Xray Dubs - darkartsofdub tag

Dark Darks Of Dub EP preview - Beat Magazine

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:53:02 GMT

"Brisbane based, Scot Mcphee is the man behind Victor Xray and the EP release Dark Arts of Dub. Victor Xray was born out of two previous guises for Mcphee, the electronic Now Zero and dub influenced Nerve Agent. As the title states, this four track EP is about everything dark and everything dub. The EP begins with the slow creeper The Dead Walk, an eerie atmospheric track that would be great as background music if you were to ever find yourself in a haunted house. The electronic Bellweather Beaten follows on and is a slightly more fun and bouncy dub outing, the title track Dark Arts of Dub an industrial sounding tune. Dub Forever International is my favourite track on the album, chimes mixing with a more up-tempo dub-step. While Dark Arts of Dub won't be setting dancefloors alight, it is well thought out foray into dark beats, Victor Xray flying the flag for strong productions up north." Tom Griffin

Dark Arts Of Dub EP review - InPress

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:33:15 GMT

Reviewed by Tim Finney in the Zebra Singles column:

Victor X-Ray: The Dead Walk/Dark Arts of Dub

Played at a different speed, Victor Xray's productions would probably be mistaken for a product of the UK's dubstep scene - what with their lugubrious atmospherics, dub bass and trenchantly clattering electronic beats. Instead, this EP is more like deeply uneasy listening: Australian Scot McPhee wisely rejects the easy languidness and cod-spirituality of most homegrown takes on electronic dub, instead opting for a compulsive hyper-vigilance that belies the otherwise torpid tempo. McPhee's sonic clarity can be pretty compelling at times: check the zither-like skittering beats and orchestral hits on highlight Bellweather Beaten, or the mindboggling interplay of chimes on the grim skank of Dub Forever International. But the home-listening angle maybe undercuts the music's value somewhat: it's hard to know what how to respond to Xray's almost militaristic spareness and precision if you can't move your body to it.

Dark Arts Of Dub EP review in Drum Media

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 23:32:01 GMT

Victor Xray
The Dead Walk/Dark Acts Of Dub
Transcom
A miminal languid beat augmented with unhurried keyboard lines: this release certainly does what it says on the box.
The Dead Walk is an appropriately hypnotic opener; Bellweather Beaten skitters very non-dub percussion lines over a track that sounds more like casio R&B; Dark Arts Of Dub is crying out to be used as closing credits music for a bleak, low budget horror film (take note potential publishers) and the closing Dub Forever International is a slow-building dub pulse. It's hard to think of a better recent piece of bedroom electronica.

Drum Media, Sydney. (review not online)

Dark Arts Of Dub EP review

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 01:04:25 GMT

RAVE MAGAZINE (Brisbane) 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

Dark Arts Of Dub EP now on iTunes

Thu, 10 May 2007 22:59:09 GMT

Available now on iTunes Australia/NZ: Victor Xray's Dark Arts Of Dub.