Music Reviews

J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science

J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science

Om

When listening to J Boogie (nee Justin Boland), one thing comes quickly to mind: technology. If it weren’t for technology, we simply could not have DJ kulcha. And without same, DJs would not be able to consume the myriad cultures they do. Telecommunications, recording innovations and the ever shrinking “global village” have brought us J Boogie, and, for once, I’m glad that we do “eat each other” (as bell hooks put it) in this increasingly claustrophobic world of ours.

This San Francisco DJ uses dub as the backbone that spreads across the globe to incorporate all kinds of sounds into its vertebrae. This debut is amazingly soulful and reverberates with depth. R&B, jazz, hip-hop, Afro-funk and Afro-Latino soul all sound off here. It is readily apparent that Boland has taken much time and care and skill in crafting his sound. It shows the incredible malleability of dub itself in that it can add such depth and beauty to almost any sound it touches. It broods, it grooves, it moves. Dub can nod your head, clear your mind and make you dance. With the help of Tony Moses, Capitol A, People Under The Stairs, Bamuthi, and Soulstice’s Gina Rene, J Boogie has masterminded quite an impressive debut that made the 5+-year wait well worth it. This is not an event to be missed. Like the Futurists before us, we should bow down and praise the art that emerges from the machine.

Om Records: http://www.om-records.com/


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