Customer Reviews

Dubtometry

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album is one of those rare remix projects that actually comes out better than the original (at least for my tastes). The abstract/free jazz aesthetic on the original 'Optometry' album was engaging, but not exactly my thing. This album is killer. Just look at the roster, Mad Prof., Scratch Perry, J-Live(sick track!), Karsh Kale, and I-sound just to name a few. Actually, I think the best remix comes from newcomer, Colorform, who records for DJ Spooky's Synchronic Records. His remix is perfect for chilling at home, but at the same time could rock the dance floor. Same could be said about the DJ Goo remixes. DJ Spooky has to be one of the most consistent artists working in today's industry.

This is garbage, abstract to the point of annoyance, get Necropolis instead. At least on Necropolis the meaningless noise is occasionally interupted by some massive beats. Odd for odd's sake.

I have been listening to music from this artist since the late 1997, and from Necropolis, to Riddum Warfare, to the Frieght Elevator Quartet, to The Blue series with Matthew Shipp, this artist has proven that he has few peers if any at what he does. And what DJ Spooky does is to create landscapes made from tones, ambience, and samples. Along with his own brand of turntablism DJ Spooky continues to do two important things; Elevate the state of hip-hop underground in general when everyone wants to be Fithty Cent or Trick Daddy; Help to keep the music out of the clutches of those who would do little more than glorifly the "thug life".
However, it is important to also say that we have ignored genius in this culture before, I hope that the fact that we still get releases from DJ Spooky is a sign that things will get better for those in the population who need to hear genius, unfeddered by corporate greed.

An ill-named, typically cluttered release from the experimental DJ either engrosses with blazing beats, samples and scratchings or drowns itself out in overreaching electro-ambition going nowhere.

DJ Spooky
Album: "Dubtometry"

DJ Spooky's album "Dubtometry" is an urban and very modernized rendition of his previous album, "Optometry". The album consists of 17 tracks, 14 of which are collaborations with other artists such as Mad Professor, DJ Goo, Twilight Circus and Karsh Kale, among many others. The music is very freelanced and has a very abstract element to it. As the songs progress, a real rhythm and musical element starts to develop whereas in the beginning it is more random sounds and beats. The sound is a lot like a club DJ and it sounds like a lot of disc scratching, repeating, and extra beating. This album also has a very interesting modern sound to it. There are some classical jazz sounds and textures, but mostly this is music that would be found in a club or on a dance floor. It is perfect for dancing and really feeling the beat. The dub element is very overwhelming at times and in a lot of songs, there was just too much going on. It became hard to really hear a distinct beat and a lot of the sounds seemed to interlude at random times, creating a very chaotic sound. There were a lot of computer-generated sounds, as well, and they mixed fairly well with the natural jazz sounds and old sounds from "Optometry". You can really hear the real dub masters like Mad Professor, and there is even a reggae sound to some of those tracks, too. Overall, my opinion on the album would be around and about a B-. Though I wasn't at all disappointed by the music, I felt that because of its chaotic nature, it became a little wild and sounded a little bit like a dropping the beat assignment I was assigned for class where I had to put random sounds into a beat. Don't get me wrong, DJ Spooky and the contributors to the album definitely did better than me, but I still feel like the word "messy" would be accurate for many of the tracks. The background talking in a lot of these tracks was, in my opinion, unnecessary and as a whole, just really overwhelming . I would be trying to really feel the beat and listen to the sound and just be sidetracked by the over the top "dub" of the tracks and I would find myself fast forwarding to when the talking stopped. On the other hand, I graded DJ Spooky above a C because the music was very urbanized and had a real attitude. All of these tracks were a good rendition of the previous ones, and though they changed dramatically in some ways, I could really feel the relation between the two. DJ Spooky and his collaborators on the album really did a nice job of making this really interesting and jumbled, and I think that that was a strength, as well. The music has its own mind, and its own originality, and that is something that is very unique to Dj Spooky and something that can't be replicated by other artists as well.