Habitat Sound System - (2007) Meets Prince Zohar And The Mystics CD

 Gematria Records ‎– 002

Wow! This is by far the best modern dub record we've heard in ages! And you know we love us some vintage dub (Lee Perry, King Tubby, Prince Jammy, etc.) but we've been pretty underwhelmed with so much newly recorded dub these days. Most dub records recorded in the last decade tend to be nothing more but slick exercises in smoothed out reggae and cheesy electronics. Maybe perfect for swanky lounges and as backdrops for radio dj's but when we want dub we want it to be in our face, raw and vibrant, sizzling and brimming with heat and magic. And the debut full length from Habitat Sound System delivers just that!
This is REAL dub, designed to ring in your ears and move your body. No laptops or electronic middle of the road shortcuts here, instead you get a record that echoes with the true sound of organic dub. The instrumentation includes bass, piano, melodica, harmonica, organ, trumpet, electric and acoustic guitar, array mbira, analog synth and of course tasty blown out vocals. When demos from this record started surfacing, dub folks were freaking out, as they were hungry for something new and exciting in a scene that had been overtaken by dull and predictable modern dub, drab and boring and so pointless. Even some of the true originals like Scientist and Mad Professor heard this and gave it major props, in fact Mad Professor ended up doing additional mixing, and even mastered the disc. We first heard Habitat Sound System, fronted by Irwin's brother Preston, earlier this year on a great split with Monosov Swirnoff on Eclipse records, and while this is a way different beast than what Swirnoff does when he plays with Ilya Monosov or in his psych-rock outfit The Shining Path, there is no doubt that he definitely has his finger on the pulse of dub in a way that's been totally kicking our asses! When we first got this in and were playing it in the store, it not only had everyone working nodding their heads and subtly sort of grooving, but customers who instantly bought copies didn't believe us when we told them it was a brand new record, as they were convinced that this was a lost seventies gem from Jamaica. Truth is, Habitat Sound System have created a timeless and near perfect slab of summery dub. So damn good and of course highly recommended!