Music Industry Austerity Hits The Dubroom: Hundreds Of Reviewed MP3's No Longer Available

WWW, April 2013 - Sad and bad news: it turns out that IODA has pulled the plug out of it's promotional program which provided the Dubroom visitors with hundreds of free and legal MP3 files. This means that currently, hundreds of links do no longer work and will have to be removed in the upcoming times. Truly a sad "development" for the Online (DUB) Reggae Community and for the Dubroom visitors in particular, as a true resource of available Reggae has been switched of with the touch of a button at some company HQ.
Not much is known about this move, but it seems like it has something to do with a fusion between IODA and The Orchard, a New York based company. Here's one blog about it:

The Quiet Death Of IODA Promonet

Most people don’t know what IODAPromonet is, or was. And I don’t see any news articles about it closing, so I’m making a little post to say goodbye to what was a remarkable resource. IODA (now merged with Orchard) is an online distributor of recordings: they take the music made by independent labels like the one I record for, and feed it out to iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and other online music retailers and subscription services. Promonet was a site that IODA created, which gave bloggers some tools to easily post and promote music in the IODA catalog. The idea was to encouraged people to discover and promote music in the “Long Tail” – the vast, undiscovered or under-discovered bulk of contemporary recorded music. I used it extensively, posting links to hundreds of records and promotional free mp3s that I found there over the years. Word is that as of today, the site is going dark along with all the content in it. I’ll miss it. But it isn’t a huge surprise. In the evolution of music and commerce in the digital age, there are hundreds of former sites. I’ve been following this stuff since IUMA. What a long strange tail it’s been.

http://ericdin.com/the-quiet-death-of-ioda-promonet/

We could MP3.com to that list as well, along with other (smaller) sites.

Now, what does this mean for the Dubroom? Apart from the obvious "austerity" as hundreds of reviewed MP3's are no longer available for download or use in future podcasts, it's kind of "back to basics" because the focus will obviously be more to the independant online producers, musicians and net labels.

In the coming weeks, links and reviews will be removed from site, forum and blogs.

 EDIT May 2012: Links have been removed from site, forum and blogs. The reviews have not been removed but remain as so-called "orphan pages", pages without any link to them. Should in the future the tracks become available again, it would then be more easy to bring them back "alive".

ROOTS 'N' FUTURE - DUBPLATES FOR POWERFULL SOUND VOLUME 1

ROOTS 'N' FUTURE - DUBPLATES FOR POWERFULL SOUND VOLUME 1DUBROOM MP3 ALBUM REVIEW

 

  WWW, September 2012 - If only for the hard-hitting "Business of War" and it's even harder hitting DUB version, you just have to download this 2010 release by the Swiss based Audioactivity Net Label who brought us such excellent compilations as DUB Propaganda and DUB Disaster 1 and 2. 

As a matter of fact, Roots 'n' Future is a project and collective based around the drummer of the band High Note, Dino. When this is the first of many Dubplates for Powerfull System, it's a very promising one. There's a wide variety of styles on the album, even some Dubstep tracks that you may or may not like. Those with a focus on Steppers DUB will definitely want to check out the album, in fact every lover of DUB Reggae should.

As said in the opening paragraph, tune called "Business of War" and it's heavyweight DUB counterpart is reason enough to download the album. Definitely one of the hardest Steppers DUB recently reviewed right here in the Dubroom.

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GUITOUD - CONSCIOUS RASTA

GUITOUD - CONSCIOUS RASTA
DUBROOM MP3 ALBUM REVIEW

 

 WWW, September 2012 - Straight from the French (DUB) Reggae underground, this very interesting one filled with eleven titles all starting with the letter C. C as in Conscious, even though there are hardly any lyrics in this no-nonsense instrumentalist Reggae album.

"Conscious Rasta" is indeed interesting for a variety of reasons. Much thought has been put in the music, both in the samples as well as the (excellent) instrumentation and overall concept. Expect an album that is filled with intelligence and style, as you listen to the instrumentals with nuff Dub effects here and there you will definitely recognize the amount of work that has been put in it.

The production itself has an interesting combination of programmed and played parts. It has an analogue vibe without becoming too much like an old-skool album. You just don't really know what is played and what is programmed and it's a real challenge to try and decipher just what exactly is put in the mix.

Even though this is not a DUB album avant la lettre, it has more than enough mixing work. Even though it is an Instrumental Reggae album avant la lettre, it will also appeal to those that are looking for echoings, reverberations and other vibes we know from Dub.

