- UK producer Stabilizer has earned quite a reputation for himself, releasing on various labels such as Echo, Boombox and Functional Breaks with his releases gaining the support of Andy Weatherall, Annie Nightingale and Krafty Kuts to name but a few. Signed to Cardiff's Plastic Raygun, he's proud to deliver the label's first artist album, Canine. Canine is an album of dub, reggae, hip hop, house and of course breakbeat (as that is what Raygun is primarily known for) and features collaborations with MC Chickaboo, Rachel Roberts and Figure Of Speech.
Already released as a 12", What It Takes has been described by Andy Weatherall as a classic tune. Light hearted breaks with house sensibilites and latin percussion take control of the groove while Stabilizer adds in a deep electro bassline, funky keys and a catchy melodic hook on top. Lo Slung drops the tempo down to hip hop and it's hip hop of the dirty, dubby affair. Fuzz bass, synthesised horn arrangements and deft scratching with Figure Of Speech busting lyrics.
One Ton Truck picks up the pace again, speeding the tempo up to beats on a loungey laidback tip. Dub, dancehall beats are joined by reggae horn stabs and a guitar with a country western twang. To complete the recipe Stabilizer has included a few movie samples which lend themselves to the song's title.
Rachel Roberts features on Unbreakable which pays homage to diva led electro disco yet on a much harder and dirtier tip. Nitzer makes a return to the album - the Big Daddy Kane sampling ditty features uplifting disco-infused beats, catchy electro hooks and funky bass. Check the General Midi remix on the single with its wicked buildup.
MC Chickaboo makes an appearance on the album for Bounce, yet again providing Plastic Raygun with her deep, gutsy vocals. Bounce brings out slow plodding dub/dancehall flavours with elements of 2-step garage and dirty electro bass, which makes Chickaboo the perfect vocalist as she spits it inna ragga stylee. This has also recently been released as a single with Stabilizer putting out an uptempo breaks remix which is worth checking out.
Towards the end of the album, Stabilizer turns the tempo down and moves toward chillout beats such as the obviously titled Downtip featuring atmospheric synth lines and cinematic orchestra samples. But it's all a teaser as the tempo is turned back up on Dirt Funk. Dirt Funk brings it back to 80s electro disco with crashing snares, dirty electro synths and 4 to the floor house beats (which get broken up into breaks towards the end). Finally the Stab closes it off with his Epilogue ending the whole affair with percussive breaks on a sublime chill out tip.
It comes as a total surprise to hear Canine as I usually place Raygun compositions in the uptempo, dancefloor oriented nu-skool breaks category. Stablizer shows that he and the label are capable of more than just dancefloor beats as he brings out elements of dub, hip hop, chillout and breakbeat and package it into an album that suits home and lounge listening. Up next for an album release on the label is Jean Jacque Smoothie - the breakbeat king of schmoove!