The sixth entry in the
Tino's Breaks series of breaks-and-beats compilations has a seasonal theme, if a slightly twisted one: It's a combination theme of Halloween and dub, meaning that the beats are generally slow, smoky, and reggae-derived and the accompanying vocal snippets and sound effects are campily creepy. Well, kind of creepy -- mostly, this music just comes across as fun and trippy, with the occasional disembodied scream, wolf's howl, or creaking door hinge adding a faint touch of Halloween spookiness. Scariest is the aptly titled "Wicked Insane Evil Dub," which combines a minimalist trip-hop beat with subtly dubwise sound manipulation and lots of screams; coolest is "Ghost Dub," which is essentially a nice, loping reggae groove goosed up with a funky breakbeat, harpsichord, harp, and ghostly moaning. Most utilitarian is the final track, titled simply "Tricks," which consists entirely of spooky sound effects and reminds you that this album isn't really for listening to at all -- it's a warehouse of beats and interludes for use by DJs. Oh, well. No one can stop you from just taking it home and listening to it anyway, which any lover of either breakbeat or experimental dub will be only too happy to do. ~ Rick Anderson