Power Salad

Parma Panorama

Paint A Picture

In the heyday of Dubstep taking over America, Zeb decided to make his own version of steppers dub & wobbly bass that had more Soul, Dub & World influence rather than edgy techy vibes. Here you have the missing tapes of "ZEBSTEP" by ZEB aka The Spy from Cairo who has had over 5 studio albums to date as well as remixes for hundreds of artists including Bob Marley, Billy Holiday, Tosca, Nickodemus & Quantic, Mr Scruff, Bet.E & Stef, See-I & many more. 

File under: dub, dubstep, world

Rude Boy Style

Salmonella Dub - Tui Dub

Drop East album. This pic is of our Survivor Mani Penman drifting on the Abel Tasman ;-)

One Drop East

Dub Survivor

02 What Can I Do

Merry Gentlemen

05 Noiseshaper - The Only Redeemer

Pitch Black return with their fourth and possibly their best album so far. “Rude Mechanicals” embraces all that is good about dance music and electronica, spiced up by the trademark Pitch Black blend of echoes, delays and deep, fat basslines.

The band have always been avowed fans of music in general (as opposed to any one style in particular), and it certainly shows here: the album kicks off with the lush “South of the Line” before dubbing it up, year 3000 style, with “1000 Mile Drift”. “Sonic Colonic” kicks the tempo up a gear as the only real four-to-the-floor stomper on the album. “Bird Soul” reminds one that Paddy Free spent years producing Salmonella Dub, as it takes their guitar driven drum and bass style and wraps it in an ambient dub envelope.

“Harmonia” is an exquisite piece of electronica, reminiscent of Speedy J or Black Dog. It is followed by “Rude Mechanicals”, which marks a departure from the norm for the boys, featuring rapper KP from the infamous Sunshine Soundsystem, who waxes lyrical about the destruction being wrought on the planet by our environmental ignorance and general greed. “Fragile Ladders” provides some much needed breathing space before “Please Leave Quietly” destroys what is left of the bass speakers”!

Rude Mechanicals is a genre busting excursion in sound, heaving with warm basslines and complex rhythm’s, topped up by haunting melodies and, for a change, cutting social commentary. To adapt a previous quote about them, this album is like “Underworld meets King Tubby”, in all the best ways possible…………………………………..

Buy the Album

Pitch Black - South Of The Line (preview)

Pitch Black - Transient Transmission (Deep Fried Dub Remix) (preview)

Fly High

Fly High (feat. Hindi Zahra)

Pitch Black are Michael Hodgson and Paddy Free. Having pumped their way through New Zealand’s electronic music scene since their inaugural performance at the annual Gathering New Year's eve festival in 1996, they have spent the subsequent years rousing dance floor punters, generating rave reviews, winning awards and gaining thousands of fans across the world. 

Hard to box into a single audio 'genre', Pitch Black is a combination of musical journeys. Their sound is distinctive; ranging from organic ambient beginnings and layered soundscapes to skanking keyboards, cutting acid riffs and thumping rhythmic grooves, with dub being the glue that holds their sound together. One critic has described them as like "Orbital meets King Tubby, or Rhythm and Sound in Technicolor". 

It is their live show that really makes Pitch Black stand out from the rest of the crowd, both sonically and visually. Their tracks take on an added dynamism and their performances reveal the dialectic behind the band - Paddy wants to do it for the crowd, Michael wants to do it to the crowd. Visually they are in another dimension thanks to Michael's cutting edge visuals.

They have toured the world relentlessly, playing everywhere from Amsterdam to Zagreb and the streets of Las Vegas to the Australian outback, supporting acts such as Coldcut, Skream, Easy Dub All Stars and System 7 along the way.

NZ Bookings: h (at) strikeagency.co.nz
RoW Bookings: info (at) dubmissionrecords.com

Pitch Black - Transient Transmission (Deep Fried Dub Remix) (preview)

Pitch Black (NZ)

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