Traams - TRAAMS IN DUB VOL 1-2 (2024) [Hi-Res]

FatCat trio, Traams, have invited two modern day dub explorers, Elijah Minnelli and Jay Glass Dubs, to tackle a selection of tracks from their stellar 2022 long-player, Personal Best.

Athens-based Dimitris Papadatos, aka Jay Glass Dubs, first caught folks attention in 2016, with a series of bespoke releases on Bristol’s Bokeh Versions. Demonstrating a sound that he called Glacial Dancehall, the Greek musician has worked with “beat” legend Leslie Winer, paid tribute to Spacemen 3, and recently deconstructed `80s soul / pop / style icon Sade, for Berceuse Heroique. Last year he launched his own label, the Boomkat-backed, Extended Techniques.

Renowned for uncompromising, radical work, Jay Glass Dub’s transformation of TRAAMS might be his most accessible outing to date. The E.P. is as a whole is a warm, euphoric, sonic wash. Breathe’s tribal tom-tom-ed space rock raga is dropped down to ambient drones and disembodied voices, before tripped-out drums add a distant, muffled, funk. Sleeper, originally a lushly layered, uptempo thump, a Sonic Youth-like duet between TRAAM’s Stuart Hopkins and Soffie Viemose, of Danish band, Lowly, is serrated into synthetic shimmer. Now set to a sedated ceremonial march, Dimitris draws out its delicate 6-strings, which were previously lost in the mix. Hallie, on the album, was a churning, cathartic rush. Full of noisy arcs, and electric shredding, it was gravity-destroying, orbit-obliterating stuff. Here, it’s a chunky, chugging, skank, dancing to muted foot stomps and hand claps.

Elijah Minnelli is perhaps the more elusive / mysterious of the pair. His press one- sheets basing him in the fictional town of Breadminster, and branding his imprint the County Council's Music Initiative. Since 2019, with a handful of self-released 7s, Elijah has slowly built a complete mythology around this made up locale, which spills out into his monthly Soho Radio show, The Mustard Hour. Minnelli’s own music is a unique, distinct, fusion of reggae, Eastern European, and Latin American influences. The latest example can be found on fantastic 45 produced for Portland institution, ZamZam Sounds.

Tracklist:

TRAAMS IN DUB VOL 1 - THE JAY GLASS DUBS (Jay Glass Dubs)
1.01 - Traams - Breathe (Jay Glass Dubs) (9:40)
1.02 - Traams - Comedown (Jay Glass Dubs) (4:25)
1.03 - Traams - Hallie (Jay Glass Dubs) (6:15)
1.04 - Traams - Sleeper (Jay Glass Dubs) (7:23)

TRAAMS IN DUB VOL 2 - THE ELIJAH MINNELLI DUBS (Elijah Minnelli remix)
1.01 - Traams - Dry (Dubbed) (Elijah Minnelli remix) (3:31)
1.02 - Traams - The Lights At Night (Dubbed) (Elijah Minnelli remix) (3:59)
1.03 - Traams - Comedown (Dubbed) (Elijah Minnelli remix) (4:00)
1.04 - Traams - Sirens (Dubbed) (Elijah Minnelli remix) (3:23)