Bluetech
Love Songs To The Source

New release from Bluetech who debuts on Interchill with a dub-heavy and psychedelic album, a work that, unlike his (many) other projects, adds to the genre he coined as digidub a series of new elements, such as funk and reggae influences, live-played brass, wah guitars. It is an album equally divided between an exotic face in the Jamaican dub style, and another, decidedly more enticing, spectral, and atmospheric, with angelic voices and walls of reverb everywhere reminiscent - in part - of what Burial did in his now legendary "Untrue." 

"Love Songs To The Source" besides its very polished arrangements and excellent production (it couldn't be otherwise for an artist who has always stood out for the quality and cleanliness of his work), showcases great collaborations on the microphone, thus providing a good variety useful in breaking the typical stylistic poverty of a genre (dub) too often clinging to the usual clichés such as echoes, offbeat riffs, big snares; all widely present, even though when talking about "digidub," it's not uncommon to find alternative solutions and good insights enriching the slow progression of smoky rhythms that forge the twelve tracks. 

For example, the ambient elements of the icy "Green Sophia" (featuring guest Tina Malia who somewhat echoes Lisa Gerrard), and "Polychrome Petroglyph" (in collaboration with Kilowatts), the psychedelic touches of "Seed To Soil" (great beat), or the mysticism of "Waiting For Initiation" (interesting funk grooves) and "Hanuman", strengthened by the excellent brass work of Luke Solman and Russell Scott, presences that will return several times throughout the 14 tracks. The surprise among the voices is definitely Katrina Blackstone, who brings a soulful vibe on "Change" and "Lay Your Sorrows Down", two sunny tracks with easier tones, but favorable to making the album less monotonous. The most effective examples of defining the Evan-digidub-thinking are represented by "Dread Inna Babylon" and "Counting Out Stones", classic dub ragga but with 100% electro sounds. A noteworthy mention for the magnificent hypnotic and enveloping remix of Big Medicine (Mari Boine Persen) and the delicate downtempo "To Mend". The instrumentals "Two River" and "Three Worlds" are decidedly less convincing (quite scholastic despite the curious oriental hints).

If you like dub, and those endless reverbs for a headphone trip, it's worth considering. [3.5]