JAY GLASS DUBS
“New Teeth for an Old Country”
(Bokeh Versions)




Dimitris Papadatos’s output as Jay Glass Dubs has a cold, removed feel to it, an insular quality that keeps it at arm’s length from the listener in some respects. This isn’t surprising, perhaps, coming from an artist who has released a tape called “Glacial Dancehall.” Papadatos takes the ideas of dub and adds a distinctive Euro vibe to it, resulting in tracks that are at once catchy and distant, too cool for the eternally optimistic, too kinetic for the eternally dour. Still, it’s music you can immerse yourself in, within the ever-present Beats by Dre headphones attached to your skull, perfect for commuting or wandering or both, taking in cityscapes and passersby with an equal amount of detachment as they give to you. Synths swirl and chime minor-key melodies, rhythms shuffle and lurch, and the cold air escapes your lungs in clouds of moisture as you exhale along with the patterns of observable life. Retreat further into yourself as the tape continues – by “Interlude II – Careless Dub,” you should be practically subterranean in your outlook. And by “Double Edge Sword Dub,” I’ve finally realized that JGD finds a kindred spirit in one of my favorite projects along these lines, the exquisite Forest Swords. (It’s probably the continuity of the word “sword” that initiated the eureka moment.) Both do the creeping dub thing, although FS uses more guitars. Regardless of comparison, the Jay Glass Dubs brand is fully his own and fully realized, and New Teeth for an Old Country is as particular a listening experience as you’re likely to find. Get yourself in that mood, and get yourself some JGD for urban trekking – you’ll thank me when you start getting epiphanies on the human condition while you’re on the move, a welcome side effect of all that chilly introspection.

Jay Glass Dubs on Soundcloud



--Ryan Masteller