality is damn rare. Play it loud!
No FCCs detected. Yeah, I went crazy on the stars, but it’s really good!
1. ***chugging midtempo dub, sweet dubby singing.
2. ****swingy, rather uptempo bubble with lots of assorted percussion, toasting, Rasta lyrics – more chant than anything.
3. **forceful downtempo one-drop, toast in praise of pot.
4. ****midtempo skank with bits of fun sax and hand drums – instrumental.
5. *****sweet! Bouncy midtempo bubble, wonderful singing by Michael Rose.
6. ***forceful – rather jubilant sounding – midtempo skank, sweet singing.
7. ***uptempo skank, interesting song about how nice living in the ghetto is – a switch from the usual “hard times”…
8. ***uptempo bubble, pretty tenor singing, hard times song…
9. ***super jaunty uptempo instrumental bubble with keyboard and horns.
10. ****instrumental, storm sounds, horns, dubby.
11. **swingy, slightly uptempo groove with bits of acoustic guitar, laid-back singing.
12. ***horns intro, then uptempo bubble with another fine toast from Ranking Joe.
13. ***midtempo marching skank, vocal harmonies, catchy song.
14. ****midtempo super-dub instrumental, lots of bits of sounds.
15. ***uptempo energetic bounce, dub instrumental, electronics. Lots of echos and buzzes.
16. ***energetic dancehall/dubstep skank, female/male dancehall vocals.