Spitznagel

Glow Spitznagel

CD Synopsis: Drawing on the influences of minimal jazz and reggae dub style music, this disc can be best described as a deep cranium search for the absolute groove. Features samples by Sonny Simmons and Rico Rodriguez. Review from Cadence: Part of an eight-disc release by the prolific Spitznagel, this particular album mines the field of instrumental dub reggae. Using only a Dell PC (with Sonic Foundry software), an instrumentation that may strike some listeners as a risky proposi-tion for a music that is (generally) so full of sweat and vigor, but dub is nothing if not a producer's art, and Spitznagel comes up a solid winner on these 12 tracks. A good reference point for the curious is probably the work of the late Augustus Pablo, par-ticularly his recordings with the legendary King Tubby. Flute, trombone, and alto sax (including samples of Sonny Simmons) decorate these dark, atmospheric tracks, and Spitznagel captures the all-important low-end bass presence of dub, as well as it's propensity for odd, ghostly mixes that send the listener into a whole other place. The insistent 'Karma,' the spooky 'Jahzilla' (with it's stabbing R&B alto samples and creaky-door sounds), and 'David The Pistol,' (whose cliché trumpet riff is undercut by, among other things, a rather alarming, on-the-beat breath-intake), all show an understanding of dub that erases any doubts that a non-dreadlocked musician with a laptop could even begin to cut this stuff. Listen, and be pleasantly surprised. Written by: Larry Nai SPITZNAGEL's music ranges from acid-jazz to retro-electro to techno-dub to laptop-blip'n'glitch. With 30 years of experience in the music business and 15 of those as a professional musician, SPITZNAGEL brings a broad perspective to the worlds of electronic, experimental and sample based music. CADENCE, the world-renowned jazz magazine, has stated: 'SPITZNAGEL negotiates a unique solo performance using electronics as his paintbrush and an extra-wide soundstage on which to splatter his creation'.