Djosos Krost – No Sign of Bad (Quango)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 10/12/06
Quirky electronic ultra-dub from Denmark. It could easily slide across the border to electronic/experimental instead of Reggae, but almost all songs have a one-drop beat, and most vocals have a Jamaican accent, so we’ll accept it as Reggae… Basically two electronica DJs named Phar and F. Nikolic, with some of their friends doing extemporaneous vocals. All worth a listen, definitely.
No FCCs, although the love songs are suggestive, if you’re suggestable.
I think 8 is a killer track.
1. 5:08 *bloops and bleeps – takes a long time to get started with the midtempo riddim. Breathy male vocals. Odd, mildly suggestive lyrics.
2. 6:10 **sneaky, snaky kinda groove, slightly downtempo. Spoken word reinterpretation of Genesis. I am totally getting stoned, just listening to this…
3. 4:29 ***circus noises and echo-y stuff, then downtempo squeepy bouncy beat. Instrumental, cool fun.
4. 4:39 **spoken word history lesson with slightly uptempo shuffle riddim.
5. 3:59 **bouncy as heck, slightly uptempo riddim, female vocals, somewhat suggestive lyrics
6. 6:23 **downtempo instrumental with lots of odd noises, including something that sounds almost like a siren (trompet?)
7. 5:10 *electro dance groove, lazy male vocals, love song
8. 4:02 ****midtempo swingy groove, male harmonies, nice anti-war message.
9. 4:03 ***midtempo bounce, heavy on drums, very dubby instrumental
10. 6:56 *metronome beat with noises, bit of spoken word, gets more complex as it goes. Ends with a few seconds of drone.
11. 4:36 *formless dub with random bits of vocals, then uptempo metronome beat. Truly weird male vocals.
12. 6:00 **fun deep male spoken vocals, formless dub. Some singing later – sounds a bit like Michael Franti. Nice vocals, but the music leaves me cold.