- The latest Producer release for LTJ Bukem's Good Looking Records imprint comes from veteran producer Big Bud who has seen releases and remixes released on key labels like Good Looking, Moving Shadow and Creative Source. Producer highlights Big Bud's fascination for the mellow side of music with elements of dub, reggae, trip hop and of course drum'n'bass and is the first release for the series with a DVD element included - with 5.1 stereo sound no less!
Producer kicks things off with the dubby Runaway which features plenty of dub elements like wobbly basslines, echoey snares and ragga vocal chants - perfect for those times when one is feeling highly unreconstitued. Stone Groove moves to a more trip hoppy vibe in the vein of Kruder & Dorfmeister on a loungey laidback tip. Jazzy synths sitting on hip hop style beats... Stone Groove from Big Bud??? doesn't take a genius to see what he's on about now does it? and yes it's adequate for such a situation!
Picking up the tempo, Distant Space moves the album into nu-jazz territories. Highly percussive beats and deep funky basslines are the order of the day for this setting a nice precursor to the tribal beats on Blueberry Muffins which speeds up the tempo even more moving into housier vibes.
Freedom is the first off the mark for drum'n'bass on the album and it stays true to the Good Looking philosophy - jazz influenced drum'n'bass with atmospheric moods. Melodic synths, deep bass and rolling breaks make up the most of Freedom and this is continued on other tracks such as High Times which is on a slightly more percussive tip.
Finally a backward dub of Runaway (the opening track just in case you forgot!) closes off the album. Indeed it does sound like some of the dub elements used in the original track have been played backwards giving it a deeper and a more aquatic underwater feel.
Producer is a collection of Big Bug's classic releases and it's pretty easy to see how Big Bud got his name, it really shows in his music - smokey beats, laidback vibes are all prevalent in this release and what's more it can be listened to on a big 5.1 system! Start chopping up!