Style : Downtempo, chilled techno-dub. A consistent approach across the album sees most tracks emerge out of digital abstraction into loose dubby basslines and complementary nodding, leisurely beats riddled with electronic swells, spaced out voices and psychedelic sequences. Simple melodic forms play between the off-beat keyboard stabs, whilst warm arpeggios, reversed loops and synth strings fill in the spaces - making for a thick sound. Mood : Laid-back reggae-influenced rhythms and airy effects combine with spacey patterns to create a lazy sense of floatation, cast adrift in cyberspace. Vocal samples are mainly spoken - frequently rasta sourced and echoing or gated. A dialogue leading us into the first track says "How long have you been writing electronica? Oooh ten years - ten years.... They call it a decade - call it a decade…" this act doesn't take itself too seriously, amusing us with technological visions enhanced by clear production, hypnotising us with arrangements where the overriding vibe is as important as the tunes themselves. Artwork : This is a pleasing digipack where sharp emeralds, limes and greens predominate in a dense assemblage of graphic elements. Heavier tones on the front cover create a depth that invites us to peer in and examine the details. The KDL logo with its red background adorns all panels, the three letters also appearing in abstracted variations sprinkled throughout the design. Indeed, the text is an important aspect of the overall design, be it the well-placed information sections or the stylised teardrop letters woven among the other imagery. Ample thanks and greetings fill the inner sleeve along with some credits and contact details.. Overall : Kukan Dub Lagan is a name that encapsulates the style of this act: 'kukan' meaning "space" in Japanese - dub - 'lagan' from the Hebrew"ba-lagan" meaning"chaos"..... hence chaotic, spacey dub. Itay Berger from Israel cites such diverse influences as Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, Deep Dive Corporation and Nitin Sawhney. Overall this CD takes the various conventions of dub and reggae and places them in a fresh context, served up for the chill-out audience. Although the percussive patterns quicken and flutter at times or loiter and lumber along - the underlying plodding of the main rhythm remains firmly rooted in a very dubby downtempo. Who will like this album : This is an album that will surely appeal to the chill-out audience that favour dub-induced trance. It has a heavier feel than the likes of Bluetech, but the joy of downtempo electronic exploration is similar. Morpheus Music UKCandyflip Records in Greece is out with a new album, this time going a relaxed direction. Here we get the debut album by an artist called Kukan Dub Lagan, which is Itay Berger based in Tel Aviv, Israel. This guy has been djing quite a lot around the world, but it seems like he has slowed down a little to make this chill out album. Very positive album title, and I’m sure some of these tracks will make you happy too. The first track leads us right into a beautiful, floating, atmospheric vibe. We also get a quite happy melody and relaxing, dubby sounds and beats. Chilled psychedelic dub. A nice floating start on the album. Track 2 goes deeper into the dub soundscapes, but keeps a light vibe, with beautiful melodies and sounds. This one sounds more like reggae dub, with reggae inspired voice samples, sounds etc. Track 3 goes back to a more floating vibe again. The sounds we get in these tracks are really beautiful. Here we also get a playful bass, mystic voice samples and some kicking, slow, beats. Track 4 continues the reggae inspired dub. Echoing sounds and voice samples done in a psychedelic way. You also get some smoked out dubby beats and a happy, weird vibe through the entire track. One of my favourite tracks on this album. Track 5 starts in a bit funny way, with some sounds that reminds me of the speakers at an airport or something. Then some heavy, dubby beats start working through the track, going in a very pleasant tempo to the end. Track 6 starts with an even weirder sound and heavier beats. Here we get more reggae influences too, and the beat goes over to an almost danceable down tempo rhythm. In my ears, this track is a bit over the top when it comes to reggae influences and I find the melody in this one a bit simple and nagging. Track 7 has a bit weird start too and sounds a bit like when I played on my Casio keyboard as a child. But, he adds some bass, a down tempo beat and more playful sounds, so the track actually becomes quite enjoyable. Not among my favourites on this album. Track 8 has some really cool, fat beats that remind me a bit of the big beat genre, but this one goes a more dubby