Dark Arts Of Dub EP review
Rave Magazine 28 May 2007
VICTOR X-RAY - The Dead Walk / Dark Arts Of Dub EP
Does what it says on the echo box.
Local electronica has been out of the lime- light for a couple of years now, most producers going underground while DJs step to the fore- front to fill Brisbane's contribution to the na- tional electronic map - which isn't to say the sequencer and synth brigade have stopped work- ing, as the efforts of Victor Xray attest. Thumb- ing its nose at fashion and clubland, this four- track EP delves into the dark side of electronic music. The Dead Walk is an appropriately plod- ding slice of horror movie industrial with a hint of John Carpenter's soundtrack minimalism. First B-side Bellweather Beaten is more playful, rid- ing on a dub bassline and incorporating metallic snare hits with wobbly synth. Dark Arts Of Dub visits contemporary dubstep rhythms with un- settling swathes of machine noise, and its B- side, Dub Forever International, is a classically reverb and echo-drenched space trek with chim- ing accompaniment. All the tracks gel together as a well-focussed excursion into texture and mood, very reminiscent of Andrew Weatherall's dubtronic Sabres Of Paradise works, and some of the stark electronics of his project with Keith Tenniswood, Two Lone Swordsmen. Like the aforementioned, Victor Xray may not necessar- ily be making music for the dancefloor (the con- servative dancefloors of Brisbane at least), but it is certainly dance music for the mind. TOPHER HEALY