Strategy:
Dub Mind Paradigm
Khaliphonic
Trenchtown by way of Portland, Dub Mind Paradigm sees Paul Dickow aka Strategy tackling the next logical challenge following two seven-inch ZamZam singles: a full album of deep dub tracks. Though the indefatigable Dickow's issued material in all kinds of genres, house, techno, ambient, and rave among them, over the past couple of decades, his unbiding affection for reggae and dub has remained constant. It's an affection, it's worth noting, that's wholly genuine and sincere; track titles in some instances are cheeky (“Cloaking Device Dub” anyone?), but there's nothing ironic or tongue-in-cheek about the eight skanking cuts on this twelve-inch, issued by Khaliphonic as a non-digital vinyl release in a 700-copy edition.
Tempos range widely on the set, making for a consistently enticing listen. Dickow's seamless, hardware-generated productions exemplify all the classic hallmarks of dub: fat snares, echo-drenched keyboards, cavernous bass lines, synthesizer flourishes, and electronic effects, such elements used collectively to create tracks that gloriously slink, strut, and snake. Echoes of Wackies, Burial Mix, and even Basic Channel occasionally emerge in productions guaranteed to satisfy fans of Berlin dub and King Tubby alike.
The album's never skankier than during “Sisyphus Dub,” whereas, rumbling with single-minded insistence, the vaguely acidy “Shaking the Dub” advances the form into forward-thinking territory emblematic of a Chain Reaction dub treatment. Among the standouts is “Downtown Dub,” which wends a path that's so surprisingly funky it renders bodily immobility impossible. The also funky low-rider “Speaking Dub to Power” plays like the quintessential ZamZam cut in sounding both rootsy and experimental, Dickow's panoramic gaze in this case encompassing past and future.July 2018