CD Reviews

Dubfire

Taipei | Global Underground

By MICHAEL FREEDBERG | March 27, 2007

3.5 Stars

Those who saw Dubfire in Boston last September will be surprised by the sound of these two sets. At Avalon, he played almost exclusively trance, techno, and “electro” house; here, playing for audiences in Taipei (a house destination as major for Asia as Ibiza is for Europe), he emphasizes deep, sexy beats, “tribal” house (DJ Simi & SJ Marotta’s “My House”), even vocals. (Can’t imagine Dubfire using a track by garage-house classicist Kerri Chandler? Try “So Let the Wind Come.”) What hasn’t changed is his attraction to hits — dance-floor hits, that is. He includes Lance Jordan’s “Sun Is Rising,” Deetron’s “The Afterlife,” and Lula’s “The DJ, The Music & Me” on disc #1 and Nitzer Ebb’s “Control I’m Here,” Nic Fanciulli’s “Lucky Heather,” Noir’s “My MTV,” superstar DJ Robbie Rivera’s “Float Away,” and Lisbon “Portuguese tribal” master DJ Vibe’s “You’ Kaos” on disc #2. Occasionally the familiar, electro-to-techno Dubfire breaks forth, but now in German “minimal” (X-Press 2’s “Kill 100” on the first CD, Len Faki’s “Die Rumpelkammer” on the second). And the familiar Dubfire sound actually comes out stronger in this diverse sonic company than it did in the more-focused confines of his Avalon evening.

Dubfire | Avalon, 15 Lansdowne Street, Boston | April 6 | 617.931.2000.

Topics: CD Reviews , Nitzer Ebb, Kerri Chandler

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