Amid today's enormous volume of disposable tunes, exciting for a couple of weeks and then forgotten, 'Dub Skies' is a gem in the slag heap: it's a keeper, the kind of track you'll still be playing years down the line, one that's situated in the longue durée, not the bandwagon of the month. Part of the reason for that is its simultaneous evocation of several layers of electronic musical history: the warm, expansive synths that open the tune and on which it coasts forward, enfold the listener even as they open up a sense of vast space, reaching back beyond the beginnings of drum&bass, before jungle, even before rave, to the early synth pioneers; while the drums, a chopped break overlaid by funky, staccato percussion, are infused with the rolling power of late-90s drum&bass heyday; but the crisp production values are totally contemporary, and the overall effect is timeless. Push up your lighter!
credits
from Dub Skies / Send For The New Gun,
track released September 7, 2012
Production: Ritual
Mastering: Kayo
Artwork: John Mullen
Copyright: Inna Riddim Records
Publishing: Inna Riddim Pty Ltd
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