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DJ /rupture (aka Jace Clayton) is arguable best known for the ‘Little More Oil’ 12” on Soul Jazz Records (as included on BiggaBush’s Sound Sensation compilation) but on Solar Life Raft he teams up with Matt Shadetek to give us the best part of an hour of a mix CD of reggae, dub, dubstep, dancehall with a touch of ambient duttyness.

It’s for serious dubheads and reggae fans that are looking for something a bit different with an experimental edge (like their remix of Gang Gang Dance following on from Jahdan Blakkamoore’s soulful reggae), this is as good as it gets.

The Gang Gang Dance connection came about as this is a project that saved the air miles as it was all based around the streets of Brooklyn (along with Telepathe and Blakkamoore as core components). It’s a strange mix as something as ambient as ‘Urusulanuni’ that goes into the deep bass dub of ‘The Bad Dance’ and then the dubstep wobble of ‘Get On Up’.

We know we can have “psychedelic cosmic love from California”, but to get it that vibe in New York they’ve enlisted multi-linguist poet Caroline Bergvall (with a very clever track called ‘More Pets’) that morphs into dupstep stutter from the streets from Noah & Roommate. But the whole album is full of surprises, like the veteran acoustic ecologist ldegard Westerkamp and the leftflied poetry of Nico Muhly.

The two tracks by the duo of DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek are not mere ‘connectors’, ‘Underwater High Rise’ is a fantastic water treatment dub that’s almost orchestrated dubstep; as is ‘4th Story Waterline’ (think Arthur Russell does dub); we could do with a whole album of their matterial alone if this is anything to go by.

Whilst Clayton spent most of the ‘00’s living in Barcelona, he’s released a number of critically acclaimed mix CDs, DJ’d in over 30 countries, worked on film soundtrack projects and hosts a weekly radio show on WFMU (respect to Mr. Finewine and Doug Schulkind).

New Yorker Shadetek is one of a few producers from the U.S. to record for Warp Records and he’s currently the toast of Brooklyn’s dancehalls at the moment with heavyweight DJs like Diplo, Skerrit Bwoy, and Green Lantern.

This album reminds me of what Joris Voorn did on Balance 014 and I’m just as impressed with Solar Life Raft. For those that want to dig into the roots of this, there’s a digital only Solar Life Raft: The Ingredients release coming soon being the original unmixed versions but the mix album is a must; the CD equivalent of mixing some of the review pages of The Wire together.

Reviewed: DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek - Solar Life Raft (The Agriculture) Cat. No. AG049 Release date: 9th November 2009
Tracklisting:
1a Timeblind - Space Cadet
1b Matt Shadetek - Strength In Numbers
2 Jahdan Blakkamoore - For The Souls
3a Gang Gang Dance - Bebey (DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek Remix)
3b Cauto - Despertar
4 Paavoharju - Ursulan Uni
5a Stagga - The Bad Dance
5b Babylon System - Get On Up
6 Cardopusher - Green Disorder
7 DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek - Underwater High Rise
8 Various Production - Buds (Remix)
9a Timeblind - Coltan & Cassiterite
9b Matt Shadetek - Nightshade
10 Caroline Bergvall - More Pets
11 Noah D & Roommate - Street Sound
12a Matt Shadetek - Shield Dub
12b Hildegard Westerkamp - Breathing Room
13 Nico Muhly - Mothertongue: Pt. 1
14 Mizz Beats - Blue Night
15 Pulshar - Mr. Money Man
16 Shackleton - In The Void (DJ /rupture Remix)
17 DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek - 4th Story Waterline
18 Luc Ferrari - Archives Génétiquement Modifées Part 2
19 Jahdan Blakkamoore - Long Road (LionDub & Matt Shadetek Remix)
20a Matty G - Layin’ In Bed
20b DJ /rupture - Overture: Watermelon City featuring Elizabeth Alexander
20c Lloop - Autumn Rains Until Those Of Spring
21 DJ /rupture - El Verdugo
22 Telepathe - In Your Line (DJ /Rupture & Matt Shadetek Remix)

Links:
myspace.comdeejayrupture
myspace.com/mattshadetek
theagriculture.com
www.wfmu.org
www.soundsoftheuniverse.com
www.thewire.co.uk
16th November: A Tribute To Arthur Russell hosted by Electric Minds/Lovebox with Killer Whale (live), Faze Action (DJ Set) & more @ Pure Groove, 6 West Smithfield, London EC1A 9JX www.puregroove.co.uk