Beat Pharmacy ‎– Wikkid Times

Beat Pharmacy's 4th album, WIKKID TIMES, starts off a little bit like a Chain Reaction track overlaid with lyrics. Which is to say, quite nice. "Time" goes for a slightly more traditional dub with tech-flourishes at first, but it then moves into deep territory. The lyrics often have a political bent, but it seems as if they're more of a texture than actual content. "Sunshine" and "Nuclear Race" both have a bit more of a house vibe, though the long synth pads still predominate. "Hope & Frustration" goes into a major key, even if the lyrics seem to be of a minor key. "Backwards Never" slows things down to a crawl, and "Assassination of the Mind" goes for some easygoing relaxation. Wikkid indeed.

This is one of the most stunning protest albums I've ever listened to. Brendon approached the vocalists to write "protest songs", which he was composing music for. The result is a group of riddims, riding on Moellers new brand of Basic-Channel inspired dubby techno. It sounds something like Rhythm & Sound, but much housier and less minimal. The lyrics are thoughtful, meditative, and sharp. The music is pulsing, grungey at times, and deeply relaxing at others.

Fans of Echospace, Basic-Channel, DeepChord, or dubstep will not be disappointed.

Oh dear. This was a terrible disappointment to me as I am rather keen on the earlier Beat Pharmacy CDs. Where, IMO, this one goes wrong, is that almost all the tracks feature vocals and the vocal treatments mask what sound like rather exciting music and production in what has become the background. On earlier works, Mr Moeller managed to strike a perfect balance between vocal-free tunes and some nice lyrical work. In effect this CD end up making Moeller sound like a follower rather than a leader. I really hope a 'dub' version without the vocals is released, though I fear that's rather unlikely. Never mind... his earlier albums are thoroughly worthwhile, check them out instead.

Brendon Moeller has always pushed at the outer reaches of electronic dub with his Beat Pharmacy outfit. On this new album, he looks to have side-stepped the traditional and forged something wholly unique with the help of some of the best poets in the business - it’s dub, yes, but these dub-wise protest songs cut deeper than your average bass lick. Playing across rhythms like techno, reggae, folk, and minimal soul, the music is loosely etched in digital rhythms, dragging you deep, deep down into your subconscious, whilst the verbiage paints pictures you’ll want to see and hear. Vocalists include dubstep favourite Spaceape, Coppa, Paul St Hilaire, Damon Aaron (“Time” is a particularly powerful cut), Infinity & Ras B. No preaching, no lessons, just truthful lyrics and 21st century music.