DAVE DUB
THE TREATMENT
Dave Dub hangs on the fringe of the edge, almost below the underground. Stones Throw raises his profile with The Treatment, an album that hasn’t undergone any heavy treatment by its creators. Tape Mastah Steph, Dub’s collaborator from way back, produced The Treatment with just a classic drum machine and sampler set. Lead single “Superfly” is Treatment‘s most basic track, though its strange combination of bravado and dread sets the tone for the album. From there, things grow more complex as the listener travels deeper into Dub’s mind. Dub exits the atmosphere on “Space Nigga” and “Planet Rhyme,” on which he issues an interesting challenge: “I smoke bomb and you smoke cess / Let’s battle for souls; the loser wins death.” Other songs become obsessed with religious images, and the slow tempo rarely varies – perfect for the blunted, but monotonous for the rest of us. The Treatment is a record you’ll probably either love or hate; either way, the importance of capturing the cassette legend’s trippy brilliance on a proper release goes without question. (Stones Throw) by Jeff Locher