teledubgnosis

Reggae-Vibes 01.06 - There are influences from "Flowers Of Romance", "Metal Box" and influences from Iranian, Egyptian and Iraqi classical music ... And these guys can surely play -- these are no newcomer novices... Each member of the band has a well grounded history in industrial funk/ dub/noise and other related scenes...This is an album that may prove interesting for the open minded amongst you who are satiated with... the nostalgic and overtly conventional approach of Euro digi dub and the one drop "revival", and are totally unchallenged by bashment. There is an alternative route to follow. Teledubgnosis have at least set out on that other road. It will be interesting to see where they go. - Gregory Mario Whitfield

The music on Magnetic Learning Center was made for those quiet evenings at home when you decide the time is right to turn off the lights and snuggle up to that special smoking apparatus you’ve been neglecting. The product of former Prong/Godflesh/Foetus member Ted Parsons, producer Jason Wolford and former Toasters member Gregory Damien Grinnell, Teledubgnosis spews out industrial noise, bass heavy dub and ragga breakbeats. It’s reminiscent of the work of Adrian Sherwood and Bill Laswell, while still retaining enough of its own edge to be unique. Remixes from The Bug (a.k.a. Kevin Martin, Techno Animal) and Tech Level 2 up the ante and help provide for a smoking package. - Justin Kleinfeld - CMJ

For their debut, global beat alchemists Teledubgnosis drop moody dub-tronica destined for lengthy armchair critiques and stoney, feet-up analyses. The three-member collective experiment with chaos and noise, fusing bone-rattling dub basslines with dark ambient breaks. - San Francisco Examiner

XLR8R #69 - Dub originated in Jamaica, but its addictive skank captures ears and hearts all over the globe. Broken down thusly, "tele" means far, "dub" stands for sound, and "gnosis" equals truth. Drummer Ted Parsons (Prong, Foetus) and pals take dub to far-flung reaches of noise, electronics, and idealism. The Teledubgnosis core includes programmer extraordinaire Jason Wolford (of Decadent Dub Team-the texas Tackhead), multi-instrumentalist/media artist Gregory Damien Grinnell, and former Peru Ubu bassist Tony Maimone. Magnetic Learning features as many tracks as there are contributors: guitarists Norman Westberg (The Swans, Foetus) and Kurt Wolf (Pussy Galore, Boss Hogg) percussionist George Javori (Firewater) and bassists Jason Asnes (Crown Heights, Nice Strong Arm) and Dave Sims (Jesus Lizard). Dub is a family affair and two bonus remixes grace the album: "In Heaven, A Devil" by the Bug (Kevin Martin) and "80 Creeps" by Tech Level 2 (Godflesh's Justin Broaderick). School is in session! - Stacy Meyn

The Wire #233 A debut that's not half as dark as it is cloaked. Deep but avoiding the active search for doom, the treatment of Parson's percussions and the appearances of Tony Maimone's fluid bass lifts this album to another level. - The Wire

Three quite experienced musicians make up for the band Teledubgnosis. Drummer Ted parsons, one of them, was an original member of industrial-metal band Prong and contributed to bands such as Swans, Godflesh and Foetus. Producer/audio alchemist Jason Wolford started his career more than 10 years ago and was part of Dallas Texas' Decadent Dub Team. The third member of Teledubgnosis is called Gregory Damien Grinell, who has a history in the New York ska band The Toasters and hip-hop/reggae crew The Unity 2. The three of them come up with some fine blend of dub, heavy bass and dark electronica. One can hear from the first moment on that these musicians have been playing for quite a while, which translates in an excellent, but hard to pigeonhole intelligent organic dub brew. As if members of Tuxedomoon started to work with Adrian Sherwood and were warped in todays time zone. The combination of intelligence, originality and the attitude not to be bothered by style references or hypes results in a dub album that crosses musical borders and lands in a very interesting domain. Phosphor Magazine #111 - Phosphor Magazine

Living, breathing Dub beats smash & collide throughout our journey into the Magnetic Learning Center, this music is to be played loud. Unlike other music that sounds good loud, Teledubgnosis simply demands, and receives, your attention; from the opening track, 80 creeps, to other rhythmical masterpieces like Polar Cap Dub, that becomes apparent. Rhythm stubbornly places itself in the center of everything on this album, assuring the listener of its importance. All things would not move without rhythm. The lively dub basslines imprinted on so many of the tracks make sure your ears keep receiving the goodness. This album ...[takes] advantage of your becalmed ear-drums by slapping them around with some live and heavily filtered drums of it's own. The sounds menacingly and relentlessly dent holes in your knowledge of what music should sound like...the mayhem demonstrated on this record embodies exactly the spirit behind all Wordsound music... we are treated to an intensive crash-course in all that Teledubgnosis can throw at us. All that in the space of 10 tracks, 10 small nuggets. This is satisfying music, now go and eat it. - Nefisa

Dub fans eager to explore the outermost extensions of the music will find satisfaction in Magnetic Learning Center (Wordsound Recordings), Teledubgnosis' first full-length cd. Don't expect traditional reggae like a guitar skank or much singing on this dark and brooding project. Instead, be ready to embrace heavy sonic experiments. Nothing about this band--even their song naming policy--conforms to convention. "some | thing" features a traditionally slow-paced drum pattern normally associated with dub, but at three quarters of the way through this six and a half minute track, the engineer breaks down the beat and the listener is left with only an eerie piano line, with wind sounds in the background. You think to yourself, "It's quiet. Too quiet," and you know the mood is about to change. All of a sudden, crashing, distorted drums and bass interrupt the atmosphere. But after a minute or so, they drift out of the mix as the mood slowly changes back to cautious tranquility. This is perfect horror movie music. Listen alone. Listen late at night. The cd packaging is beautifully low-fi and low-tech, as the backside of the digi-pack looks more like the front of an old, faded two inch master tape box than a cd jewel box. For more information on the band, check out their web site at teledubgnosis.com. Wordsound Recording's site is at wordsound.com. - ReggaeFlex.com

With Teledubgnosis, it's all about rhythm. Not surprising with heavyweights Ted Parsons (Godflesh, Prong, Swans) and Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu, Mekons, Golden Palominos) in the ranks. Ill electronics, hands-on dub-effects. Teledubgnosis is reminiscent of the golden generation of Adrian Sherwood, Bill Laswell and King Tubby. - Konkurrent