Best Music of August, 2008: Death of the Revolution by Quantic Presents Flowering Inferno

Why it’s significant: With a sound inspired equally by early-‘70s Jamaican Studio One dub, Hip-Hop beats, and Columbia, where it was recorded, Quantic Presents Flowering Inferno’s Death of the Revolution contains what is easily the best non-lame reggae music I’ve heard since first discovering the legendary dub pioneer King Tubby. 

Although Quantic (aka Will Holland) is often filed under “Electronic,” (he got his start as a DJ in the UK) Death of the Revolution delivers an intoxicating organic blend of international flavors including Reggae, Latin, Funk, Hip-Hop, R&B, and African music that sound more like some kind of anachronistic miracle than a decidedly modern take on a classic sound.

I’ve taken great pleasure this summer spinning this laid-back, undiscovered gem for unsuspecting friends at parties and BBQ’s, and without fail I’ve been complimented on the “awesome” music playing. “I know, right?” I love exposing Death of the Revolution to people because it’s one of those rare albums that has both broad universal appeal and is also just plain really good. It would seem as much at home on a New York City front porch stoop as it would playing in a tiki-themed tourist bar.

I’m pretty picky when it comes to reggae and dub music. Reggae songs have a tendency, like a lot of techno and house music, to sound the same to me, and unless there’s something unique and special about the song, that sound is often not compelling enough to hold my interest for long. Dub music (the often vocal-less, far superior, tripped out sibling to reggae), while markedly more dynamic and interesting than straight-up reggae, can easily fall into many of the same trappings. It’s exactly this that makes Death of the Revolution such a treat—it sounds different—really different, without sacrificing the analog warmth and organic vibe that make reggae and dub music so special when they're done right.

Don’t believe me? Witness: the morphing rhythms and echo-laden piano coating the title track; the slinky guitar lick on “Mi Chocolatina” that wouldn’t seem out of place on some Chronic-era Dr. Dre production; the undeniably pleasant piano line on my favorite track, “Cuidad Del Swing.” Take a listen and you’ll see why this sunshine-on-wax album has as much appeal to any fair-weather reggae fan as it would to a gaggle of indie-nerds, a hardcore hip-hopper, a latin music lover, or your mom for that matter. Far more than the ingredients that combine to create it,  Death of the Revolution sounds a lot more like the birth of one.

Take note: even though the CD version of this is pretty expensive, the Amazon MP3 download version is an extremely affordable $6.99.

--Alan Wiley