Dub Addiction summon an epic fusion of reggae and dub with Khmer saravan. ‘Dirty’ and ‘raw’ are adjectives that sit well with their second album Dub Addiction Meets Kampuchea Rockers Uptown, the hallmark of which is a more organic, authentic dub sound than the band’s eponymous first album (a third is now ready – expect to hear new tracks tonight). The band features a veritable Who’s Who of the local scene, but the main ragamuffin toasters are MC Curly and DJ Khla, the latter someone German music producer Professor Kinski compares to Cutty Ranks, Sizla and Anthony B. Sights and sounds familiar to Phnom Penh long-termers ooze through the mixer to create a distinctly Cambodian soundscape. A high point – if you’ll pardon the pun – is The Mighty Plan, on which “the voice of LSD guru Terence McKenna is lecturing about mankind’s first contact with aliens over an ultra-massive slow shuffle dub groove of Lee Perry”. And it can only be right and proper to follow such a track with a song entitled Ganja Dub, although it’s clearly far too fast for anyone genuinely out of their mind on marijuana. “We intend to conquer the universe,” a disembodied voice declares as one track drives its mega-phat electro dub juggernaut into your sternum. Brace yourself.
WHO: Dub Addiction
WHAT: Ragga dub
WHERE: Laundry Bar, Old Market, Siem Reap
WHEN: 9pm August 10
WHY: Somewhere in the Great Dancehall in the sky, King Tubby should be smoking a fat one and smiling