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Editorial Reviews

Debuting on full-length with a remix album, as did the duo's closest kin, Jazzanova, Zero dB also has a similarly broad view of the post-production art. Although radical re-interpreters (also reminiscent of another duo act, Chateau Flight), they never indulge in experimentation when it's unwarranted. (For proof, consult the liner notes, which include astonished, grateful commentary from the original artists given the Zero dB treatment.) Following on from Ubiquity's label wrap-up Fluid Ounce: Unmeasured (released six months previously), Reconstruction compiles nine lengthy remixes -- nearly all of them of artists with close ties to the duo itself. The glaring exception, and the only new track, is the opener, "Satellites Are Spinning," originally recorded in 1972 by the mighty jazz iconoclast Sun Ra for a film (Space Is the Place) that was never released. Zero dB deserves much credit for this choice, one of the few Sun Ra compositions amenable to the remix treatment -- if not a pop song, it's one of his few works with an obvious hook, courtesy of June Tyson's free vocal. Their remix of Peace Orchestra's "Henry" is breathtaking, perfectly illustrating Zero dB's ability to reconcile the organic and the synthetic; they program stark 808 beats and insert sampled silence in a way that unobtrusively frames a lengthy solo from muted trumpet (the 21st century version of the jazz pianist's tasteful rhythm section accompaniment). The duo's blueprint for jazz-house may soon become a bit tattered (squelchy synth over Rhodes keys seems a Zero dB favorite), but Reconstruction shows the pair quite capable of invigorating the global downbeat crowd. John Bush, All Music Guide

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