Globe-trotting sonic adventurer Capitol K has been piecing together elements of folk, electronica, indie, big beat and traditional sounds that his travels to more exotic climes have brought to his attention for well over a decade now. His upbringing split between Malta, the Middle East and the UK means his creativity has its roots in different cultures and embraces varying styles. As its title suggests, 'Andean Dub' was born from his experiences travelling vast swathes of South America and absorbing much of the culture, musical sounds and instruments he found along the way.
It's little surprise that his innovative approach has landed him a spot playing with inventive indie types The Archie Bronson Outfit. Much like their work, no formula is adhered to and anything goes so long as it sounds good. Which on this new album it invariably does. This is an entirely instrumental work and is heavy on the percussion. Quite what percussion instruments are used is anyone's guess, but we're assuming that many of them were designed for other purposes: tin cans, saucepans and the kitchen sink could all have been utilised here along side traditional South American instruments and electronic squelches.
This presumed ethos of "if it sounds good leave it there" proves to be something of a stroke of genius and renders comparisons of little use. 'Cumbiatronic' sounds a tiny bit like The Orb's 'Toxygene' but that's as close as we can get. 'Andean Dub' is an incredibly playful and fun album that's neither particularly Andean or dub, although elements of both and stirred into the mix along with a host of other bits and bobs from here, there and everywhere. The title-track even manages to sound like they roped in Rolf Harris to help with percussion. It's not the kind of album where you pick favourites as it's all engaging in its own way and the unique ambient sounds occupy a genre of their own, and that alone is something that can rarely be said about many current records.
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