2 out of 5

Label: Queen Nanny Records

Produced by: Ed DMX

You never really know with Ed Upton: taking advantage of the many pseudonyms and labels under and on which he releases – though I wouldn’t disagree if you proved to me some predictability between those variables and the style Ed uses on the accompanying output – there is so, so much DMX music put out on a yearly basis that it’s best to not assume what you’re, and just drop the needle. A full album is something to get excited about, though: what merited the decision to dedicate X tracks to, presumably, one style?

On his first release for the small Queen Nanny label, Ed takes the opportunity of the then-newer label and a somewhat less-used pseudonym to try out 12 tunes of minimalistic dub. Upton excels at complex simplicity – knowing how to pare beats down to their needed elements, and tweaking just enough to keep things engaging – and when boiling dub down to its core, World Phaser gets to maintain a thick, stereo-shaking bass beat, apparently set at a steady 90 BPM throughout.

As this kicks off, it’s one of the most grabbing things Ed had released at the time: no throwback kitsch, just a straight up attack of a low-end beat and a grooving melody told via accompanying synths. …Er, sometimes.

Second track Hip Hop gives us another potential sound influence – a 90s backpack rap vibe, reminding of early Rhymesayers’ barer productions – but it also functions more like a scratch track then a song; a template to work with.

Such templates unfortunately become the du jour sound, with more expressive variations the exception – and rather buried on the C- and D-side (Stabbing; the excellent title track) – than the rule. Since the album’s pretty short, with tunes mostly sticking to the 3ish minute mark, it works as some clips of beats which are in support of the singles, but I can’t deny the overall disappointment: the promise of a full set from Ed; the initially grabbing shift towards down low dub; and then the lack of much experimentation or variation within that shift.

As usual, subsequent listens bring out some nuance, but when you get to the clearer singles, it blows that stuff out of the water.