German electronic producer & multi-instrumentalist F.S. Blumm has spent the last 14 years releasing a steady flow of solo material on labels including Morr Music and Staubgold, but this debut offering as Quasi Dub Development ‘Limousine To The Guillotine’ sees him strapping on a bass guitar and teaming up with Luca Fadda (modulated horn, pedals) and Alessandro Coronas (drums) for a collection of deep, downbeat tracks distinctly oriented towards classic roots dub. While tracks such as the lazily rolling ‘Cobalt Marmalade Pump’ draw heavily from the likes of King Tubby and Augustus Pablo as ghostly melodicas trail against dubbed-out beats and wheezing live bass runs, there’s a curiously intangible European jazz feel to be found in the sudden squawks of effected trumpet, which curiously recall Kid Koala’s ‘Drunk Trumpet’ turntablist spinbacks more closely than anything else.
Elsewhere, ‘Loose Leash’ swaggers with a deep, smoky Arkestra vibe as eerie effected trumpet calls get pushed through walls of reverb against a skipping backdrop of off-beat snares and fat, wobbling tuba swells, while ‘Guts And Flowers’ sees more of a rockers’ vibe crawling into proceedings as a vaguely motorik-tinged rigid drum groove clatters away against rich muted trumpet solos and deep, skank-infused bass runs. If there’s one criticism to be made here, it’s that the trio’s fusion of deep, downbeat jazz-dub proves to be so meandering and lulling that it threatens to blur into pleasant background listening at points. Thankfully, the above factor is nicely countered by the additional remixes from Guido Mobius, Jason Forrest, Tied & Tickled Trio, Thomas Knak and Kim Hiorthoy, which see QDD’s original constructions being pushed in all manner of extrovert, beat-driven directions.
Chris Downton
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