J. Boogie's Dubtronic Science

Justin "J. Boogie" Boland first gained fame as a co-founder of Beatsauce, the weekly underground hip-hop radio show broadcast on San Francisco college station KUSF-FM, so it's no surprise that his first full-length effort as J. Boogie's Dubtronic Science is a cool, sensual trip that mixes beat elements with various...

May 22, 2003

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Justin "J. Boogie" Boland first gained fame as a co-founder of Beatsauce, the weekly underground hip-hop radio show broadcast on San Francisco college station KUSF-FM, so it's no surprise that his first full-length effort as J. Boogie's Dubtronic Science is a cool, sensual trip that mixes beat elements with various instrument frameworks including jazz brass, Jamaican rhythms, and R&B vocals. Boogie borrows heavily from across the music spectrum and uses the ragga dub style to piece together one head-nodding hook after another.

Every bit a chillout excursion, J. Boogie's album sensually strolls through Gina Rene's vocal vibrations on "Curiosity" and warmly embraces Todd Simon's airy trumpet-blowing on "Do What You Love." But around the ambient interludes lies a patchwork foundation of dub drums and reggae bass that mashes up the earthy California feel. Boogie burns a slow groove with Tony Moses's Rasta-like chanting on the hard-stepping opener "Universal Dub" and continues with a skankin' mystical purr on the extended "Natural Woman." While neither is truly dancehall material, both reflect the easy Bay Area atmosphere that seeps through the album like so much electrified fog.

Of course such free-spiritedness will lead to genre purists finding fault with the tracks that stray from the norm. But for those with less rigid codes, J. Boogie's Dubtronic Science should be a solid refresher course on the soothing sounds of San Francisco's electronic scene. -- Kevin McLaughlin

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