Jay Glass Dubs – Epitaph

What does it sound like?:

The last time that Jay Glass Dubs drifted through my transom was his collaboration with Leslie Winer on a mini album called YMFEES in 2018. Leslie Winer, of course, is the ex-model and pal of William Burroughs dubbed ‘the godmother of trip hop’, thanks largely to her 1993 album, ‘Witch’, a much overlooked classic featuring a cast list that includes Helen Terry, Ian Cassimir, Jah Wobble, John Keogh, John Maybury, John Reynolds, Karl Bonnie, Kelly Lovell and Kevin Mooney, among others.

But we’re not here to talk about Leslie Winer, save to say that I loved YMFEES and its spare, minimal take on dub, and was thus intrigued to hear this first follow-up solo album from Jay Glass Dubs.
It doesn’t disappoint. One of the many genres listed on Discogs for this album is ‘dungeon synth’ and hearing it for about the fourth time, the phrase ‘Four Tet gone evil’ popped into my mind. I’m not sure I can improve on those as a pair of descriptors, but for more details apply to the second track, ‘Animal Estate’, where dub techno — cavernous, spacious, sepulchral, all the adjectives you need to describe this kind of tune — jousts with a ghostly vocal and funky yet martial drums that constantly seem in danger of falling over themselves. Later on, things get even more hard-edged and industrial, but without sacrificing the addictive, immersive quality that you want from your dubby, trip hop-influenced, leftfield Dungeon Synth. Normally I applaud brevity (and I’m very grateful that the vinyl comes on just one disc) but I could actually have done with this one being a bit longer, which turns out to be my sole criticism.

What does it all *mean*?

Nothing

Goes well with…

Nothing

Release Date:

Might suit people who like…

Four Tet, Burial, Rhythm & Sound, Echocord, etc.

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