Death of the Revolution

UK producer/DJ/bandleader/composer and multi-instrumentalist Will ‘Quantic’ Holland has continually developed and refined his various musical projects over the years, rarely sitting still, and this 2008 release is no exception, a collection of mostly instrumental tracks that meld reggae and dub with Latin music traditions like Cuban Rumba and Colombian Cumbia. Making the common musical heritage of the Latin and Afro-Caribbean musical traditions explicit, the blend of reggae and rock steady rhythms, dub bass and delay fx with wonderfully languid Latin brass and piano seems the most natural thing in the world. It’s a faithfully retro sound with pretty much no concessions to any musical development beyond the early ’70s, and you can almost hear the dust of old amplifiers and the grease of vintage studio equipment coming through the skanking rhythm tracks.