Uss Energia is an Estonian crew that started their adventure with reggae strongly influenced by dub in 2009. In 2012 they released their debut album ‘Studio Live Dub’ and now, after 4 years, we get an EP ‘For the Benefit of Dub: Chapter One’. It’s definitely been worth to wait that long for that mature compositions showing what the art of dub really is, what a dub version of a tune means and how to mix your national identity into it.
The release is opened by ‘Naturaalne Mustika’, which immediately carries you along with it – I don’t know Estonian language, but the vocals alongside the music are hypnotizing and the dub version proves it greatly, having every instrument brilliantly exposed. The next tune named ‘Rannapiiga ‘ is a show off of their amazing horns section and the climat is a bit jazzy, what is it’s big asset; the dub version contains a nice melodica. Following tune ‘Mina kes ma sundisin tahtedest’ causes a vivification, the vocalist ‘twists his toungue’ and chats with an extraordinary charisma on a heavy rhythm and the dub version emphasizes beloved horns with a lot of effects. The last one on the album is ‘Huhtikuu’, which has 2 versions and is the most hypnotic, pretty crazy tune with versions I liked more than the original. Congratulations to Uss Energia crew for such a meaningful EP. I am looking forward to more of their productions, they definitely know what dub is and how to use it. You can hear King Tubby’s school in their music if it’s up to mixing and another hearings made me feel that they have Polish Paprika Korps and Ragana albums on their shelves.
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