Review - Improvisators Dub meets Iration Steppas

And another review with which I'm so unbelievably late that I should feel ashamed - hadn't I already hyped this album through my radio show and on basically all dub sessions where I was invited to. So I assume all of you already know about it. That means I only need to write: Buy it. Jah Unfug demands it.

12 tracks are presented on this CD, though actually it's 8 songs, half of them coming in vocal and dub style, the rest of course "extended". The reason why I'm giving "only" 4 stars is because ID and IS give us the two best songs right in the beginning ("Cornal Mind", "Injustice" - for both songs, I have to admit that I prefer the vocals over the dub versions - whaaa, did I really write this?!?), so the following songs have a tough stand and to be honest, I seldomly get more far than "Dub Injustice". Hm, sounds like a quite stupid explanation from my side, sorry.

Both riddims are heavily stepping with rough basses (lot of distortion going on), please do check out the intro of "Injustice". Is this wild, or what?! That's one of the songs where I would ask the selector for at least 4 pull ups, just to listen to this wicked sh*t. Damn. I love it! This bass. These dry drums. And on top the vocals to sing along with (at a soundsystem session where no one hears how out of tune you sing, possibly like they did themselves on the Fusion Festival (insider joke)). Hmm, niceness.

The "Critisize" riddim didn't make it into my ears yet, although being another groovy stepper, I find it somewhat unattractive, the typical Iration Steppas push is missing. Killer bass anyway.

"Fuss Nah Fight" definitely has the aforementioned IS push, but being a Germ, I must complain: I don't like this raw toasting. And since there's no dub version... skip to 4:45, there it gets dubby - and I immediately get into the groove again.

"Ghetto Life" would be a hell of a tune but it sounds somewhat mushy. Is this now a 4-to-the-floor beat or not? I cannot hear it in the vocal version. The riddim section seems not mixed properly, I have tried it on my stereo (which is not a bad one with good speakers) as well as with headphones and it's both the same. The bass is possibly too strong in the mix and should be put a bit into the back of the song. Then again, I assume this is live played and what do I know about live mixing. The vocals are nice again, don't really need the brass section though. The dub starts with a wonderful skanky intro before at 1:01, the bassdrum finally kicks in. So it is a stepper. I'm not surprised. "Chop Raw Cut" is the subtitle of this version. Do I get an "of course" by anyone?

Why did I start this review with: the two first riddims are the best? I just might have proven myself wrong. Add another invisible half 5th star, please.

As for "Youth Man", I'm again unsatisfied with the vocal part, not because of the vocal but because something sounds not right to my ears (does it really have to do with the mixing? Am I too picky?) and do I imagine it or does the mix immediately get clearer when at 4:10 the dub part starts? I would bet if I would bet but I don't bet so let's forget.

"Wah Wah (12" Mix)" is a very fast paced stepper, nothing to complain about this time. Just why 12" mix? Is this available on vinyl? Please post a comment if you know more.

"Jah Jah Badda (12" Mix)": just two words: meh.

:p

To conclude this review, here's the trailer of the DVD release (is that one already available?):