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The American dub producer Kris Naphtali is in the country and that's a fact we couldn't have missed! Last Friday he played an hours long set at Dub (R)evolution Bruges, and afterwards it was announced that he was also invited to perform next Friday in the Landhuis in Ghent to add to the color of Coronation Dub, while in the meantime he goes to visit many Belgian home studios.
Dub (R)evolution began at the time with a big nod to Dubstep and related genres, but since the men of Forward Fever gradually took over, we get several times a year to see the cream of the international dub scene at work in the Magdalena Hall on The Funktion One soundsystem from Soundsystem.be. This time the choice went to Kris Naphtali from the American Positive Vibes label for his first performance in Europe.
Forward Fever got the ball rolling as usual in a versatile style, with Saimn-I, Ozi One and a resurrected Ragga Yves on the mic. After midnight, Kris Napthali from the States was up with an excellent selection of exclusively, self-produced, heavyweight dubplates and he delivered them well, with the necessary bass drops, sound effects and pull ups. Amongst others we recognized his 'Declaration of iration' and 'No confusion', as well as his own version of Vibronics' ´Show me a purpose'. S'Kaya from France was invited to assist him vocally, and as if they were already playing together for years, he improvised a lot, intermixed with patches from known lyrics such as Jah Shaka's 'Revelation 18', with which he easily held the attention of the public. Finally, he brought his by far best known hit, on a riddim from Dougie Conscious: 'Police'.
Naphtali – named after one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel - got on time and brought the tempo down, but the real roots vibe was still somewhat missing in Bruges, and as we more often find with (foreign) producers, we lingered maybe a bit too long in the same digital environment. For many it was then a relief to see Forward Fever emerge behind the controls once again. Besides Belgian productions amongst others Echo Vault and Ichman, Dello and co are more and more focusing on their own creations, and with success. 'Rasta we Rasta', which was recorded about a year ago with Danny Red, already appears to be a direct hit!
They summarized the evening very well with a reworking of Barry Brown's 'Step it up', but those who didn't get enough or missed seeing Napthali in action, will get another chance next Friday when he appears beside Forward Fever during Coronation Dub in the Landhuis in Ghent on the Satta Soundsystem from Ostend. Jah Guide.