RISE AND STEP
We are very happy to share with you our new song!!
Rise and Step, the latest release from Dub Tropico, is definitely NOT your average Steppers or Dub track! It’s the call of a magical piper summoning a mass skank on the dancefloor, with everyone moving as one. Featuring the rather unusual instrument known as the Accordina (a cross between the sound of an accordion and the playability of a melodica, in the spirit of Augustus Pablo), played by French musician Graysokker, who has been tearing across Europe with his huge electronic accordion performances and arsenal of effects pedals!
Then, to spice things up even further, we have Germany’s Stephan Maass, renowned for surrounding himself with a room full of percussion instruments, some of which you’ve probably never seen before! He uses everything from palm leaves and plastic hoses to Brazilian and African percussion instruments to create fresh sounds and atmospheres that make this track truly pop.
We also have Brazilian musician Gabriel Ruy, adding the bassline and a little surprise blues guitar solo at the end. Everything was mixed at 39d Studios in Rio de Janeiro by the incomparable Juan O Mago, and finally mastered by Precise Mastering for a flawless sound.
Rise and Step was made for the soundsystem vibe, in true Steppers style, but with some genuine surprises, real instruments, and an ultra-low-frequency bassline.
ONE TIME
We are very happy to share with you our new song!!
One Time is an upbeat and conscious reggae track based on unity, one people, one blood, one flag.
Featuring sweet Brazilian vocals from singer Madha and an infectious reggae riddim from Dub Tropico, this is a summer track, made in Brazil but made for good vibes wherever you are when you listen to it.
It’s a very different departure from the last Dub Tropico track (Hi Noon dub), a dark, more electronic dub that received a lot of critical acclaim. This time around, we wanted to make a nice summer vocal track, but still designed with an incredible bass for your car or the biggest sound system at a festival.
One Time has only been played at events by Dub Tropico as an exclusive dubplate so far!
HIGH NOON DUB
I’ve been living in Africa and Brazil but I wanted to make dub that was closer to my London and Bristol influences. Bristol in particular was a place where atmospheric music came from. When I was there you had Smith and Mighty, Massive Attack, Tricky etc and going further back to the Wild Bunch. And now you have the newer generation there, Dubkasm, Sufferah’s Choice records and UVB-76 drum and bass records. Bristol gets a lot of respect for its vibe and originality for music in the UK.
DJs from a lot of reggae from the 70s, including studio one to heavy roots, dub and some early dancehall. We have a lot of connection to rasta music, but we're not rastas, so I wanted to do something different from what we play, but with that dub energy and closer to our reality. High Noon dub is a confrontational dub, dark, atmospheric and heavy, that pushes its frequencies to the limit. It's made to play on big sound systems. There's a heartbeat right at the end, it's the heartbeat of the soundboy on the other side of this dub. It slows down. It's hidden. We deliberately recorded at a frequency that only comes through clearly if you listen to it on a big sound system, because that's when it's most relevant, when we want to level everything out.
We have already begun the process of creating sound waves. Much love and respect to all who have left their mark and contributed to the art of this plane. When something meaningful emanates from its source, its echo can continue endlessly for all eternity.
