Dub Taylor

by Jason BirchmeierThe turn of the millennium found Germany to be a gold mine of dub-inflected deep house producers, Dub Taylor being one of the more prominent producers alongside Luomo and Mathias Schaffhauser. As Dub Taylor, Berlin producer Alex Krüger scored a sizable dancefloor hit with I Cant (Fall in Love With Another One) in 2000, his second 12 for Force Tracks; the track employed a huge, throbbing 4/4 rhythm endrenched heavily in an ambient dub sheen topped off with some sappy New York garage-style, heavily accented male diva vocals courtesy of Per Fourier. The track put Krügers Dub Taylor moniker on the map (in addition to his host of aliases) and set the stage for his debut album, Forms and Figures, on the esteemed Raum-Musik label in early 2001. Like the I Cant 12, Forms and Figures made waves — Krügers deep, minimal style of house and its occasional forays into vocal territory certainly proved itself in demand. Less than a year later, Force Tracks issued another Dub Taylor full-length, Detect. The album rounded up ten of Krügers tracks from 2000 and 2001, including I Cant, and functioned as a perfect introduction for the unacquainted. And considering the Force Inc. empires reach and influence, many were indeed introduced to Krügers work. In addition to the aforementioned higher-profile releases on Raum-Musik and Force Tracks, Krüger also released Dub Taylor material on the Konfekt and United States of Mars labels.