EMPIRE SOLDIERS Dubplate Vol.2 (maxi vinyle 10')

Description

True to the tradition of sound systems and Dubplate, Steve Vibronics delivers his version of the album Empire Soldiers with this series of exclusive vinyls: 3 collector's 4-track maxis, each including 2 "English-style" revisited tracks and their dub versions. With a significant number of albums, collaborations, and live sessions worldwide, one might have thought that Brain Damage and Vibronics would rest on their laurels a bit. But that would be underestimating their insatiability and respective hyperactivity, and the shared sense of challenge and conceptualization of music they possess. The exercise in question here goes beyond a simple meeting, as the artists have been acquainted for a long time through remixes and live sessions. It's more about the ephemeral collision of two worlds, for the duration of a tour and an album, resulting in the birth of an unlisted third entity. Vibronics and Brain Damage have indeed come together around a concept, a narrative inspiration that will undoubtedly surprise: the experience of Anglo-Caribbean and Franco-African soldiers during the First World War. Academic historian, poet, and songwriter Madu Messenger uses the fruits of years of research to present a series of texts dealing with key subjects linking uprooting, friendship, war, and death. Pedagogical, as Brain Damage albums often are, 'Empire Soldiers' sheds light on a still often little-known period of our history, drawing unsettling parallels with contemporary observations of cultural clashes, immigration, and imperial powers. Based on a reflection on this sensitive subject, the musicians of the project – with diverse Anglo-French, Jamaican, or Asian origins – allow themselves here to operate a cultural rapprochement opposed to certain models of subservience and communitarianism. The digital reggae/dub of Brain Damage and Vibronics is thus colored by varied influences, combining the best of know-how with the spontaneity of encounter and human experience.