Dub Narcotic Sound System – Ridin Shotgun (CD, JAPAN)

“More organically funky than many Dub Narcotic releases, the five-track Industrial Breakdown EP is a good starting point for new listeners, nicely summarizing the group’s M.O. — the title track sports a great chicken-scratch guitar lead and a pulsating bassline, while “Typecast Sanction” (inspired by their earlier remix of Jon Spencer’s “Soul Typecast”) spotlights Calvin Johnson’s increasing fascination with studio trickery.” – trouserpress.com

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion recorded a cover version of Fuck Shit Up by Dub Narcotic Sound System for the album Now I Got Worry and both bands would collaborate for the album Sideways Soul.

Dub Narcotic Sound System [Ridin’ Shotgun]

1. Industrial Breakdown

2. Pete Fromm 20,000 Feathers

3. Typecast Sanction

4. Run Silent Run Deep

5. (Industrial) Revolution Inclusion

6. Ridin’ Shotgun

7. Into Harvester

8. Harvester Traveler

9. Half Life

10. Isotobal Reg

11. Ridin’ Shotgun (Remix)

A friend of rare records is a friend indeed. I wonder what kind of person you are, listening to a CD like this (lol). It makes me think about this, as K Records and Dub Narcotic Sound System (hereafter DNSS) are hard to grasp, or rather, they have a wide range and tolerance, which is also their charm.

Nowadays, K Records releases can be purchased at any import store, but perhaps thanks to the Olympia reviews that followed the rise of Seattle bands like Nirvana, and thanks to Beck and Jon Spencer, DNSS has finally gained some recognition, making them a super hip and cool band. Great for dancing at the club, listening at home, driving, or enjoying with tea. It seems like a joke that when we featured K in the first issue of Baekku, it was considered a reckless project.

I was lucky enough to see them live three times this summer, and they were just amazing! Calvin danced with all his heart and soul, drenched in sweat. “Bite” is just drums and vocals, but it’s his intense performance that makes it so danceable. His presence can be summed up in one word: amazing. Even my companions who have no interest in punk/indie music were overwhelmed. The real thing surpasses everything. I truly felt that this man was born to make music.

Then, when I went to a record store wearing a DNSS T-shirt I bought at a live show, a pot-bellied old man asked me, “Where did you buy that?” And a guy with a nose piercing at a clothing store said to me, “Fuck Shit Up is a great song!” They’re popular, I guess.

By the way, DNSS’s live shows (like K’s band) were attended by a wide variety of people. In SF, Calvin and members of Go-Sailor came.

He introduced me to Ichi. I later heard that members of Slant 6 also performed in LA. The opening bands, Sleater-Kinney and Emily’s Sussy Lime, were also a big hit. The audience, in general, was a high-school-educated crowd, the kind of young people you’d find at a Japanese live music venue. I interviewed Calvin before the LA show (for my magazine, “American Music,” due out around the same time), and he said he’s adamant about eliminating age restrictions for live music. It doesn’t really make sense to us, but in America, when you enter a bar that serves alcohol, you’re asked to show ID, and if you’re underage, you’re not allowed in. To hold an all-ages show, you either have to serve no alcohol at all, or you have to be checked at the entrance and marked as underage. The DNSS show I went to was one of these two options. That’s probably why there were so many young people there.

As I mentioned at the beginning, Calvin’s work is characterized by a tolerant yet firm policy. He thoroughly dislikes exclusion and is always on the side of the “kids.” For the Japanese release, rather than going with a major label, he asked R.B.F., a label he has had a long and trusted relationship with, to handle it. As FUGAZI’s Dischord member Lan McKay often says, they’re committed to “indie” after seeing how acts like Nirvana fared in the majors. And so, they’ve continued to operate smoothly, both in name and in reality. In a world that’s ever-changing, this is something to be admired.

Now, this may overlap with what Nishimura said, but DNSS is the house band for Dub Narcotic, Calvin’s home studio, which is striving to become Studio One. Many may be surprised to hear Calvin play Beat Happening, but when you consider that in a previous interview, he listed Slim Harpol’s Studio One material, reggae, soul, and surf music as influences, along with bands like Germs, Raincoats, and Blag Flag, it’s actually quite natural. While seemingly unrelated, their sound is somewhat similar—they all share the same kind of sparse, analog sound that I like. Calvin’s sound is consistent♥—this is a joyous moment for me, as a casual music lover.

This CD consists of two EPs, “Industrial Breakdown” and “Ridin’ Shotgun.” The latter was recorded in one day in Memphis, midway through a US tour that saw them play every day for about a month over the summer. Like the tour, the backing band is Dead Presidents, who released a 12° EP on K. Both songs are live performances, and feel like they’ve captured the vibe of the tour. I hope they come to Japan and as many people as possible see them! Whether it’s Halo Benders or Beat Happening, that’s fine! Until then, listen to this and prepare yourself.

