V/A feat. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion / Boss Hog – Select: Selector Dub Narcotic [Review] / Bust [Feature] (PRESS, UK)

Mixed bag of tracks that’s been recorded by friends of Dub Narcotic including Beck and Jon Spencer – at their own studio in Washington State.

Calvin Johnsons mutation from shambolic indie loser to king of lo-fi funk was plausible not due to the flirtation with sound-system imagery or even because people like The Chemical Brothers began playing his Dub Narcotic records. It was because although the music consisted of people screaming and banging dustbin lids, it was resolutely funky.

Now he’s trying to turn his K records into a Studio One for professional under-achievers. This collection of mewling Yank teen angst, eccentric folk rock and lo-fidelity grooves is drawn from five years’ worth of recording sessions at Dub Narcotic’s Washington State studio. The new and good, like KG’s ‘Love Is’ nestles next to the plain rubbish, like Nikki McLure’s ‘Procreate’, while the turns by Johnson’s more famous pals are just as variable. The Make-Up’s ‘Someone Else’s World’ is charming but Beck is just arsing about on ‘Close To God’. At least Jon Spencer, whose ‘Blues Explosion Attack’ is a rocking call to arms, mucks around in style. Which is what Selector Dub Narcotic is all about.
***
Gareth Grundy”