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Album Reviews
Album Review: Sub Focus – Sub Focus (Ram Records)
By Paul Vig | Published on Friday 9 October 2009
I’ll admit it – I’ve never been too keen on the Pendulum sound, and after hearing Sub Focus’ recently released ‘Rock It’ track, and earlier single, ‘X-Ray’, I didn’t have high expectations for this LP. I thought it would just be standard Ram-style dancefloor fodder. But on more detailed listening, Sub Focus, aka Nick Douwma, has surprised me a little.
After nods to Vangelis in the opening ‘Let The Story Begin’, the album does initially revert to the standard Ram formula with ‘Timewarp’, which is trademark Ram waltz material for the hordes of drum n bass hoodies out there. But then you get ‘World Of Hurt’, which works rather well, with its lyrics over manic in-your-face beats and guitar riffs, and then there’s ‘Follow The Lights’, an uplifting track that perks things up a bit, and ‘Last Jungle’, which takes us back a bit with its mellow Amen break. Admittedly ‘Deep Space’, up next, moves things back towards that generic Ram sound, but it twists it enough to be different, making it more menacing and atmospheric. The big single, ‘Rock It’, which seems to have gained universal acclaim, for me just grates, but those of us who liked a different (better?) era of drum n bass will be quickly placated by ‘Move Higher’, which has some lush old school breaks and crazy Mr Oizo-esque beats. The breakdown is well crafted and builds again for more insanely wobbly bassline ballistics.
And from here on it’s better. ‘Could This Be Real’ is also bit old school, beginning with a real early piano house sound before going for more of the wobbly bass business, while last track ‘Coming Closer’ has lush vocals from Takura and slows the BPMs for an downtempo breakbeat cut with a lush atmospheric background. ‘Sub Focus’, then, is a varied album. The alternative stuff works well, even if some tracks lean too much towards the label’s text book sound. That said, I think Douwma is capable of more than what is here – at times there are glimpses of a great electronic artist. PV
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