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KUSH ARORA - BHANG RAGGA DANCEHALL IN FUTURE DUB |
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Most dub has a bit of reggae flavor to it. It's just part and parcel of the sound. But the reggae aspects of Bhang Ragga is QUITE strong with flat-out reggae vocals that are a bit aggressive, almost to the point of self-consciousness. However, the tunes here, as suggested by the title, are also very Eastern in flavor, making for an odd, distinctive blend of world styles that does and doesn't work. If the reggae had been pulled back and presented more as dub (with its reggae influences) instead of outright dub-reggae, I think it might have worked better. Of course, I prefer Eastern world music over that of reggae, so that puts a little bias to begin with. But the real crux of the problem is that this hybrid is ... interesting. On one hand it is an original and startling presentation with lots of texture. On the other hand, it seems a tad forced and the mingling of textures seems uneasy. In other words, it seems like two different sorts of textures jostling with each other rather than one complex texture comprised of multiple roots. The album isn't a failure, it's just uneasy in its nature. Some songs on here don't have nearly the reggae flavor and those help the album greatly. But those occasional momentS where the reggae achieves primacy tend to be ... interesting ... but a bit distracting and hard to take entirley seriously. Fortunately, they don't dominate the CD and there's lots of good stuff here. Three and a half stars (because when it works, it works).-- review by Kristofer Upjohn
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