Artist: Chab
Title: Dubs, Edits & Whiskey-Coke
Label: SAW Recordings
By: Chad Harnish | 4 April 2005
Tracklist:

1. You And Me
2. Closer To Me (Feat. JD Davis)
3. Sunrise
4. Monster (Feat. JD Davis)
5. Lover
6. Five
7. My Memory
8. My Memory (Part 2)
9. Us And Them
10. 1987

Chab "Dubs, Edits & Whiskey-Coke"

Saw Recordings have hosted the likes of Satoshi Tomiie, Echomen, Cass and on and on. In the past four years, Saw have built a brand around their releases. The brand? Quality music. This month, Saw released Chab’s first artist album, “Dubs, Edits & Whisky-Coke” to much acclaim.

A few years ago a friend told me to keep an eye on DJ Nukem and Chab. Both were relatively new to the scene with just a handful of tracks released but he saw something of high quality emerging. At the time, I didn’t see Chab for what he was becoming. Then Chab introduced “Tunneling” and “My Memory” and my eyes were opened. “Dub, Edits & Whisky-Coke” further showcases Chab’s creatve talent. Here is what I thought of it.

“You & Me” starts off the mix with a mind bending theme that blends tippy trance elements with soul searching synths. It is making its debut here on “Dub, Edits & Whisky-Coke” and the more I listen to this trancer, the more I like it. It is a great opening track and blends seamlessly into track two, Chab’s “Closer To Me.” This track features JD Davis and was originally released on SAW Recordings a short time ago. If you haven’t heard this yet, here is my best try at describing this track. “Closer To Me” pulls 80’s spirited alternative pop sounds into a fresh electronic soundscape. It’s really quite nice.

“Sunrise” sets in at three. It is a calm blippy song and soothes the soul. The skills of which Chab pulls “Sunrise” into the mix is exceptional as the flow is not yet interrupted.

Not yet that is. “Monster” feels original but it feels very out of place here at track 4. I just don’t like the switch of emotions. “Sunrise” had me feeling blissful and soothed when “Monster” comes in with a funky, Talking Heads-ish sung song. Don’t get me wrong, it is a standout track on its own with JD Davis back again on vocals. But I have to express my disappointment with the sequence. I feel a dub version would be more appropriate.

“Lover” follows “Monster” and actually fits quite well behind it. Maybe I am being too hard on “Monster” not fitting in well, but I will let you decide. Fixing the continuity, “Lover” is certainly closer in sound but it is taken levels deeper.

“Five” is track six. I could have actually used “Five” two songs ago. It is a brilliantly somber track with a tough kick and female vocal samples that touch the soul. The sound of “Five” has returned me to where I wanted to go.

“My Memory” released on Saw Recordings about a year ago. I gave it high props in my review then, so just read the Chab - My Memory Review for what I thought about it. Chab hits with 2 versions here and compliments the compilation quite well with them.

“Us & Them” showcases some of Chab’s tougher talent. The track constantly builds with a dark mechanical ferocity leaving any traces of “Five” and “Sunrise” decimated. Gone are the happy days.

“1987” closes down the set with a stompy deep groover. It is an exceptional track to close with and leaves the melody in my head for hours.

I really had much pleasure listening to this cd over and over and over again. With the exception of “Monster” and “Lover” all of the tracks flowed together very well. In fact, minus those tracks and I rate this full lengther of Chab’s original works as steller. Unfortunately with those two tracks thrown into the mix, I just couldn’t get into the mind groove that should have happened. This is just my opinion though, and I suppose many will love it just fine. Maybe I just need more whisky and coke.