Sunshine Music For Smiling People - Kukan dUb Lagan - Review

It takes a singular vision to avoid the temptation of following the crowd. To blaze your own path in your own style is a pursuit we can respect in any artist. It's something that has always attracted me to the music of Kukan Dub Lagan a.k.a Itay Berger.

Itay has been creating his own take on dub music for the past 10 years. It's a journey that sees him mix up traditional old school dub with more modern psychedelic sounds. Nothing new there I hear you cry. And you are right - there is an entire ocean of it around to be sure. 

However there is something just that little bit peculiar, the little bit extra in his music that really catches my attention with each new album. 

It's like a peanut butter sandwich with lettuce added. You know the lettuce shouldn't be there but wha'dayaknow -  it works ! And so news of a new long player on the horizon was gleefully received by yours truly . 

Titled "Sunshine Music For Smiling People" it is presented with engaging cover art by Ronit Rozensal devoid of your typical dub cliches and sports 10 fresh new takes on the psychedelic ambient dub genre. The album contain a variety of styles from pure ambient dub to more experimental stuff and others approaching BuddhBar like chillout. With mastering by none other than Ultimae Records head honcho Vincent Villuis ( Aes Dana ) you can be guaranteed of top notch sound quality too.
 
Each track has its own personality and they sit nicely together like a group of old friends retelling tales of their past adventures since they all last met. Most of the songs have a warm, light vibe to them and the album leaves you feeling positive which is refreshing in these days of broken beat dark basslines and menacing  glitch hop sub-woofer shakers masquerading as soul enlightening, pineal awaking audio enemas. 

So I'm giving this sweet little album two big thumbs up. There are no big hits here. But there is plenty of quality and enough variety to keep you interested throughout. My personal favorites include tracks Akulaba, Cats In The Valley and We Are One. 

This album is a  nice Christmas treat for you and yours. Congratulation to Itay on a terrific release and here is hoping the journey exploring the other realms of dub music continues for many years to come.

"Sunshine Music For Smiling People" is available now for Pre-Order from Bandcamp in both digital and signed CD format. Full release for digital format is set for December 24 while you get the CD early Feb 2015.

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