Listeners everywhere will look the latest Global Underground release from Dubfire several times over with a shrewd magnifying glass, looking for hints of similarity with Dubfire’s Deep Dish counterpart’s GU mix, Sharam’s Dubai. Such relentless scrutiny is in vain, however; Taipei releases into the Underground a dirty, relentless and brooding mélange of thickly-lain bass and dance-floor jarring beats which manage to generate the feeling of literally being underground. Dubfire, however, deftly provides precious breaths of fresh air with expertly mixed upbeat tempos riding distinctly along the slow, pedantically grooving basslines.
A potential caveat to the skeptic out there: Dubfire uses vocals; do not let this deter the purchase of this mix, or even a listen. The distinctive DJ makes use of vocals so sporadically that they almost seem not to exist, and for the most part being completely overridden by the music. And this actually poses a problem, because the vocal trance in this case is really enjoyable. Most of the vocals sound as if they were being chanted beneath the surface of water – sounds and reverberations which jive well in accordance with the deep bass. They add a fundamentally different edge to the mix; his relatively conservative use of drab, and complete absence of pop, lyrics distinguishes his style from Sharam’s. Placed side-by-side, Sharam’s Dubai and Dubfire’s Taipei are polar opposites, illustrating the duality that lies within the collective name “Deep Dish,” and I dare to remark that the difference between the two DJs has never been able to be fully appreciated until their solo mixes for Global Underground – Dubai and Taipei in particular – were released. If I were forced to, I would definitely tout Taipei as a superb mix of John Digweed’s GU: Hong Kong and Dubfire’s GU: Toronto. Initially sound incompatible? Give it a listen.
Conservative regarding “mass appeal”, Dubfire somehow manages to incorporate fairly commercial songs into the flow successfully and many of them plod along at a decisive pace, although the first mix is actually more quickly-paced than one would expect from a mix of such depth. In fact, the first mix is stylistically dark but remains entirely danceable. What’s surprising about it is its consistency: Disc one “goes somewhere” without really ever “going somewhere,” a remarkable feat I have seen few other DJs accomplish. The second mix starts off with a spooky and transcendental aura similar to that of Nick Warren’s Reykjavik mix. I think Dubfire meant to be so playfully deceptive; by the minute-and-a-half mark, the thickest, hardest beat rattles the organs exercises the heart with its intensity. Riding the second mix is an offroad journey of *deep* underground house; certainly more what one would expect from the second disc of any Global Underground release, but once the pace picks up at the two-minute mark, looking back is futile – you’re in for the long-run, which does not imply it will be unbearable. In fact, the second mix is one of the better “clubbier” GU albums released amongst the past thirteen or fourteen GU mixes. In a heartily-crafted nutshell, imagine a handful of Dubfire’s better tracks from his Toronto mix and expand upon that depth of sound and character. I did, and I discovered a (surprisingly) sophisticated dance album reflective of both dutiful insight and soulful abandonment.
- James Woodruff
