Review Summary: Tentenko XXIV: Good Dub?
Tentenko is an ex-idol freelance artist who runs her own label and has released an extensive range of experimental pop and techno EPs. This review is part of an ongoing series dedicated to exploring her discography. For a point of reference and orientation to her discography as a whole, please see the first instalment in the series, the review for Good Bye, Good Girl.
Good evening ladies, gentlemen and all in between. Welcome back to the Tentenkoverse for our evening broadcast on the next episode of Tentenko’s storied discography, the subject matter of which is her third - yes, third! - release of 2017, released in March (that’s the third month!) of that year. This release is called “Good Night Dub.” It focuses primarily on dub.
Something I may not have adequately established over the course of this series is that Tentenko’s experiments with dub have mostly been insults to her audience’s patience. There are some exceptions - “Obake” is one of her strongest bangers and I guess “Make Up Dub” is okay - but these pale in comparison to the reams of listless basslines and interminable repetition she has foisted upon us. To put this in context, here is a very important ranking of genres she has explored in order of how well she has explored them.
1. Noisy techno
2. Synthpop
3. Noise/industrial
4. Un-noisy techno
5. Darkwave
6. Minimal wave
7. Dub
Doesn’t look good, right? Well, while it’s not on the same level of awfulness as
Tentenko no Seimei Daiyakushin, one of Tentenko’s supreme disasterpieces and dub album inside-out, the word on the street about
Good Night Dub is that
this shit blows. Let’s go! “Monster Riddim” is a decidedly unmonstrous bassline stuck on repeat for five uneventful minutes, “Deep Sea Riddim” is the same deal except the phaser is turned up high enough for it to be used for underwater nature documentary animes for children age -1 to 1 years, “Freefall Dub” is literally “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” with extra toms, and “Bikibiki Dub” - wait a second! - is actually fairly okay because she introduces a load of noise and feedback while bitcrushing the melody enough to make it at least a little intriguing. More of this please, Tentenko!
It pains me to say this, but this dub CD-R is an abject failure. The reason I can tell this is that the best bits have the least to do with dub. “Echooo”s 1 and 2 are ambient interludes(?) that still take after dub but nod towards Monolake-esque minimalist techno. The percussion on these is a little elementary, but they hold up solidly as atmospheric cuts. ‘Solid’ is not enough to redeem this CD-R entirely, but it does just about keep it above the flames of absolute bottom-tier Tentenko. Hooray for that. The only other consideration here is whether the title refers to “good dub” to be enjoyed at “night”, or Tentenko bidding “goodnight” to dub as a whole. One can only hope it is the latter.
