Martin Staaf is no "stranger" to Dubstep, a genre that was coined around the turn of the millennium and is characterized by high-tempo bass, a bit dark and moody, infrequent rhythms, and is predominately instrumental, all comprised within a speed limit of 140-BPM.
But whereas Dubstep is traditionally faster, on Liquid Stranger's second full-length album, The International Slapstick, the Swedish-born artist picks up where he left off on his debut album from 2007, The Invisible Conquest, and has produced a wonderful second album that, although it begins and ends with some great sedated tracks, delves into some harder Dubstep and Reggae rhythms towards the middle of the thirteen-track opus. Yet this doesn't diminish from that which has earned Liquid Stranger the label of being one of the master's of transitional Dubstep due to Mr. Staaf's fusing together a hodge-podge of stylistic global influences from Jamaican Dancehall, Eastern European, Asian and Latin-styled Dub, in addition to some electro-trippy, ambient soundscapes, too. Basically, get ready to temporarily suspend life for 71 minutes while Liquid Stranger takes you on a mind-bending journey. His music runs the Dub gamut and thus has produced some of the most textured electro-Dub that I"ve ever been exposed to.
The opening track begins with a 55-second monologue that mentioned something about hope, organic light-sabers and how everything that once made sense, makes sense once again. I grimaced a bit, wondering if I should be high. Yeah, I was little perplexed, yet my interest didn"t diminish. Thankfully track two's chilled-out Dub vibe called "His Fully Automatic Wheelbarrow," featuring the steel guitar accompaniment of Seb Taylor from the group Kaya Project, quelled that brief and nerdy "light-saber" talk. This smooth, flowing song made me wish that some kind of libation was circulating through me but believe me when I tell you that Liquid Stranger's music will put you on the road to relaxation and some intimate, body-gyrating, too, with our without ingesting anything.
Track three's "Dance On The Petals" is one of two tracks to pair Middle-Eastern influences alongside Dancehall Dub, producing a belly-dance-like environment reminiscent of any after hours" hookah lounge.
Track four's "Soundboy Killa" was a really excellent Dancehall Dub track that retained a chilled-out underpinning. This track, along with a fourth of the album, has lyrics but it's the instrumentation that makes up the backbone of Liquid Stranger's creations.
Track five's "Full Metal Jacket" is some spot-on Reggae Dub in all of its glory and is where the harder aspect of the compositions becomes more apparent with a deeper, heavier electro bassline.
Furthermore, tracks 6 to 11 are the meat and potatoes and the hardest rhythms, but not before closing out the album with track twelve's "Lotus," the other Middle-Eastern anthem, if you will, and track thirteen's "Dew Point," once again featuring Seb Taylor on the steel guitar, that Liquid Stranger bookends the listener back to a mood and place that is both sedated and even-keeled. Other artists who play on the album are vocalists Brother Culture, Danman, Deeyah and Warrior Queen, all of which I will admit to not having heard before, but who are truly talented.
I really liked and appreciated the laid-back approach as well as some of the harder songs, despite them not being my cup of tea, but the way that Liquid Stranger sonically infused, merged, and bridged a wealth of genres that up until 2000 had been, for the most part, separate genres unto themselves- this is what Mr. Staaf is known for: creating experimental compositions that break through the Dubstep genre, resulting in a very unique style of amalgamated Electronica that new fans and old fans alike I believe would be pleased with. Initially, I would have believed that the music would be incongruent to one another but the truth is that each track stands up on its own and segues into the other well. More importantly, Liquid Stranger is a welcome addition to anyone's Dub-tronica collection.
Released November 2009 on Interchill.
