Dubblestandart’s Chrome Optimism

This is weird and beautiful. It’s Dubblestandart‘s Chrome Optimism, featuring the vocals of Lee Perry and snippets from an interview with movie director David Lynch (“the ideas tell you how you wanna be”” ànd some samples of Jean-Michel Jarre’s synthesizer anthem “Oxygen”. All of them thrown into a superb mix.
The song is taken from their excellent 2009 Return From Planet Dub album.

Lee Perry and Ari Up performing with Dubblestandart

Nice one. Lee Scratch Perry joining Ari Up (of Slits fame) for an unannounced performance with Dubblestandart.

Want more? There’s a longer edit in higher resolution of the Brooklyn performance over at  vimeo.

Dubblestandart “Return from Planet Dub”

Dubblestandart has a new album ready for release, featuring Ari Up & Lee Scratch Perry. “Return from Planet Dub” is already their 11th album since the early 90s, when they started releasing productions in the name of dub. Those who already heard the album (to be released early june), call it “one aural trip that needs to be heard” (Reggae Vibes) or a “sonic exploration that inches dub further into uncharted territory, taking Perry and Ari Up beyond their own boundaries (David Katz).

From what we already heard of it ourselves, we have to agree with this. There’s of course Lee Perry dispensing his wisdom and madness, aided by the superb backings. There’s Dubblestandard revisiting all time classics such as ‘Disco Devil’ and ‘Blackboard Jungle Dub’. There’s some tunes reminding us of the very best of On-U Sound. There’s the abstract vocals of postmodern dancehall queen Ari Up. There’s the excursions into dubble-though dubstep. There’s even Jean-Michel Jarre (of all people) turning up on Planet Dub.

You can listen to some tracks for yourself on their MySpace page.

Or listen below to the radio edit of Chrome Optmism, not only featuring the vocals of Lee Perry and snippets from an interview with movie director David Lynch, but even samples of Jean-Michel Jarre’s synthesizer anthem “Oxygen”. Weird and wonderfull.

With “Return from Planet Dub”, Dubblestandard have set up to show once again that Vienna still can be Jamaican territory. As they did from the beginning, when they chose dub music as their musical lodestar. For two decades now they have been turning it into a European bass guerrilla driven by political awareness and spaced out sounds. All based on a strong commitment to original reggae and dub. This new album is a big one.

Independence Dub Day 2009

Dub Flash has some great videos online, taken on the Independence Dub Day 2009 festival in Wroclaw, Poland, 7th March 2009. Featuring Adrian Sherwood deejaying with Little Roy on the mic, Dubblestandart, Brain Damage, Aba Shanti and the All Sunrises Soundsystem from Poland. The videos are slow loaders, but they show some great footage so they’re surely worth the waiting. Nice work.

Dubblestandart – Wadada

This video to “Wadada” is a bit dark and disturbing, but on the other hand: the pictures fit in well with this impressive metalloid dub of Vienna’s Dubblestandart, featuring some heavy fuzz guitars and the sampled vocals of the great Prince Far I and a guy called Truman Chewstick.

Just in case you were wondering where you heard this before: Wadada of course is a rework of the legendary Dub Syndicate tune. Enjoy them performing the song live in Melbourne.