direction. You get a tired reggae voice sample in this one too. Another favourite on this album. Dub that make you happy and relaxed. Track 9 goes a bit more experimental. A bit weirder sound picture with a more psychedelic vibe and quite a lot of variation. Track 10 has a bit more dramatic sound, with a relaxed down tempo beat, a floating background and several mystic voice samples etc. The last track on this album goes much more melancholic. Very beautiful sound picture, with great variation of sounds and melodies and totally relaxed down tempo beats. Definitely the best track on this album in my opinion. Kukan Dub Lagan might be a very strange name you have never heard of before, but you should definitely check it out if you want to hear something different. You get a quite unusual style in this album, with mostly dubby tracks going a different direction than most other dub being released around the world. PKS (trance.net, NO)
# 1 Life Is Nice, nice intro, with some atmospheric sounds nad pads. Together with the drums, we are getting the kukans melodies which are so great and unigue. From the very 1st track we can listen to the quality that this album delivers. Clean and sharp. Good energy in this one. "How long have u been writing electronicaaaaa". # 2 Saiko Dub Some dub vocals with the usual pattern of the dub structure have been combined for this one. What a start bytheway!!! Heavy shit, but with Itays melodies tracks is been kept alive and groovy. # 3 Pink The Floyd, This one starts a bit moody in this one. Some words and then here comes the kick drums with a nice vibe but still keep you down there, not letting your happy side loose. I guess that was the track meant for. 2:30 we face a 4/4 beat with some new sounds and percussions. Always fall of drums and percussions. Some good trippy sounds from the sides just to keep the mind busy. Cool track, very nice indeed. # 4 Roots Of Vibration, Itays melody, with nice fx on some dub lyrics. Nice choppering bro. You feel the vobe coming. Wooow, nice beat and a great show of skills of quality. Liked the guitar sound and the panning effect.. I cant imagine how this will be on a sound system or with headphones!!! What a journey. 3:47 basses coming. I like your basses bro. What a track, for sure one of my favorites from the album. # 5 Gandhi's Kick, Yeah!!! Some phat bass in this one. Delays do such a brilliant work man. Reverb also does a good job, already told u that Dubwise pattern. Good one, nice vibe. It mooved me! # 6 Defence Yourself Jha, Starts with a melody that is combined with some vocals and the bass that gives u the whole meaning of the track. A track that makes u feel that came froma raggae bands studio!!! I love those soundz at 3:00. Which go and go and on and on!!!! # 7 Shay-Yes-I, Again some melodies of Itays!! Yeaahhh! This is what makes u unique my friend. Long intro with some reverbed and delayed percussions and sounds and suddently at 2:37 a 4/4 beat with a kick that came to drive u to the rest of the tracks trip!! What a vibe on the 4th min and on. # 8 No Mon Control!!!, Yes... This one I remember it during its production time. Phat bass, with nice panning and delays. How much I enjoy delays!!! Some melodies again giving u the feeling of the real vibe and driving u towards the jopurney. 1:30 some drums added. A small break to capture the attention. A nice track again with some good energy and use of fxs! I like this sounds mannn ¡weeee woooouuu¡¨¡ hehehee So many sounds in one track and still it sounds so clean and crystal. Great man! # 9 Shinzon Romulan, Some scratching to start with. Reverse does a good job hehe... I like it and Im a lover of the OM boyz too What a great feedback they give. I like the mood of this track, make me wanna go a bit back. It reminds me of stuff. At 3:12 huge phat bass comes to shake some headz! Yeah, something like trip-hop-dub this one can be described. # 10 The Sound Of The Sword, Some dark intro that with some melody the darkness all of a suddent became light. It makes me feel like it is a soundtrack of a movie. Yeah man, for sure this track belongs to the soundtrack of a movie, Im sure that someone will use it for a monie or something... Its ooo great. Good one!!! I like it a lot # 11 And last but not least The Bells Of Burma. Intro of a track is the 1/3 of the whole track IMO. And yes itay u have succeded in that section in all of your tracks. Some nice atmosphere with some good pads and melods. Yeah man, this one reminds me trax of some artists that I had them up there in my list. This time, the track came from u man, and u know that I have u up there in my list with all those names that I was admiring (aes dana etc...) And yes, something is coming... wooow what a bassline!!!!!
