Burnt Friedman & The Nu Dub Players - Can't Cool

Burnt Friedman's label Nonplace as always specialized in abstract, twitchy dub, so with his album, _Can't Cool_, you'd be right if that's what you were expecting. The crisp funk of "Fuck Back" might not make a lot of logical sense, but it's plenty smart. "Fly Your Kite" is more traditional, with some gruff vocals and sustained ska-esque horns, and "Life Is Worth Dying For" is an almost proto-typical dub track, replete with references to Babylon. But the collaboration with His Name Is Alive, "Someday My Blues Will Cover The Earth," bring the blues to a more uptempo, but no less mysterious, place. "Get Things Strait Dub" has an appealing exotic quality to it, while the closing track, "Consider a Bigger Wallet" has a moody feel that's leavened by the toe-tapping arrangement. If you're going to make dub, might as well make it "nu dub," right?