Once again, with this third album, Brain Damage surprises, innovates, and takes risks. Always dedicated to both the substance and form of their creations, the duo offers a personal reinterpretation of "dub poetry," a genre popularized in Jamaica in the late 70s by artists like Prince Far I, LKJ, and Oku Onuara. No less than 11 collaborations with vocalists/poets/writers, of diverse origins and sensitivities, have resulted in this "spoken dub manifesto," which, as its name suggests, is built around a single unifying theme: spoken word—that is, recited, not sung, poetry.
It’s interesting to observe the freedom taken by each of the different contributors within this, at first glance, restrictive framework. Some write, others improvise. Some whisper, others chant. Some engage, others complicate. The presence of multiple instrumentalists also adds more richness and diversity to the project each time. The use of percussion, prepared guitars, vibraphone, oriental flutes (Duduk / Ney), and other electro-acoustic experiments marks an evolution in Brain Damage's creative process, where all samples have thus been composed and performed, rather than, once again, borrowed.
In total, nearly 20 people participated in the making of this album: vocalists, instrumentalists, technicians, graphic designers. It is therefore undoubtedly a certain way of inventing, surrounding oneself, creating, and presenting one's various works that now best defines the duo's style. More than ever, the Brain Damage project takes on a hybrid, open, and constantly evolving form, much like its creations and the style in which it operates, dub, which, increasingly freed from its original form, is not even instrumental on this album. This is the whole paradox of "spoken dub"!
The Guests:
Mark Stewart (UK), Giovanni “Subtitle” Marks (US), Dylan Bendall (UK/F), Mohammed El Amraoui (Mar/F), Hakim Bey (US/TAZ), Black Sifichi (UK/US/F), Suzanne Thoma (Aut/Can)
Ted Milton (UK), Sam “Kronik” Clayton (Jam/F), Bart Plantenga (US/Nd), Emiko Ota (Jap)
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