Out 2

Showcase

Jeremy Campbell and R. Zanzibar return as Out 2 with their debut full length, Showcase. Following their recent Moving EP, the duo expand their mix of New York off-kilter pop lyrical poetics riding over percussive desk-dub funk grooves. After collaborating on releases for Lectric Sands and L.I.E.S (Zoovox and Locks & DDM) the Brooklyn team dug deep in the studio to create 6 vocals and their dub versions in a true 'showcase' style. With that, after its appearance in longer 'discomix' form, the album starts with the original version of Moving. Just under 3 minutes of hectic New York funk - chop guitar, punch bass and blasting horn jump ups. Rolling straight to the Version, Campbell's mixing desk skills let it all hang out and back. Snares rattle, hats ride, bass in and out, a voice rightly interjects "...are we moving?". Sliding in to Dancing, the tryptamines start to flow and skip atop a steppas beat. The "raps", dubs and fx weave their way in to your subconscious as electrons whirl in a warm psychedelic fuzz. This is further exemplified in side closer, Pale Fens. The improvised vocals fit seamlessly among the beats, bass and guitar haze. As the skin, lips, eyes, pull you in, the Version takes it deep. Sole guitar solo and the rest rides from the desk. Perry, Bovell, Sherwood. The beauty in the space between is the essence of music itself. Side 2 starts with a crowning gem, Some Air's Red There. Flute rides a hook that is simplicity in its ingenuity. Zanzibar in his wayward element "...she said I had the wrong rhythm?". By now ears twisted to what the Version brings, the laidback vibes, with wind solo, drift to an Upstate/White Isle summer's day that is long remembered. Don't Stop comes on as a No NYC love paean. Congas, rhythm guitar and impro' lyrical flow, contorting bass, flange, flange, flange. "Run all day, we don't stop". Version just glides and glides. Finally, to close, Run is the lazy finale dub (master)piece. A simple Jammy's style riddim; a midi-funk groove. It swings low alongside lyrical imaginings, encapsulating Out 2's place in the New York firmament, where disco, punk, hip hop were and are very much fellows with the often overlooked, but amazing dub reggae that has been produced in the city for decades.