CHP (Isratrance, CY) Kukan Dub Lagan is 28 year old Itay Berger from Israel, and this is his debut album released by Greek label Candyflip Records. This is not your ordinary bunch of psy-trance/psy-chill… No, this is something different… This is psy-dub! Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: “How long have you been writing electronica? Ten years! They call it a decade, call it a decade…” This title-track immediately teleports the listener deep into the dub-jungle where all worries are put aside and life is nice… It’s lazy afternoon dub with digital birds, rippling percussion, flute, children’s choir, floating melodies and a very uplifting atmosphere all together… Yeah, life is nice! #02: As the title suggests, this track digs deeper into the more saikodelic side of dub… Heavier and more hectic – as heavy and hectic as leftfield dub can be… Sounds like Itay is playing around with an old school organ and some severely cut-up beats here, though he somehow manages to maintain a joyous vibe throughout the track… #03: Very nice intro on the PF-tribute track here… Organic, eerie and slowly building towards something big… UFO-samples alongside a deeeeeep, dubby bassline… This is very, very soothing music… Very well-produced… Reminds me of Shulman and Asura at times… Brilliant track! #04: Ahh… Another ?ber-cool intro with heavily cut-up voice-samples echoing into oblivion arpeggio-style? Single note synth-action accompanied by lazy percussion, a deep steady bass, guitar and all kinds of percussion, glass-bottle tapping, etc This track really encapsulated the Kukan Dub Lagan sound – and what an impressive sound that is… #05: The Mahatma Dub Session vol. 1: Advanced Fusion. Heavily reverbed synths lines with ska-elements, reggae vibe, deep groovy bassline and the trusted drop of dub as the common denominator… This is musical tapas! Feast your ears on this! #06: And this is very it gets really weird… I think Itay raided the waste bin of a Kingston studio cutting room… But hey, I guess we’re just not used to a raggamuffin MC all of a sudden dropping lyrics in the middle of a psy-dub album- Interesting track, but not really my fav’e blunt on this album. #07: Echoing na?ve, one-key synthlines makes out the very long, slightly annoying intro- It gets better when yet another phat bassline and voice-effects are added later on… It gets even better when a faster kick is introduced and the track turns out pretty ok… Not outstanding, but nice nevertheless! #08: Woow – that is one deep bass! Yikes! Steady, controlled pace and very focussed… More FX are added, among them another reggae-emcee and some filtered steeldrum action… Again more Kukan analogue synths opposite little twirling melodies to balance out the deep bassline… A winning combination and guaranteed to leave a big cracking smile on most faces! #09: The intro uses a sample similar to the Independence Day quote in IM’s ‘Release Me’ … Quite scary actually… Anywho – this is among the most psychedelic tracks on the album… And I really like the gloomy atmosphere put forward by Itay here… Stellar track! #10: Another dub-tune focused on the slightly darker side of things… It’s a clash of organic and synthetic sounds… I like the long character-building pads and the haunting mood this track delivers… Tasty! #11: And I’ll be damned if Itay doesn’t go all Vanessa Williams on us and saves the best for last… Again a glum atmosphere has totally soaked this track – but when it’s done this good no-one is complaining… This is full-scale dubby ambient which just scratches you right were it itches! Life is nice! As stated above, this is not your ordinary bunch of psy-trance- Very far from it actually! But don’t let that discourage you - it’s a very nice album indeed and a great way to expand your musical horizons. It has enough experimentation to appeal to the leftfield crowd and enough psychedelia to satisfy the twisted downbeat crowd. In other words: this is for open-minded fans of leftfield ambient and cross-over psy-chill dub and everything in between! Another fine Candyflip release by a visionary label which has the balls to steer of the beaten psy-path! Recommended! Favourites: 1, 3, 4, 5, 8(!), 9(!), 10, 11(!) DeathPosture (DK)
Reviewed by Maer Israel (USA)
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