Dry and Heavy

Nor is it a dub one although Strictly Baby or Still Silent on their latest record New Creation are good examples of their approach to the idiom. Using reggae as an inspiration they have created a hybrid that fuses rock, reggae, dub, Japanese pop and jazz elements into an original style. It seems to me that they have produced New Creation more like a pop or rock record than a reggae one, so sometimes what could be blinding subtlety gets a bit blunted.

Still, if you listen to the first track Reverse Again you can't really avoid being swept away by it all, so keen is their musical skill and fervour. Imagine if reggae were not really reggae at all, but some sort of 70's stadium rock jam and you might get the idea…I think. Silent Drive turns the notch down and is absolutely superb. As you progress through the record and attune yourself to this band you can hear that Dry and Heavy seem to be incorporating ideas from a source that you can't quite put your finger on.

Certainly Japanese culture is one and the way Japan may have reacted to Western musical archetypes in past decades. While this is a very good record, I'm pretty sure it isn't a masterpiece. I do know however that this highly original pop(?) group have produced one. While not discounting this fine effort, look for the magnificent Full Contact (Valve Records).

Dry & Heavy, a rhythm section for a number of years though with great luck and little planning evolved from such humble beginnings into the fully fledged unit that we know it as today. Although originally intended as a vehicle for the powerful combination of long time collaborators, drummer and founding Audio Active member, Shigemoto Nanao and bassist, Takeshi Akimoto it was a natural progression as the focus moved more and more onto its two featured vocalists, Likkle Mai and Ao Inoue whose performances on such vintage Dry & Heavy singles as Mr Blueflame, Private Plan, Dawn Is Breaking, Radical Star and Love Explosion have come to the define the truly unique Dry & Heavy sound.

Following Akimoto`s rather abrupt departure at the end of their appearance at the 2001 Fuji Rock Festival ex-Audio Active bassist, Pata was invited to step into the bass slot and if anything the rhythm section is now more powerful than ever. Also essential to the Dry & Heavy sound and on deck from the first album onwards are engineer and reigning Japanese dub emperor, Naoyuki Uchida, Mitsuhiro Toike on keyboards and ubiquitous "The K" on guitars and effects. As would be expected from an act named of respect for the mighty reggae legend, Burning Spear, this tight-knit combination reproduce and refine that which they have learnt and love of the great roots reggae records reinforced by the experience of four years of constant touring and recording.

As well as appearances on every major Japanese rock and reggae festival, the band have enjoyed great success with their own headline dates in Japan, England, France and Switzerland as well as highly acclaimed appearances at the 2000 Reading (UK) and Hanover (Germany) Womad festivals and guest appearances in Germany with Asian Dub Foundation and Buju Banton, Hong Kong with Primal Scream and Adrian Sherwood, their own highly successful Japanese dubfest, Echomaniacs which featured Adrian Sherwood, Andrew Weatherall, Dennis Bovell and 3 Head as well as dates in Japan with reggae legends, Lee Perry, Horace Andy, Jah Shaka and Mad Professor.

It is not difficult to understand the band`s evolution when listening to the first 3 studio albums - Dry & Heavy (1997), One Punch (1998) and Full Contact (2000) and their continuing dub experiments can be heard on the collaboration with Jamaican dub master supreme, King Jammy resulting in King Jammy Meets Dry & Heavy In The Jaws Of The Tiger, bone fide modern dub classic as well as their dubs and remixes for artists as diverse as Asian Dub Foundation, Arrested Development, The Skatalites, Two Lone Swordsmen, Audio Active and 3 Head. April 2002 saw the release of single Strictly Baby.

Full Contact Track Listing
1 - Tiger Claw Skank
2 - Dawn Is Breaking
3 - King Cobra Style
4 - Rumble
5 - Love Explosion
6 - Knife
7 - Private Plan
8 - Life In the Jungle
9 - The Smoker's Cough
10 - Landing
11 - Less Is More Version

New Creation Track Listing
1 - Reverse Again
2 - Strictly Baby
3 - Silent Drive
4 - Still Silent
5 - The Dog & the Chicken
6 - New Creation
7 - Riders Version
8 - Right Track
9 - Don't Make the Children Cry
10 - Kombu
11 - Bright Shining Dub