Dub Be Good To Me

In the fall of 2013 AB focuses on a new reggae sub-genre and its influence worldwide: dub. Just call it: the instrumental version of reggae. Dub came into being in 1968 – and so it's exactly 45 years old this year – thanks to the error (!) of one man: Osbourne Ruddock aka King Tubby. During the completion of a master tape, he accidentally forgot to mix the vocals into the whole. Dub (and versions aka instrumentals) was born. To honour this symbolic date, AB launches the series Dub Be Good To Me to provide an answer to the question: how (relevant) does dub sound in the year 2013?

Noisia & Foreign Beggars present 'I Am Legion'

It caused merciless landslide on planet EDM (electronic dance music), that's how you could describe the new ‘I Am Legion’ project of dubstep/drum’n’bass/breakbeat kaisers Noisia and half (MCs Metropolis and Orifice Vulgatron) of the rap/grime collective Foreign Beggars. The fruit of previous collaborations tasted and sounded so unbelievably sweet (check out ‘Contact’ and ‘Shellshock’ below) that it seemed pretty logical to set the step in the direction of this supergroup.

Noisia has been pretty busy in recent years, producing beats for all sorts of hip-hop projects (Kraantje Pappie, Dope D.O.D) and remixing artists like Skrillex, deadmau5 and The Prodigy, whereas Foreign Beggars released their sixth album ‘The Uprising’ upon us in late 2012, with beats from the likes of Knife Party (ex-Pendulum). You see, both parties have already earned a whole heap of stripes on each other's ‘territory’ so they're sure to make an impression with joined forces.

The self-titled debut is available as of 02.09.13 and you can listen to the whole thing at http://iamlegion.co.uk/. Be sure to check out the fantastic video for second single ‘Choosing For You’ too, masterfully created by French director Tony Truand, known from Skrillex’ First Of The Year (Equinox) video that yielded him a Grammy nomination. He also translated the previous collaborations of Noisia and Foreign Beggars, ‘Contact’ & ‘Shellshock’, into moving images.

Noisia was as searingly driven as ever in the Dancehall at Pukkelpop ’13 and did indeed blow a juicy beat from their I Am Legion project through the speakers every now and then. Unfortunately, Foreign Beggars were forced to be absent so your second chance is on 18 October! It says “Don’t sleep” at the end of the official ‘I Am Legion’ press release, but how on earth can you waste time sleeping when you get all this tasty stuff served up?

Samiyam

Samiyam, the alter ego of Californian Sam Baker, can chase temperatures sky-high with the impressive hip-hop beats that he bundled on his official debut ‘Sam Baker’s Album’ and sent out into the wide world via Brainfeeder, the label of Flying Lotus. Aside from own work, this gentleman also throws beats around zealously on albums by Earl Sweatshirt, The Gaslamp Killer and label-boss Flying Lotus.

Dj Nonames

Dj Nonames, who also keeps the records spinning for Foreign Beggars, may open the debates! The man doesn't discriminate either, as he fires hip-hop, trap, drum‘n’bass as well as grime into the ether. Party!