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Da Grynch - Release The Hounds
Da Grynch - Release The Hounds
The dub-hound has another trusted master in the UK.
Sampler
No rhythm series from England’s Necessary Mayhem family of labels is complete without its dub from producer Curtis Lynch’s flipside alter ego Da Grynch. So this canine-titled full dub album (the follow-up to his 'Dubstramentals' EP) comes as no surprise.
At seven tracks long, younger listeners might feel it barely qualifies as an album in duration. But time was when a classic dub set could fit on a 12 inch record. That's not the only thing that's retro about this release. The artwork, by Israeli collective My Lord, follows their usual homage to Tony McDermott’s Scientist albums of the 80s.
The music, like everything Necessary Mayhem, channels a love of Jamaican and British reggae’s past through present "bass culture" (the fairly nebulous categorization of reggae with its bottom-heavy sound-system-driven progeny styles). Just as this collection mixes material known to Lynch’s singles buying faithful with rhythms from future releases, so it also blends familiar aspects of dubs gone by and increasingly unusual elements over the course of two sides.
Side one is the more traditional face. There’s a white noise textured dub to Possessed by Tarrus Riley (different than on the EP to his Lloyd Charmers sampling backing of the same name) that experiments with changing the pitch of the iconic Tubbys style test tone on the snare. Phaser Dub is the flip to Brinsley Forde’s Can't Take No More - already released on single on Lynch’s Maroon subsidiary. Starting with a sample of a youthful Brinsley in the climactic soundclash scene of the film 'Babylon' it peaks with a squelchy tape delay. Likewise Our Dub is the flipside to Macka B's Our Music as heard on the Gorilla rhythm EP.
Side two is where dub gets pushed into more interesting places. Ravers Dub, co-produced with mysterious dubstep influenced collaborator Killa Mosquito, is a skittish, active and futuristic sounding excursion with heavily-delayed drums. The strangely-catchy Tuff Dub brings Lynch’s background as jungle selector to the table via its frenetic beats. According to Lynch both backings will be the focus of further activity later in the year. Cadburys Dub is the version to Ziggi Recado’s Rumours, only cut in "dub special" form before.
The other big British dub recent release is Pressure Sounds' remix compilation by Dennis Bovell, 'Mek It Run'. And despite the digital instrumentation here, there is a similarly jazzy urbane “London” feel to Bovell (who, of course sound-tracked the movie 'Babylon', mentioned above). Wearing its influences – quite literally - on its record sleeve, yet busy enough for Lynch's dancehall fans not to get bored, Release... suggests the dub-hound has another trusted master in the UK.
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