The Signal

The Austrian duo of Axel Hirn and Flo Fleischman (aka Noiseshaper) is now working from a new home base in Berlin, where their unique brand of electro-dub is reportedly all the rage in the clubs and late-night dancehall sessions. The group's second album features a variety of local singers and low-key chatterers who embellish Noiseshaper's dark, viscous grooves with a variety of sung and chanted lyrics. "We Love Reggae" showcases the rockstone-voiced DJ Vido Jelashe I, while the more funk-oriented "Signal" features a fine singjay performance by one Spikey Tee; other tracks, such as the so-so house instrumental "Sunstarson" and a downtempo dub-funk number called "Dunk," offer no vocalists at all, opting instead for a chilled club groove that vacillates somewhere between coolness and warmth. Not every track here is essential listening, but taken as a whole, this is one of the more interesting recent experiments in dub-club fusion. ~ Rick Anderson|