I must admit, I was a little perturbed the first time I listened to “Modus Vivendiâ€, the fourth album for French outfit Zenzile. On first spin, I was thinking “oh-oh, here we go, another dub album made by Europeans” that I guess I overdosed on in the mid 90′. However, some things just take a little time, and I now realise that listening to this on the train to work with a dozen other things running through my head probably wasn’ giving this cd the attention it deserved. It wasn’ until Friday night at the pub when I dropped it over the sound system, did I realise that it was a strong, well produced piece of work with a steady dynamic and enough twists and turns to keep it interesting.
Zenzile are essentially a rock outfit playing dub, who seem as equally influenced by the production styles of a group such as Massive Attack, as they are by any of the authentic Jamaican reggae masters. There is a purveying darkness which runs through this recording which gives it it’s strength. The hallmarks of traditional dub instrumentation are here – melodica, clav, and of course the ever present bassline. However, the introduction of strings on the track “Eolian Bluesâ€, coupled with the accordion, give it a very Parisian vibe, and we also find flutes, distorted guitars (referencing On-U-Sound productions) and other sounds appearing throughout that give Zenzile an identity of their own. Of the vocal tracks included on the album, only “War Still A Run†really hits the mark, the instrumental numbers are the real stars, as some of the lyrics elsewhere are slightly irritating. There are many, many other dub releases the novice (and also the fanatic) should hear before this one, but overall, not a bad album by this French five piece band.
