ZEA DUB REMIX - WAT IK DACHT TOEN IK LAG... (LP, Krachladen Dub, Makkum Records, 2024)

ZEA in the blender of seven great dubbious artists.

How could we resist the spasmodic schizoid psychedelic menace of that devilish Dutch juggernaut called Zea. This bastardised twelve inch slab of wax has Zea sonically re-assessed, dissected and twisted inside out. And it had to happen, it had to be made.

"Standing up I forgot what came to mind when I was lying on the kitchen floor. Standing up I forgot what came to mind, something I tried to remember before." It's the punky pop intro of the song 'Staande ben ik vergeten wat ik dacht toen ik lag', the Dutch translation of the first sentence of the song that provided the title for this collection of remixes. Zea, a.k.a. Arnold de Boer, a musician who skips sitting down, who either jumps or lies on the floor fumbling with a dictaphone trying to remember the ideas that just came to mind jumping around from the couch straight into the kitchen, trying to write the next song while cooking spicy food that makes his head explode. It's all in there, everyone is in there; shrinking people, growing people, dead people. And all "Sub specie ludens" (from the perspective of human play).

Andy Moor and Arnold de Boer share a love of dub, grime, dubstep, drum & bass, breakcore and much more. And so does good friend and Dusseldorf's label owner Michael Heiber from Krachladen Dub, who, on a dreary winter evening in a pandemic lockdown came up with the idea for this project. Zea, with his obstinate breakpop sampler-guitar-voice combination, shared the stage with many off-kilter electronic music artists from 1-Speed Bike to Felix Kubin to Jason Forrest (who all remixed Zea back in 2004) to recently Japanese OLOLOLOP and Arakawa Atsushi. And with his friends Desmond Denker (Cologne), Knarf Rellöm (Hamburg), and Istari Lasterfahrer (Hamburg). So the logic behind this album isn't far from a friendship being celebrated and the music is very close to a fundamental experience of wonder and joy. Lay this record down and see what comes to mind. Did we say it's essential? It's essential.

All tracks licensed from Makkum Records | Produced and mixed by remix artists | Mastering by Detlef Funder, Paraschall Studios Düsseldorf | Artwork by Darko Kujundžić

Tracklist

Side A
1. People shrink   (remix by Andy Moor)
2. Like a chicken in the corn   (remix by Desmond Denker)
3. Donkeys don't grow here   (remix by Yürke)
4. Exploding Dub Syndrom   (remix by Yürke)
Side B
1. Dub specie ludens   (remix by Dubby King Knarf)
2. Du büst dood dub   (remix by Istari Lasterfahrer)
3. Danger they say   (remix by Begritty)