Om Unit
Repress Due: 27th August 2021
Jim Coles once again turns the tide towards a new horizon and travels further into the echo chamber. Leading on from the much-lauded ‘Secret Location’ mini-album with Seekersinternational, one-offs such as ‘Open Palms dub’ (Dub Stuy) and other teasings, ‘Acid Dub Studies’ is the fully-fledged result of the merging of the calligraphic expression of the 303 Acid bassline with the stern sway of Dub Reggae and the hazier edges of Dub Techno and Ambient music.
For those who have been paying close attention, this project will come as a welcome return to the vulnerability and playfulness of early Om Unit records such as his sub-radar single from 2010 ‘Lightgrids/Lavender’ (All City Records) or the unearthed chugging ambience of ‘Friend of Day’ (Idle Hands) and indeed in some sense draws from similar wellsprings as moments on 2013’s Bass classic ‘Threads’.
Whilst sbeing perhaps an ‘interim project’ this is still a vital and important expression of exploration and playfulness. A study in the true sense and borne out of a subtle but pervasive frustration with the rigidity found in musical words he has up to now been cohabiting, Acid Dub Studies comes from the pressing need to break with perceived expectation and to explore an honest and natural space away from the genre labels and tags that had been often lazily applied to his sizeable catalogue of music.
With no desire to reinvent the wheel, rather to paint pictures in an honest framework, the LP was crafted using a medley of classic analogue mixing techniques inspired as much by the adventurous dubbing of Adrian Sherwood as by the inward- delving haze of Scott Monteith’s Deadbeat project. Created during a period of lonely introspective walks through his home town of Bristol, the cover art is a photograph of some of the iron kerbstones that are found almost exclusively in the characterful and hardy city which were installed in the late 1800’s to protect pavements from cart wheels. Something about the permanence of those iron slabs and cobblestones inspired a sense of comfort and determination.
Acid Dub Studies is due for release as yet another self-released label-free project leading on from recent EP titles ‘Violet’ and ‘Submerged’ both of which hinted at some of the shapes found in this full length album.
Once again Jim has shown a rare convincing adaptability that few electronic artists can embody. Another step on the journey of personal and creative curiosity that fans are sure to appreciate.
a1. Om Unit - Intro
a2. Om Unit - Bristol Theme
a3. Om Unit - Treading Earth
a4. Om Unit - Dissolved
a5. Om Unit - Celestial Envoy
b1. Om Unit - Ghosts
b2. Om Unit - Circled
b3. Om Unit - Rolling Stock
b4. Om Unit - Tapped
b5. Om Unit - The Struggle
Release Date: 19th February 2021
Jim Coles once again turns the tide towards a new horizon and travels further into the echo chamber. Leading on from the much-lauded ‘Secret Location’ mini-album with Seekersinternational, one-offs such as ‘Open Palms dub’ (Dub Stuy) and other teasings, ‘Acid Dub Studies’ is the fully-fledged result of the merging of the calligraphic expression of the 303 Acid bassline with the stern sway of Dub Reggae and the hazier edges of Dub Techno and Ambient music.
For those who have been paying close attention, this project will come as a welcome return to the vulnerability and playfulness of early Om Unit records such as his sub-radar single from 2010 ‘Lightgrids/Lavender’ (All City Records) or the unearthed chugging ambience of ‘Friend of Day’ (Idle Hands) and indeed in some sense draws from similar wellsprings as moments on 2013’s Bass classic ‘Threads’.
Whilst being perhaps an ‘interim project’ this is still a vital and important expression of exploration and playfulness. A study in the true sense and borne out of a subtle but pervasive frustration with the rigidity found in musical words he has up to now been cohabiting, Acid Dub Studies comes from the pressing need to break with perceived expectation and to explore an honest and natural space away from the genre labels and tags that had been often lazily applied to his sizeable catalogue of music.
With no desire to reinvent the wheel, rather to paint pictures in an honest framework, the LP was crafted using a medley of classic analogue mixing techniques inspired as much by the adventurous dubbing of Adrian Sherwood as by the inward- delving haze of Scott Monteith’s Deadbeat project. Created during a period of lonely introspective walks through his home town of Bristol, the cover art is a photograph of some of the iron kerbstones that are found almost exclusively in the characterful and hardy city which were installed in the late 1800’s to protect pavements from cart wheels. Something about the permanence of those iron slabs and cobblestones inspired a sense of comfort and determination.
Acid Dub Studies is due for release as yet another self-released label-free project leading on from recent EP titles ‘Violet’ and ‘Submerged’ both of which hinted at some of the shapes found in this full length album.
Once again Jim has shown a rare convincing adaptability that few electronic artists can embody. Another step on the journey of personal and creative curiosity that fans are sure to appreciate.
a1. Om Unit - Intro
a2. Om Unit - Bristol Theme
a3. Om Unit - Treading Earth
a4. Om Unit - Dissolved
a5. Om Unit - Celestial Envoy
b1. Om Unit - Ghosts
b2. Om Unit - Circled
b3. Om Unit - Rolling Stock
b4. Om Unit - Tapped
b5. Om Unit - The Struggle
Release Date: 22nd April 2022
Om Unit's highly-praised best-selling Album 'Acid Dub Studies' gets the remix treatment from some of his favourite artists working the left-field side of the dub stratosphere.
This is rare meeting of minds with the double LP featuring 2 mixes from Bristol's legendary Dubkasm, a remix from Seekersinternational (A former collaborator via Berceuse Heroique) evergreen Canadian dub techno stalwart (and recent collaborator via Midnight Shift) namely Deadbeat and top it off we have Echospace Detroit co-founder Stephen Hitchell stepping up with 2 mixes as CV313 as well as 1 much more hazed out version under his Variant alias.
Acid Dub Versions is the next step on a journey of exploring the endless possibilities available when forces combine inside the echo chamber.
a1. Om Unit - Dissolved (Deadbeat Remix)
a2. Om Unit - Ghosts (SKRS VIP)
b1. Om Unit - The Struggle (Dubkasm Version)
b2. Om Unit - The Struggle (Dubkasm Extended Version)
c1. Om Unit - Ghosts (CV313 Re-Animation)
d1. Om Unit - Ghosts (CV313 Re-Animation Dub)
d2. Om Unit - Rolling Stock (Variant Etherscope)