Survival & Resistance

Album review

While Adrian Sherwood's name is nearly synonymous with dub, and his methodology informs and even governs everything he does, none of the records under his own name bear his signature like Survival & Resistance does. By its title, one might (rightfully) assume this is another of the producer and mixologist's outwardly angry noise orgies, full of blasted bass distortion, enormous beats, and squalling guitars with his own persona buried in the backdrop. Not so. Survival & Resistance is a murky album; Sherwood's character is upfront not only guiding the proceedings from the mixing desk, but conducting them. This is mostly is low-ebb dub, full of implied menace and tension. It's nocturnal, suggestive, and spacey; it's the shadowy spirit of rebellion. George Oban's bass bubbles right atop the mix throughout; the driving force that everything here is built upon. His sense of time, nuance, and authority is key to Sherwood's creativity, which is vital as ever. Other collaborators include familiar faces -- Crocodile, Skip McDonald, and Crucial Tony are all present. As always, mixology co-exists with dynamite studio playing. "Balance" winds the circuit boards to near warp as the reggae counters in noirish ballad mode. The truly sinister "Trapped Here," with vocals by Ghetto Priest, names the beast of Babylon with quiet certainty as McDonald's keyboards, ominous samples, and Crocodile's tune sequencers point at the dark heart of the singer's ire. The paranoid transmission "U.R. Sound" features the disembodied voice of Timothy Leary over the top of deep, dread dub. The Brazilian-tinged "Starship Bahia," with its slipping channels, layers of percussion, and polyrhythms moves alongside stretched-out keyboard lines, muted, low-string guitars, and washes of echo and bass. "Effective" juxtaposes old-school dub with 21st century effects and still sounds organic. "Bossa 2" contains everything from berimbau and hand drums to reverberating snares and squalling oscillators slipping in and out of guitar, flute, and whistle sounds. It's a sonic place where the rural is in conflict with the urban and the end result contains both in uneasy balance. "Two Semitones and a Raver" is where Sherwood's big-beat rage comes out swinging, but its chaos is controlled by the bassline, a focus point where anger gets channeled creatively. "We Flick the Switch," with vocals by Lilli, underscores dub as a vehicle for feminine resistance. Sherwood is as vital, cagey, and creative as ever on Survival & Resistance, using tried and true methods to experiment with and subvert the digital status quo.

© Thom Jurek /TiVo