Chab's first worldwide original album, "Dubs, Edits and Whiskey-Coke," will be released on the little-known Saw Recordings label March 7.
Until now, Chab, a.k.a. Francois Chabloz, has specialized in remixes, most notably for artists like Nelly Furtado and Cevin Fisher. With "Dubs, Edits and Whiskey-Coke," Chab has decided to broaden the scope of his skills by producing music that has his name on it, and his name alone.
The results are moderately satisfying. The album is better than The Chemical Brothers' new disc "Push the Button," but not as exciting as M83's "Before the Dawn Heals Us."
The above-mentioned CDs are more electronica than techno but the difference between the two genres can seem subtle.
The highlight tracks, "Closer to Me," featuring JD Davis and "My Memory," both share commonalities with the electronica groups Air and Astral Projection. The success of "Dubs, Edits and Whiskey-Coke" mostly resides in these two songs.
That isn't to say that the rest of the album is bad, but it is lacking something. A good example is "Us and Them," a sped-up track filled to the brim with everything that makes techno music unappealing.
The album is an uneven listen, constantly changing moods, which makes it unsuitable even for background music. As a whole, there's no way the CD will be able to compete with other, more popular albums within the genre.
Chab's first real album might be considered a moderate success due to three or four tracks. It seems as if Chab has mastered the art of the song, but does not yet comprehend the craft of putting together a full record.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
