Vaporized captures the group's diverse energy in a way that mirrors their live shows. The band played and did the dub effects live, with next to no overdubs or post-take tweaking, at a studio run by a friend, the sound engineer for reggae band John Brown's Body. "It's like a jazz record from 1950s," notes Hahn. "We did a couple takes of each song, then picked the one that sounded best. We laid the stuff down and made it happen." - "It's like hearing us live," he continues, "when you can feel all the drama of dub as parts come in and out.
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...Vaporized's signature sound is a double-barrelled torrent of relentless groove. This is no armchair dub record to smoke along to; it's the sound of a smoking band cocking the trigger. A weapon, indeed.
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Brooklyn's Dub Is a Weapon has created an album of kaleidoscopic sounds. Vaporized is a nine track record loaded with energy and creativity.
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These guys really max out the possibilities you can get with reggae. Their instrumentals typically kick in with a catchy hook, feature a lot of gorgeous guitar/alto sax harmonies, and as much as you can get absolutely lost in a lot of this, it’s more straight-ahead and tuneful than all the dub acts who just vamp out on a single chord. If you know somebody who thinks dubstep is cool, turn them on to this – it’s the real deal. In fact, in a strangely woozy way, this album is one of the best of 2011.
With its many influences, Vaporized is indeed a danceable powerful psychedelic album, full of high energy. The band is playing very hot, with a special award to the talented percussionist Larry McDonald (Bob Marley, Gil Scott-Heron…).
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From the Black Ark days of Lee Perry to Tubby's Waterhouse dubs and discipleship of King Jammy, it's good to see that DIAW are carrying on the torch for dub fans worldwide. "Vaporized" not only exemplifies the evolution of dub but pays tribute to its history by retaining key characteristics that make quality dub music what it is.
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With Vaporized, Dub Is A Weapon has managed something that many attempt but never quite pull off: they’ve put their own spin on a long-established genre while handling it with the respect it deserves. And made you want to shake your butt at the same time.
Pretty damn cool. Read the full review here.
Dub Is a Weapon
Vaporized (2011)
Harmonized
Reviewer Rating:
Contributed by: JohnGentile
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on April 26th 2011
Dub is a Weapon - Vaporized
The results are dazzling. Let’s be clear, though- this is not just a copping of the classic Jamaican dub sound. The tempos tend to be a little faster than most reggae riddims, and there is an abundance of rockish lead guitar that further stretches the boundaries without breaking them.
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