Sometime during the latter half of this year, and much to thedispleasure of my incredibly attractive girlfriend, I developed arenewed interest in dub music. Picking through CD store bins, as Iregularly do, I snagged copies of Horace Andy, Keith Hudson, and LeePerry productions, eagerly immersing myself in the fantastic reverbsand echo chambers. The latest Dubblestandart album, which I reviewed afew issues back, as well as my rediscovering the original brillianttrilogy of Pole albums, sparked my appetite for new works in the genre.Thankfully, Floating Roots,Mathias Deplanque's second album as Lena for Quatermass, more thansatiates my hunger with some of the best "digi-dub" outside of the~scape label family. "Wax Model" opens the album with a slow, exactingbeat amidst a moist palette of Vladislav Delay style synth beds. TheJamaican-influenced sound that is somewhat absent on the first trackquickly emerges on "Under False Rulers," a bass-heavy number thatfeatures one of several appearances by MC Tablloyd. Known by some forhis work with 69db of Spiral Tribe, Tablloyd's style and tone varieswildly at times, yet only occasionally interferes with Lena's busy,bubbly soundscapes. The highly danceable cut "Wah Gwan" features hismost satisfying contribution, a vibrant and perhaps nonlinear riffingtreated with delay effects. The only other vocalist on the album,one-time Black Dog collaborator Black Sifichi, contributes somedeep-throat spoken word poetry to the head-nodding "Storm Blown". Theinstrumental tracks that close out the album, including two versions of"Mountain Dub", further shows off Lena's skills as a producer, but nonemore reverent of true dub music as the title track. "Floating Roots"grooves along with a dark tone and a keen, respectful understanding ofthe inspired and inspirational artists who came before him. Whilebridging the dub tradition with the clinical aesthetics of minimaltechno is nothing new in 2004, Lena pulls together all the rightelements for a balanced modern album that begs for repeat listening andappropriate herbal accompaniment.Read More
