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Kukan Dub Lagan "Life Is Nice"
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Top level
Music reviews
Chill out/ambient reviews
Candyflip 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.
Kukan Dub Lagan "Life Is Nice" Candyflip Records 2004 (CFCD13)
1. Life Is Nice
2. Saiko Dub
3. Pink The Floyd
4. Roots Of Vibration
5. Gandhi’s Kick
6. Defence Yourself Jha
7. Shay-Yes-I
8. No Mon Control!!!
9. Shinzon Romulan
10. The Sound Of The Sword
11. The Bells Of Burma
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.
PK (shivapks@hotmail.com)
