Kukan Dub Lagan - Life Is Nice FLAC album

Candyflip Records in Greece is out with a new album, this time going a relaxed direction. Here we get the debut album by an artist called Kukan Dub Lagan, which is Itay Berger based in Tel Aviv, Israel. This guy has been djing quite a lot around the world, but it seems like he has slowed down a little to make this chill out album. Very positive album title, and I’m sure some of these tracks will make you happy too.

The first track leads us right into a beautiful, floating, atmospheric vibe. We also get a quite happy melody and relaxing, dubby sounds and beats. Chilled psychedelic dub. A nice floating start on the album. Track 2 goes deeper into the dub soundscapes, but keeps a light vibe, with beautiful melodies and sounds. This one sounds more like reggae dub, with reggae inspired voice samples, sounds etc. Track 3 goes back to a more floating vibe again. The sounds we get in these tracks are really beautiful. Here we also get a playful bass, mystic voice samples and some kicking, slow, beats. Track 4 continues the reggae inspired dub. Echoing sounds and voice samples done in a psychedelic way. You also get some smoked out dubby beats and a happy, weird vibe through the entire track. One of my favourite tracks on this album. Track 5 starts in a bit funny way, with some sounds that reminds me of the speakers at an airport or something. Then some heavy, dubby beats start working through the track, going in a very pleasant tempo to the end.

Track 6 starts with an even weirder sound and heavier beats. Here we get more reggae influences too, and the beat goes over to an almost danceable down tempo rhythm. In my ears, this track is a bit over the top when it comes to reggae influences and I find the melody in this one a bit simple and nagging. Track 7 has a bit weird start too and sounds a bit like when I played on my Casio keyboard as a child. But, he adds some bass, a down tempo beat and more playful sounds, so the track actually becomes quite enjoyable. Not among my favourites on this album. Track 8 has some really cool, fat beats that remind me a bit of the big beat genre, but this one goes a more dubby direction. You get a tired reggae voice sample in this one too. Another favourite on this album. Dub that make you happy and relaxed. Track 9 goes a bit more experimental. A bit weirder sound picture with a more psychedelic vibe and quite a lot of variation. Track 10 has a bit more dramatic sound, with a relaxed down tempo beat, a floating background and several mystic voice samples etc. The last track on this album goes much more melancholic. Very beautiful sound picture, with great variation of sounds and melodies and totally relaxed down tempo beats. Definitely the best track on this album in my opinion.

Kukan Dub Lagan might be a very strange name you have never heard of before, but you should definitely check it out if you want to hear something different. You get a quite unusual style in this album, with mostly dubby tracks going a different direction than most other dub being released around the world.

Chaotic space dub!

Kukan Dub Lagan is 28 year old Itay Berger from Israel, and this is his debut album released by Greek label Candyflip Records. This is not your ordinary bunch of psy-trance/psy-chill… No, this is something different… This is psy-dub!

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: “How long have you been writing electronica? Ten years! They call it a decade, call it a decade…” This title-track immediately teleports the listener deep into the dub-jungle where all worries are put aside and life is nice… It’s lazy afternoon dub with digital birds, rippling percussion, flute, children’s choir, floating melodies and a very uplifting atmosphere all together… Yeah, life is nice!

#02: As the title suggests, this track digs deeper into the more saikodelic side of dub… Heavier and more hectic – as heavy and hectic as leftfield dub can be… Sounds like Itay is playing around with an old school organ and some severely cut-up beats here, though he somehow manages to maintain a joyous vibe throughout the track…

#03: Very nice intro on the PF-tribute track here… Organic, eerie and slowly building towards something big… UFO-samples alongside a deeeeeep, dubby bassline… This is very, very soothing music… Very well-produced… Reminds me of Shulman and Asura at times… Brilliant track!

#04: Ahh… Another über-cool intro with heavily cut-up voice-samples echoing into oblivion arpeggio-style… Single note synth-action accompanied by lazy percussion, a deep steady bass, guitar and all kinds of percussion, glass-bottle tapping, etc… This track really encapsulated the Kukan Dub Legan sound – and what an impressive sound that is…

#05: The Mahatma Dub Session vol. 1: Advanced Fusion. Heavily reverbed synths lines with ska-elements, reggae vibe, deep groovy bassline and the trusted drop of dub as the common denominator… This is musical tapas! Feast your ears on this!

#06: And this is very it gets really weird… I think Itay raided the waste bin of a Kingston studio cutting room… But hey, I guess we’re just not used to a raggamuffin MC all of a sudden dropping lyrics in the middle of a psy-dub album… Interesting track, but not really my fav’e blunt on this album…

#07: Echoing naïve, one-key synthlines makes out the very long, slightly annoying intro… It gets better when yet another phat bassline and voice-effects are added later on… It gets even better when a faster kick is introduced and the track turns out pretty ok… Not outstanding, but nice nevertheless!

#08: Woow – that is one deep bass! Yikes! Steady, controlled pace and very focussed… More FX are added, among them another reggae-emcee and some filtered steeldrum action… Again more Kukan analogue synths opposite little twirling melodies to balance out the deep bassline… A winning combination and guaranteed to leave a big cracking smile on most faces!

#09: The intro uses a sample similar to the Independence Day quote in IM’s ‘Release Me’ … Quite scary actually… Anywho – this is among the most psychedelic tracks on the album… And I really like the gloomy atmosphere put forward by Itay here… Stellar track!

#10: Another dub-tune focussed on the slightly darker side of things… It’s a clash of organic and synthetic sounds… I like the long character-building pads and the haunting mood this track delivers… Tasty!

#11: And I’ll be damned if Itay doesn’t go all Vanessa Williams on us and saves the best for last… Again a glum atmosphere has totally soaked this track – but when it’s done this good no-one is complaining… This is full-scale dubby ambient which just scratches you right were it itches! Life is nice!

As stated above, this is not your ordinary bunch of psy-trance… Very far from it actually! But don’t let that discourage you – it’s a very nice album indeed and a great way to expand your musical horizons. It has enough experimentation to appeal to the leftfield crowd – and enough psychedelia to satisfy the twisted downbeat crowd. In other words: this is for open-minded fans of leftfield ambient and cross-over psy-chill dub – and everything in between! Another fine Candyflip release by a visionary label which has the balls to steer of the beaten psy-path! Recommended!

Favourites: 1, 3, 4, 5, 8(!), 9(!), 10, 11(!)