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ORIGINAL DUB GATHERING

ORIGINAL DUB GATHERINGDUBROOM NET LABEL REVIEW

 

  WWW, August 2012 - They started their website to promote their -then new- STEP 4 I compilation albums way back in 2006. That was two years after it's founders formed their own DUB Collective, called Ondubground. The impressive compilation series is now "only" a part of the large quantity of online releases by the Original DUB Gathering.
Currently, this Net Label centered around Ondubground as well as other France-based producers, vocalists and players of instruments has become a well established name in the Online DUB Massive world-wide.  

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FULL DUB - BRAIN STAGE

FULL DUB - BRAIN STAGEDUBROOM MP3 ALBUM REVIEW

 

  WWW, August 2012 - In this brand new release by the french based Original DUB Gathering Net Label, we hook up with Full DUB, producer based in Dijon France. Spaced out DUB with loads of digital effect, vocal snippets and elements of Dubstep, even tolerable for those that don't specifically like the dub-derived style.
Six tunes, filled with examples of Full DUB's creativity. Definitely based on the Reggae rhythm, with strategically placed excursions into the broader digital domain. This is some high quality, intelligent music in this August the third twenty twelve release of Original DUB Gathering.

One thing that stands out is the fact Full Dub changes from the Steppers Drum rhythm into others and vice versa. A concept that's not used a lot, especially not in Reggae. It shows the creative experimentation which occupies the French producer as he trods on in DUB Space.

Brain Stage, the second installment in what hopefully turns out to become a line of releases, as Full Dub leaves you wanting more every time you play the last tune of this mini-album.

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VARIOUS ARTISTS - TENTACLES OF DUB VOLUME 3

VARIOUS ARTISTS - TENTACLES OF DUB VOLUME 3DUBROOM MP3 ALBUM REVIEW

 

  WWW, August 2012 - The third installment of FRESH POULP's Tentacle of DUB Compilation Series gives an oversight in not only DUB but also styles that derive from it, like Dubstep. A style that not every lover of DUB will apprecilove in the same manner, and so this album does not just contain Dubstep but also styles "closer to home", let's say.   "Don Dub" by Malta-based Mind's Eye DUB is the fourth track and the first upright, no-nonsense Roots Reggae track. Some great melodica and the typical bubbling organ. It's followed by Ackboo's "Holy Mount Zion" featuring Steve Steppa: a hard hitting steppers rhythm as the Book of Bibles is quoted and excellent singing is done.

Mahom's "Darker, Stronger, Dubber" is your typical digital Steppers DUB with loads of changes and filters, candy for the ear of those that can and do apprecilove some electronic DUB. Over here in the Dubroom it is definitely received with joy! The very same can be said about "Dubalalla" by A Man Called PJ: massive drum and bass at the foundation of a continuous stream of sounds and effects.

The albums closes of with "Praises", a great track by the Roots Revival Sound System. Praises to the Most High JAH in a Roots Reggae DUB Style. Yes, there is more than enough material in this third chapter of Dub Tentacles to make you want to download and listen.

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GREGORY ISAACS - LOST MY JOB

GREGORY ISAACS - LOST MY JOB
DUBROOM MP3 REVIEW

WWW, August 13 2012 - Now this is a tune that will appeal to many: it will make you skank from the top to the very last drop. Mafia and Fluxy along with the rest of the players of instruments surely laid down a riddim that would take the best out of Mr. Isaacs and so it was done.

When you didn't know this one was produced in Jet Star's own Cave Studio in the UK, you would have assumed it was recorded in Channel One Studio in Jamaica a few decades before. This is also the strength of Reggae which is simply timeless when produced in the right way. Absolutely the case in this one!

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ALGAR - STEPPACTION

ALGAR - STEPPACTIONDUBROOM MP3 ALBUM REVIEW

 

  WWW, August 2012 - Steppaction could best be described as a combination of heavy duty steppers dubs and more psychedelic material wherein you can hear all kinds of soundscapes and voices heavily mixed. Not all the tracks could be seen as DUB as there are combinations with elements Drum&Bass, but the ones that can be should be!   There's not much information on the Internet about Algar, other than that he seems to be based in Sweden and Germany (LINK). It's also clear that he's inspired by the current and recent developments in the UK and the rest of Europe when it comes to heavyweight DUB sounds.

Check it out, you might find some very nice tunes. In fact, you will!

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