Various Artists

But will I be lost if I haven't heard volumes 1 through 9? Unlike most compilations, which serve as little more than friendly handshakes with a dozen unfamiliar artists, King Size Dub is better taken as a cohesive whole than as a patchwork collection of tracks. Boiling electronic music down...

By J. Edward Keyes

July 15, 2004

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18478561",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "16759093",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759092",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759094",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        }
      ]

But will I be lost if I haven't heard volumes 1 through 9?

Unlike most compilations, which serve as little more than friendly handshakes with a dozen unfamiliar artists, King Size Dub is better taken as a cohesive whole than as a patchwork collection of tracks. Boiling electronic music down to its basest elements, the songs on King Size are remarkable because of how little happens in them. Where pop gives preference to the vocalist, on these tracks it's the bass that takes the melody while the keyboards and guitars are allowed only occasional, single-chord shadings. As a result, the songs have a brooding, ominous quality, the aural equivalent of a dark and surging ocean sporadically illuminated by flashes of lightning. It's the same Spartan sensibility that has been making Börk and Massive Attack albums interesting for the last nine or ten years, but while those records demand an almost academic appreciation, King Size has a warm sensual groove that is refreshingly unburdened by pretense. Musical structures are being toppled, sure, but you don't ever have to be troubled thinking about it. The slow-rolling bass and strobe-light synths ask only that you feel, and feel deep.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Phoenix New Times has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.