Finian Greenhall performs live with a band as Fink; as Sideshow he creates a spacy, dubwise variety of electro-reggae, his regular band augmented by his trusty Quadroverb GT and Boss SE50 effects processors. On Admit One he builds a cathedral of sonic space, defining an enormous but mostly empty structure through which snare taps, strings, synthesizer squawks, and scraps of exquisite melody float. Also hanging out in the church are vocalists like
Paul St. Hilaire (on the lovely "If Alone"), Samar (on the brilliantly spacy one-drop anthem "French Model in Dub"), and
Cortney Tidwell (on the album's opening track, which is strangely not reggae-ish at all but rather a sort of straight-up new wave pop). Curiously, the program also includes a straight-ahead dub mix of "Youth of Today," a vintage
Horace Andy single. The album ends on a slightly lame note -- punnily titled "Strung Outro," the final track features classical strings and feels pretty much like filler. But the vast majority of this album is spectacular. ~ Rick Anderson