STRATEGY Vinyl & CDs

Review: Paul Dickow has made some memorable and mesmerising music since emerging as Strategy 21 years ago, initially switching between much-admired experimental and underground labels (Kranky, Idle Hands, 100% Silk, Further Records) before establishing his own imprint (Community Library). Wet Room, his 20th full-length, is another fine collection of cuts in his distinctively deep, dubby and trippy sonic style. It's rooted in ambient, sound collage and experimentalism, but also touches on digi-dub, deep dub techno, trip-hop and the far-sighted, intergalactic electronics (if not the rhythms) of Motor City techno. Most of all, though, it feels like a coherent, immersive sonic journey, making Wet Room one of his most coherent and accessible LPs yet.

Review: Paul Dickow is the man behind the Strategy project and this album was first released by Khaliphonic in 2018 and now reissued on wax. The artist has long been thought of as a musical polymath who has spent his life immersed in hardware and crafting unique sounds across the dub spectrum. This record proves that and then some with a mix of dub techno, digi-dub and everything in between. The rhythms are deep and involving, the synths often icy and the percussion is just enough to elevate each tune next to sci-fi signifiers and cosmic motifs.