American Music by Asako Koide

About this CD: ★The ultimate in phony disco beats, a delightful dub sound, and a captivating bass voice… This CD, “Ridin’ Shotgun,” is a Japanese compilation of two EPs by Dub Narcotic Sound System (hereafter DNSS). The first half (1)-(5) are takes from “Industrial Breakdown,” released in July 1995, while the second half (6)-(11) are takes from “Ridin’ Shotgun,” scheduled for release in October of the same year. Incidentally, (5) is a version (remix) of (1), (4) is a version (remix) of (2), (11) is a version (remix) of (6), (8) is a version (remix) of (7), and (10) is a version (remix) of (9). ★DNSS is an experimental dance music unit formed by Calvin Johnson, singer of Beat Happening, a popular band in the American indie scene. Since starting their activities in 1994, they have released a series of six-track cassettes.

They have released the tape “Hands on the Dial,” the LP “Rhythm Record Volume One,” the aforementioned EP “Industrial Breakdown,” and five 7-inch singles (“Dub Narcotic,” “Fuck Shit up,” “Booty Run,” “Bite,” and “Industrial Breakdown,” in that order). “Hands on the Dial” was released on PNMV, while all the others were released on K. ★When performing live, DNSS functions by having Calvin backed by the hip-hop band Dead Presidents from Tacoma (a town located halfway between Olympia, where K is located, and Seattle) (K released the 12″ “Spread Butter”), but when recording, the members are quite fluid (or rather, just random…), and in addition to Calvin and members of Dead Presidents, participants sometimes include Kicking Giant’s Tay Won Yoo, Lindy Coyne aka Wandering Lucy, and Loud Machine’s Shigeki Nishimura (oh, me?).

This is how I got involved with DNSS: *Some of you may be wondering why I ended up participating in the recording of DNSS, but here’s the story behind it. *One day in ’94, I bought a 7-inch record at Warsaw, an import record store in Kichijoji. Then, when I got home and put it on the turntable, I was floored. “What the heck is this?” He was putting a monotonous rhythm machine beat over a reggae record and tooting along to it like a Jamaican DJ, just like Calvin…. The thing I’d picked up for the sole reason of “it’s K’s new album” was none other than DNSS’s first single, “Dub Narcotic.” I seriously thought it was “so, so amazing.” The concept, the production… Later, when I called a friend living in Olympia, he told me, “I met Calvin,

“If you do, tell them that DNSS’s single was amazing. And please let me join you next time.” That was the message I left with him. And when I visited Olympia that fall, my wish came true. I’m the one playing the ultra-low-tech guitar and bass on the first track on side B of the LP “Rhythm Record Volume One.” Ta-da!

Meeting the Big C ★Some of you may be wondering how I knew Calvin in the first place, but here’s the story behind it. ★I first met Calvin Johnson in the spring of ’84. Not ’94. That was 11 years ago, in 1984. If you’re an avid fan of him (and of Beat Happening, Haro Penders, and DNSS), you may have heard that Beat Happening came to Japan in ’84. Of course, it was a completely private visit. In recent years, there have been more and more cases where exchanges between indie labels and bands in Japan and overseas have developed into artists being invited to Japan, but back then, there were almost no such cases.

What’s more, in their case, they came to Japan on their own without anyone inviting them. Hahahaha. *Calvin has been an avid fan of punk/indie music since he was a boy, and whenever he heard that there was an indie scene in Japan, he became interested and wanted to see for himself what it was really like. So, with the hope of performing in Japan himself, he came to Japan with Brett and Heather as Beat Happening. *After arriving in Japan, they immediately began actively gathering information. They bought up all the indie records, made a list of the contact details written on them, and tried to contact them. Then, at R.B.F. Records, which I was running at the time,

Apparently, the band “Gold” (which, of course, was the predecessor to today’s R.B.F. International) was also on that list. Then, out of the blue, I received a letter from Calvin (or was it Brett?) saying that he wanted to be in touch (apparently), so I went to meet them at the apartment complex in Nakameguro, Tokyo (!) where they were staying. Without an appointment. Because I didn’t understand English. Even now my English is pretty terrible… We mostly communicated telepathically. No, seriously. I guess it’s called fate, and that’s how I got to know them, and how we’ve continued to this day. I’d like to revisit the episodes from that time when I have a few more words. See you next time.

9.30.95 Shigeki Nishimura/R.B.F.INTERNATIONAL

BARCODE: n/a

MATRIX: “RBFK-2009 D8255 A IFPI L541”