Listening; IR58 Rising up for the Dub World Within

Taking obvious inspiration from the Detroit Techno gods Underground Resistance, IR is an Ugandan Dub group, concocting experimental electronics, Techno and Riddim into a melting pot of sonic diversity. Utilising spoken word and poetry in-between or accompanying the songs, IR is concerned with propelling Dub and Riddim into the future, re-contextualising western adapted sounds back to the motherland.

The liner notes for the album read:

Sometimes it’s necessary to question. 
the paradigms that have been implanted in our minds 
so we ask you to be pensive 
as opposed to defensive

Being a huge UR and Techno fan I found listening to IR58 to be an excellent listen. The tribal infused rhythms and modern futuristic soundscapes are pulsating, almost like smoking a joint the listener is welcomed with trippy compositions that are lush and abrasive. The spoken word and field recordings are woven into the running of the album, usually a more sombre and reactionary discourse from the dubbed out percussion.

I think it is great to see and listen how far reaching Underground Resistance’s sonic themes have spread across the globe. In a country plagued by war, dictatorships and brutal colonisation, Electronic music and Dub act as an escape but more importantly confront.