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12"
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DDS 026EP
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Mark Ernestus dubs Equiknoxx to the moon and back for DDS with an irresistibly percolated take on "Congo Get Slap" backed with a jaw-dropping, Basic Channel-style version of "Flagged Up." Like Shackleton's dub of "The Stomper" by Cutty Ranks for DDS, the results here triangulate deep-rooted connections between Jamaica, Lancashire, and Berlin, speaking to a mutual respect and reverence of style and pattern which has heavily resonated from sub-tropical Kingston into much colder, European climes over successive generations.
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2LP
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DDS 027LP
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2018 repress. Colón Man is the debut album proper by visionary Jamaican dancehall artists Gavin Blair (Gavsborg) and Jordan Chung (Time Cow) plus their extended crew, aka Equiknoxx -- once again for Demdike Stare's label. Where their widely acclaimed Bird Sound Power (DDS 020CD/LP) primer compilation, issued on DDS in 2016, brought the rest of the world up to speed with the music produced between late '00s and 2015, their first album now brings a 2020 sound into sharp, technoid focus through a baker's dozen steely, heat-seeking riddims galvanized with clinical electronics and a Midas Touch approach to sampling. The record's title, Cólon Man refers to a Jamaican tale (and song) about a mysterious character, whom, like Marcus Garvey, was one of over 100,000 Jamaicans who returned from working in Cólon on completion of the Panama Canal. In context of the album, Gavsborg and Timecow take the story as a metaphorical foundational for a roots and future sound, acknowledging the vital groundwork of previous generations of producers, whilst soundly contextualizing their mutant new advancements of Jamaican dancehall. Recorded between December 2016 and June 2017, the results of Colón Man form a stark, stripped down and conceptually blinding record. In tone and texture, the duo favor far colder, more abstract sounds, crucially lit up with sparingly used samples that lend the record its dissonant, harmonic color and bittersweet hooks, stylishly feeding forward their playfully weird sense of humor into a rugged, nutty, and even noisily imagineered set. Bookended by the gauzy, Detroit-compatible synth looks and acid hall grind of "Kareece Put Some Some Thread In A Zip Lock", and the mesh of Motor City sleekness with Far Eastern strings on "Waterfalls In Ocho Rios", they distill and diversify their bonds in myriad ways across the album. There's a killer dancehall/trap hybrid in the percolate chorales and man trills of "Plantain Porridge", along with the secretive dub-into-dancehall transfusion of Addis Pablo's melodica in the belly rolling "Melodica Badness", while "Ceremonial Eating Dog" and the hyaline designs of "We Miss You Little Joe" -- a tribute to their pal Alty Nunes -- are arguably the most forward Jamaican riddims you'll hear in 2017, and "Enter A Raffle... Win A Falafel" uncannily recalls the clockwork mechanics of Haruomi Hosono's "Alternative 3", from his S-F-X LP (1984). Curated by Jon K and Demdike Stare. RIYL: Lenky, Haruomi Hosono, Errorsmith. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy.
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CD
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DDS 020CD
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Equiknoxx is one of the hottest, most innovative dancehall squads from Jamaica. Bird Sound Power is their debut collective show of strength, packing twelve avant, crooked riddims by core members Gavsborg and Time Cow, plus Bobby Blackbird and Kofi Knoxx, with vocals by Kemikal, Shanique Marie and J.O.E. (R.I.P). The set was parsed and pieced together by Jon K & Demdike Stare, and now thanks to link ups via Swing Ting's Balraj Samrai, it is issued on Demdike's DDS imprint, replete with Jon K's sleeve design. Easily identified by the squawking bird idents peppering their cuts, Equiknoxx productions have been big in the dance since Gavin Blair, aka Gavsborg, produced Busy Signal's billboard hit "Step Out" in 2005, followed by key instrumentals for Beenie Man, Aidonia, Masicka and T.O.K. - with many released on 7" through their Equiknoxx Musiq label, and some of which, such as Aidonia's "Negative", are included in this set. Bird Sound Power arguably marks up the most striking riddim album from Jamaica in 2016, weighted with the potential to open up perceptions of current dancehall thanks to the mad character and broad reference points of its producers, encompassing King Jammy's foundational digi-dub and Dave Kelly's Mad House sound as much as rugged New York hip-hop and the wigged-out, feminine pressure of Virginia Beach's Timbaland or The Neptunes. The oldest tune inside dates to 2009, but the rest are relatively recent dancehall mutations, including a number of exclusives produced in the last 12 months. Each one represents Equiknoxx's unique aspects, such as Jordan Chung's, aka Time Cow, brilliantly bizarre, layered arrangements of film samples, sawn-off hooks and digi-tight beats, whilst also a result of as their distinguished family vibe, Bird Sound Power exists in a paradox, contemporary but classic, and with as much potential to turn new heads onto current Jamaican sounds as Mowax's Now Thing set back in 2001. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton. All on vinyl for the first time ever. One of 2016's most acclaimed albums available on CD for the first time. Comes in a deluxe digipak with obi strip. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton.
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2LP
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DDS 020LP
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2018 repress. Equiknoxx is one of the hottest, most innovative dancehall squads from Jamaica. Bird Sound Power is their debut collective show of strength, packing twelve avant, crooked riddims by core members Gavsborg and Time Cow, plus Bobby Blackbird and Kofi Knoxx, with vocals by Kemikal, Shanique Marie and J.O.E. (R.I.P). The set was parsed and pieced together by Jon K & Demdike Stare, and now thanks to link ups via Swing Ting's Balraj Samrai, it is issued on Demdike's DDS imprint, replete with Jon K's sleeve design. Easily identified by the squawking bird idents peppering their cuts, Equiknoxx productions have been big in the dance since Gavin Blair, aka Gavsborg, produced Busy Signal's billboard hit "Step Out" in 2005, followed by key instrumentals for Beenie Man, Aidonia, Masicka and T.O.K. - with many released on 7" through their Equiknoxx Musiq label, and some of which, such as Aidonia's "Negative", are included in this set. Bird Sound Power arguably marks up the most striking riddim album from Jamaica in 2016, weighted with the potential to open up perceptions of current dancehall thanks to the mad character and broad reference points of its producers, encompassing King Jammy's foundational digi-dub and Dave Kelly's Mad House sound as much as rugged New York hip-hop and the wigged-out, feminine pressure of Virginia Beach's Timbaland or The Neptunes. The oldest tune inside dates to 2009, but the rest are relatively recent dancehall mutations, including a number of exclusives produced in the last 12 months. Each one represents Equiknoxx's unique aspects, such as Jordan Chung's, aka Time Cow, brilliantly bizarre, layered arrangements of film samples, sawn-off hooks and digi-tight beats, whilst also a result of as their distinguished family vibe, Bird Sound Power exists in a paradox, contemporary but classic, and with as much potential to turn new heads onto current Jamaican sounds as Mowax's Now Thing set back in 2001. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton. All on vinyl for the first time ever.
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