Loopy Fruit Recordings present

Dub Asylum - dub never sleeps cd ep

release date: 20 September 1999

Dub Asylum are pleased to present our debut ep dub never sleeps, eight tracks of dubbed out, funked up sonic lunacy. No NZ On Air funding, no Arts Council handouts, just 100% totally independent (no expense account though, so no free lunches on the company. Damn!). We got sick of waiting around for the five album mega deal combo from (insert major label here) to arrive in the letterbox, so we jumped in and did it ourselves!

This ep is a collection of tunes worked up over the last eighteen months or so by Dub Asylum main man Peter McLennan, following his departure from reggae-rap-thrash beat group Hallelujah Picassos. It includes several student radio faves (thanks, B Net people) like Jump Along, and the title track, heard here in two versions, cos it's twice as nice and that's how we like it, thanks.

A very talented bunch of collaborators add to the mix; Bobbylon (Hallelujah Picassos, Trip to the Moon, guest vocalist with Pitch Black, 3 the Hard Way), Paulette Edwards (Strawpeople, 2R2S), Joost Langveld (Trigger X, Subware), and Johnnie Pain (Picassos, Pain's People, Svelte).

It's a taster for where we're headed, namely where ever we feel like, thanks. Hip hop, dub, funk, latino, it's all ingredients for our wizz-bang musical blender. Sonic adventurers are we! Next, we start work on our debut album, provisionally titled DUB ASYLUM 2000 (due out early next year, surprise).
To get the ep, try Real Groovy Records, Crawlspace, Soulsonic or Beautiful Music in Auckland (NOTE EP is now sold out!)

Dub Never Sleeps EP; TRACK BY TRACK
Jump Along
We greet you in a friendly fashion (spot the 70's tv show character), then we hear the sweet tones of the Tui, followed closely by the sweet tones of Bobbylon (once described as the Clint Eastwood of New Zealand Reggae by Stinky Jim), who jumps in with Jump Along, a loping reggae beat that tickles your ears affectionately.

Night Of Chilly Blue
Title stolen from the Chills, cos it's one of my fave songs ever, and the guitar line has a similar feel, 'cept Martin Phillipps would never use wah wah and delay on a guitar at the same time. Just as well I'm not a purist, huh?

Dick Dale In Outer Space (Good Vibes mix)
Languid Hawaiian guitar mixes it up with trip hop beats, as you drift off into deep space, oh baby! A version of this was the first thing that was released as Dub Asylum - it came out (in an earlier mix) on LAVA Volume One, a free cd with the August 1998 issue of Lava Magazine. This mix also has the ringing tones of Johnnie Pain and his Vibes, a beautiful instrument that is downright sexy.

R U Ready?
A truly massive Latino cowbell extravaganza, with wah wah guitar, skiffle percussion, funky handclaps, the vibes of Pain, and Mister Bobbylon laying down some well fine vocal stylings. This one is a booty shaker, straight up. You try sitting still with this honey shimmying out of your speakers!

Where's Pablo?
No, not Pablo Picasso, we're talking Augustus Pablo, innovative Jamaican reggae producer and musician who popularised the melodica, a dinky little instrument that most people remember from school days. Sadly, Pablo passed away earlier this year. I'm kinda fond of the melodica, especially when I drag it out at gigs and people look at me strange, until they hear it drifting thru a sea of echo and reverb, like you were in a huge hall. This track is a banging little uptempo hip hop number, with dubbed out keyboards, melodica (natch!) and a bad ass bass line. Yummy.

Patience
A simple, latino pop tune, beautifully sung by Paulette Edwards, who featured on the first Strawpeople album. Do good things really come to those who wait? I don't know.

Dub never sleeps Part I & II
More melodica fun and games. Part II was playlisted on several student radio stations around the country, and here, we mix it up twice as nice, cos we're generous like that. Spooky hip hop dub, anyone?

G'Nite Evrybody (Donny & Marie mix)
We finish on a light hearted moment, bidding you farewell, til we meet again. The morepork cries, the world sleeps, it's all peaceful. Hey, who let that dj loose? Ha

....and remember kids, dub never sleeps.