Track listing:

1) Atomicity (9.46)
2) Soylent Green (14.59)
3) Rhodeo (7.40)
4) Autonomic (11.31)
5) Ionosphere (11.16)

Ian Boddy - Electronics & Sonic Manipulation
Nigel Mullaney - Breaks & Beats

Review in December Issue 15 of Flipside - The Post-Tribal Bible

Stripped - down, minimal and expansive. A hybrid of Fila Brazillia and a sullen Brian Eno. An elegantly crafted electronic vision, awash with titanic tracks possessing such party - starting titles as Atomicity and Ionosphere. As murky as its cover, as soothing and tranquil as a flotation tank, Dub Atomica's Autonomic is the perfect balm to soothe away those early morning blues.

Dub Atomica are a collaboration between Ian Boddy, a veteran of the European electronic music scene, and beats-master Nigel Mullaney. Their workouts are expansive, both in length & breadth. Dubwise vibes provide the cohesive thread through which you pass icy moodiness, minimalist futurist ethnicity, lilting hip hop, and mutating, phased reverb. Despite their moniker, Ionosphere is the closest it gets to dub, but even that's soon shattered by some abrasive U-Ziq-style beat mayhem. Autonomic is about dub as a flexible, underlying approach, but it doesn't avoid the occasional descent into smoothed-out meandering.

File Under: a chillout experience without the snooze factor.

Review by Andy G of C& D Compact Disc Services

The fourth release on the label and, for me the best one to date. You have to hand it to the two musicians - anyone who can produce a predomiantly rhythmic album such as this and make it one of the most relaxed and original statements in the field of ambient synth music as it stands right now, just has to be congratulated. The three (of five) main rhythmic tracks inhabit three very different areas of ambient dub, but there is something about the soundscapes and rhythms that draw you into them time after time - it's infectious stuff, one of those albums you keep going back to as you either just can't get enough of the stuff or because vestiges of the hypnotic rhythms keep swirling around in your head long after they've gone and you just have to put it on again to experience the real thing.

So, on track one, you get solid, sonorous dubby synth rhythms allied to deep, deep synth bass and electronic drums that scatter themselves all over the musical horizon, over which synth melodies and layers flow like wine at a party, yet the whole thing is just so relaxed at the same time as being both musically satisfying and totally timeless. Track two is a 15 minute piece that starts spacey, goes through a riveting set of rhythms overlaid with some fine atmopsheric synth textures before gradually phasing out the rhythms and ending with a sea of cosmic synth work that is just gorgeous.

The near 8 minute track three is, for me, the killer track of the album with a set of rhythm layers that just has to be THE most addictive rhythm track on an electronic music CD for years - there's elements of Can in there, the bass is solid and vibrant, the drum work so tasty it's positively sinful, while the lead synth layer that soars overhead is nothing short of breathtaking - this is a fantastic track that you wil not tire of hearing - it's got that rare quality of being both instantaneous and yet timeless in terms of its sheer enjoyment factor, with a feel that spans '70's Absolute Elsewhere ('Earthbound'') and the rhythm base with the '90's crisp and clean soundscapes that make the rhythms just so sensational. Worth the price of the CD for this track on its own, Then comes another rhythmic offering in the form of the 11+ min title track, and yet another variation on the lead rhythmic foundations that constitute the majority of the album whilst still retaining the outer space feel of the music as a whole that flows right through the heart of the album.

The good thing about this track is the way that the landscape changes so much while still retaining the heart and soul of the music as a dependable feature so you know that, wherever the musicians take you, it's a journey that you needn't fear, but instead can sit back and enjoy the ride. Again, plenty of drums, synths, bass rhythms bounce and glide effortlessly all over the mix with added effects and synth layers filling out the sound that is deceptively stark yet warmer than any other ambient dub style album around today. The final 11 minute track is what could be said to be rolling ambient dub and is a corking example of ambient dub-meets-synth music done absolutely spot on - it's got the right amount of feel, atmosphere and style added to the sheer quality and depth of the multi-layered rhythms, the pure originality of the compositions and the way they twist and turn the lead layeds from ethereal space through giant bubbling cauldrons of sonic soup through to sparkling lead synths, all the while a monumental, yet still relatively, in this case, relaxed set of electronic rhythms and a masive dubby bass line drive through the heart of the mix to simply wondrous effect.

No matter how you bracket the music on this album, it exudes pure invention, class and quality from every pore and is the most non-dancey, home-listenig, foot-tapping, spine-tingling, heartwarming set of infectious rhythms and glowing synth leads and textures that you'll hear anywhere right now.