Auckland duo, Pitch Black, have been done over by dubmaster Adrian Sherwood (1). Released on London imprint, Dubmission, their new 10”, Echoes Of The Night – pressed on green eco-vinyl – contains four room-shaking remixes from the On-U Sound founder. It goes without saying that the B-lines are BIG.

On Third Light, that low-end is a huge modulated hum. Its beats are slow and stoned, delay sometimes creating drum rolls, while treated guitar supplies the melody. Tapes spin and spool. Some of the sonics get twisted inside out. Details scurrying within its rumbling, cavernous electro-acoustic design.

Dave Fullwood’s mournful trumpet serenades Transient Transmission’s solemn skank. Mighty, but moving at an almost ceremonial pace, in places the piece is pushed through freaky shifts in phase, while whip crack-like snares urge it on. Fullwood also makes himself felt on A Doubtful Sound, which, in contrast, bounces and jumps at a drum & bass tempo. The track’s spoken sample describing cases of covert sonic warfare, warning that “the rhythm’s gonna get you.”

1000 Mile Drift benefits from bonus bass, care of Tackhead’s Doug Wimbish, which drives its grounation gallop. With ace Akabu-like backing vocals and a sermon on unity from a chopped and screwed Lee “Scratch” Perry, the speedy, spritely steppers is reggae for ravers, situated somewhere between Zion Train and mid-90s Dub Syndicate (2). Sirens bring it to a halt. 

Video by Igor Goryunov.

Adrian Sherwood’s remixes of Pitch Black’s Echoes Of The Night can be ordered directly from Pitch Black and Dubmission. 

(1) Pitch Black’s Mike Hodgson creates visuals for Sherwood’s live events.
(2) Mr. Fulwood is a member of both Zion Train and Ital Horns.