Cargo Records

Foundation Bit

With Disrupt’s new album ‘The Bass Has Left The Building’ fresh out this week, there’s no better time to revisit the tower of dub that is his debut set ‘Foundation Bit’, in stock on CD and reprssing very soon on eight track vinyl version. Probably the most talked about bass transmission of recent times, ‘Foundation Bit’ is one of the finest appropriations of Jamaican dub and 8 bit dancehall to be heard anywhere for many years, like what would happen if Yardie priests took a bitcore nerd under their wing and gave him free reign with the stereo.

Claiming runner-up spot in The Wire’s top 10 dub records of 2007, and catching the ears of many a discerning listener across all sub-centric scenes, Jan Glieichmar aka Disrupt is among the leading pioneers of modern dub, and alongside the likes of Skream, DMZ and Burial, has created his own palette of digi dub interpretation, harking back to the 80s era of reggae when producers such as Augustus “Gussie” Clarke, more reknowned for purist dub, started introducing an electronic backdrop called the Tech Riddim. Whilst dubstep has moved rapidly through various stages of development, Disrupt has stripped the dub ethic back to the bone and created an album which is rugged and raw, broken up by sci-fi samples that add a humour and philosphical angle to the material, but focused enough to work on the dancefloor, and with enough space and clarity for relaxed listening.

With a slow paced skank and a filthy, uber-bassy production style that has much in common with King Tubby, Black Ark, and On-U, and a title that nods to the legendary Keith Hudson, ‘Foundation Bit’ is no less than a new digi dub classic for the future generation. Once inside Disrupt's rugged echo-chamber you'll find yourself immersed in a heady, narcotic cloud of smoke, moved by staggered delays, endless reverberations and a tranquilizing cluster of distant instruments and digital detritus all colluding to lull you in and freak your mind. This is music designed for complete and utter sensory intoxication, tweaked and honed for intense stupefied skanking, one of the most beautifully heavy, chemically enhanced albums you'll hear this or any other year. Low volume is not an option.