Salmonella Dub - Heal Me
I first encountered Salmonella Dub sometime in the early 90's. I think it was at the third Entrain party, the details are hazy but my recollection is of live electro acoustic dub that felt very relevant, to mooching in a field in the summer sun. Right from the get-go it was obvious that they had a unique take on the whole making music thing. Nine albums, four EPs, numerous world tours and countless gigs later they've released Heal Me. It's undeniably Salmonella Dub, full of great dance sensiility, with a filigree of horns and a strumming of guitars, and some twisted male vocals. You'd recognise it as Sal Dub but it's also a new take on their sound.
So what can you expect from this new work of art from the Kaikoura based dubmeisters? Much of the release still draws strongly from the reggae soul of dub, certainly the first three tracks are classic dub-floor numbers. The following three tracks which includes the title track 'Heal Me' are a step in a club breaks direction, dub resurfaces on track 7 'Gifts' and slides away as drum n bass breaks take over on 'That Easy'. The album is rounded out with another three deep dub numbers.
Placed in a continuum over their recording history you can track the changes in Salmonella Dub's sound, from a unassuming down home rootsy reggae, through dubby drum n bass and into this new uncharted territory. Produced by David Harrow of Technova and James Hardway fame, 'heal me' has bought out a different sound from Salmonella Dub's past, and that was kind of inevitable now that Tiki Tane has veered of into his solo career. The mercurial quality which first allowed them to grab my attention as the night slipped sideways is still obviously there; 'heal me' is another great album from Salmonella Dub and well worth a listen.
Jamie Larnach
