Dub Tractor: Hideout
City Centre Offices

With his fifth solo album Hideout, System 3 member Anders Remmer has crafted perhaps his dreamiest and most fully-realized Dub Tractor collection to date. The moniker is wisely chosen, as Remmer bathes his lulling shoegaze in oceanic expanses of dubby atmosphere (apparently Hideout's deep sound partially stems from a recording technique that deploys ancient microphones and wisps of tape fuzz). In a prototypical Dub Tractor piece like “Much Better Than This,” shuddering guitars echo throughout textured atmospheres while Remmer's whispered voice floats serenely over top.

The album begins sublimely with synth asteroids strafing rippling guitars in “I Woke Up.” Here and elsewhere (“I Forgot,” “Faster”), Remmer reinforces the album's deep vibe by repeating song titles over and over, rendering them more hushed mantras than conventional lyric-based songs. The pop confection “I'm Like You” pairs the infectious hook of a female voice to his soft singing and the snappy pulse of gauzy six-strings while delicate guitar weaves float through rippling smears in “Begin And End” and “Droplets.” Like the album in general, the ironically-titled “Faster” and hazy title cut make Hideout sound like the most inviting locale one could possibly imagine visiting.

March 2006