Vinyl only, no digital. Limited to 650 copies. Art & design by Polygon Press. It’s been five years since Khaliphonic #8, the various artists collection, “Sounds From The Well: Collection One.” Eight releases later we’re finally able to bring you Khaliphonic 16, “Sounds from the Well: Collection Two,” a next set of outer dubwise from across the diaspora of bass-heavy sound system music. While Collection One focused on a kind of Mediterranean and Near-Eastern dubwise topography, Collection Two explores psychological and emotional spaces instead, with a focus on experimentation and a mood that is decidedly deep and dark.
Titus 12 & MTF open the set with the “Koyla Rhythm,” heavy half-time atmospheric moves underpinned by serious bassweight.
J:Kenzo’s “Kotale” is a neck-snapping nod to the glory days of old school dub-hop with big drums and an even bigger 2-note b-line.
Undefined deliver mesmerising organic 140 dub techno in fine style with “Signal,” demonstrating once again why they are unrivaled in the experimental dub arena.
No one sounds like Gulls, and his hardware-centric approach to production and hands-on-desk mixing shine on the emotional “Immolation.”
As big fans of Lakker and his Bedouin Trax releases, we’re thrilled to have Eomac, opening the B-side with “Wildfire,” a genreless beast made of hard drums, swirling spectral flutes, and dark distortion.
Pugilist & Mystik come with “Arbitrary,” a shimmering orb of opalescent dub-techno refracting light from inner and outer realms that almost sounds alive.
Though touchstones such as Jah Tubbys or African Headcharge might provide a reference, Marcus Anbessa’s soundworld is his own, and “Piros Tribe” is a deep roots missive from the ancients.
Five-piece dub band Systemwide emerge from a long silence with “Warrior,” a piano and analogue synth bass-led behemoth recorded live in the studio and mixed by the one Alter Echo.
Al Cisneros of Sleep and Om fame closes the set with his inimitable approach to heavy, meditative roots dub with the low-slung “High Concentrate.”
