It’s fifteen years since disrupt founded the Jahtari label, and over a decade since the influential Jahtarian Dubbers Vol. 1 LP announced them properly. From it’s home base in Germany, Jahtari has paved it’s own path in the world of reggae and dub, instantly recognisable through an oft-present 8-bit aesthetic that layers the catalogue.
Back in 2013 I worked through the collection of streamable ‘tapes’ from their site, which, if you’re new to the label, is an amazing place to start: https://jahtari.org/archive/music/tapes.htm
But I’ve already done the love letter to Jahtari. This post is about something different. Last weekend disrupt launched a new label christened Zonedog, minting it with a full-length release of his own.
The Recreation Room is the spiritual and thematic sequel to last year’s The Omega Station, carrying on it’s storytelling elements and basing itself in the realms of ambient techno before dub. Drawing inspiration from Burial Mix releases as much as Old Apparatus and equally his own catalogue to date, disrupt creates a journey comprised of cosmic dubs that flow beautifully together.
Zonedog is an aptly named label to put this out in the world. I found myself listening from start to finish with varying levels of concentration and comfort throughout. At one stage I reached for the sleeve to find that the birdsong that was accompanied by 80’s computer blips was titled ‘Relax Em Up’. This is what I’d expect to hear if I were trapped on a space station for many months, trying to cure home sickness by replicating the sound of my back garden.
‘Would You Kindly?’ a few tracks later uses a layer of field recordings and a generic jazz bass line to create a plastic feeling to an area, akin to an awkward conference cantina. These are just two from a collection that is littered with synths that would be at home in the Star Fox universe.
As I get older I care about singles less. I consistently reach for records that will allow me to unlock tunnels in my own mind and also let me drop in and out across an hour or two. It’s a tough line to walk for an artist, but the end result is a masterpiece. And as a listener these records are infinitely more rewarding to have in your collection.
In some ways The Recreation Room is a voyeuristic working. It takes you into a world where an unknown party is trying to find escapism from their current surroundings. The echoes and reverberation of their daily chores within their retro-futuristic life are punctuated by moments of desired distraction.
Hearing this from the outside in doesn’t put you in their shoes, but rather elicits a feeling of heightened current state. For me The Recreation Room became an audio key, with the ability to grant access to formerly frequented and now lightly touched parts of my life.
This record is one of the most enjoyable first listens I’ve had in a long time. A lot of factors need to be weighed up in that statement; house to myself, cup of tea, comfy chair and a tough working week. Will it be replicated on repeat listens? Possibly not. But the fact remains that as an accompaniment to my day this record delivered on much more than what I could have hoped for.
300 copies for the world only. Get on it quick.
Twelve cosmic library dubs by disrupt, full of synth loops messing with your time perception and sonic textures that feel like passing out on a fluffy carpet, all baked together into one intense couch listening experience.
Thematically this VR-ready sequel to “Omega Station” (2018) is exploring the mechanics behind modern computer game design, and how even things like Karma are being translated into code – but who cares, “The Recreation Room” is made for kicking back while your mind can go into space ship mode.