By Alan RantaWinnipeg, MB refugee and master of all things digital hardcore Aaron Funk has got his groove back. Also known as Last Step and Venetian Snares, Funk sounds inspired again with the Cubist Reggae EP, after a poor reception to his dubstep-influenced Filth in early 2009, and a relatively sparse 2010, following a decade of intensely prolific output. Where his most recent album, My So-Called Life, from late '10, was essentially a scattershot collage regurgitation of older material tossed off in a day or two, Cubist Reggae is realized with razor-sharp focus. Funk does have a reputation as a mad genius capable of creating fantastic, intricate works in the same amount of time it takes most of us to find a parking spot, but this EP comes across as extravagant and extroverted rather than recycled and self-indulgent. Like you would imagine from the title, Cubist Reggae sees Funk appropriate certain instrumentation and production techniques traditionally associated with reggae, specifically reverb and guitar sounds, reworking them into his usual form of stop-short beats, ominous vocal manipulations and gut-wrenching melodies, all arranged in odd-numbered time signatures. While the dubstep direction was a little too trendy for some, the tension between reggae's affiliation with downtempo chill and Funk's penchant for breakcore brutality heard in this EP are at once obvious and effortless, thanks to its undeniably skilful execution. This is Venetian Snares at his most accessible, yet true to himself and his continually astounding genius.
(Planet Mu)
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-05-25 05:41:14"dubstep-influenced Filth"
LOL, what? That album was influenced by Roland 303 and acid. Get your facts right son.
Posted by Ranta On 2011-05-25 09:54:35Yes, there was a lot of 303 on the album, which is a quintessential acid sound, but there were also dubstep elements. The two are not mutually exclusive (just listen to "Chainsaw Fellatio"). Snares also made the "Sabbath Dubs" EP the year before, which speaks for itself.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-05-25 20:21:34Theres literally two dubstep influenced parts in 2 songs,its acid influenced nobhead
Posted by Ranta On 2011-05-26 12:34:18Filth has many influences, among them acid and dubstep. However, while acid may be a more prevalent force on the album than dubstep, dubstep is the genre that faced a backlash over the past two years, and continues to face it, so it was more relevant to mention, in passing, at this time. I could have spent a whole paragraph talking about Filth's influences, but these reviews have word limits, and this is supposed to be a Cubist Reggae review. I believe we can all agree Cubist Reggae was influenced by reggae and cubism, correct?
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-05-26 13:07:54or maybe dubstep,dipshit
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-05-26 13:12:03and theres a difference between dub and dubstep btw,assmuncher
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-05-26 13:16:26hes not a genius hes actually a bit of a tard for sum1 in their late
30s.Hes excellent at tracking though...
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-05-26 18:27:56suck ass review tbh
Posted by Ranta On 2011-05-26 21:08:38Sorry you feel that way. Thanks for reading anyway, and taking the time to comment.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-05-27 13:27:15Dubstep????your joking right????
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-05-27 19:52:09"after a poor reception to his dubstep-influenced Filth in early 2009" This guy is a grade A moran
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-05-27 22:36:21Do us all a favour and go review lady gaga or something,worthless piece of shit.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-05-30 11:22:12DUBSTEP? LOL
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-05-30 14:05:56The fuck is this clown talking about,what a pair of nipple clamps.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-05-31 08:30:07Obviously doesnt know much about electronic music,so why is he writing a review about it?Bad writer.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-01 02:48:36i agree, ranta is way off base.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-01 13:22:57Dubstep influenced or not, this is not a Filth review. Get over it.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-01 15:14:25so the fact that he is wayyyy off the mark on filth doesnt matter??bullshit,learn about music you review otherwise gtfo.
Posted by Ranta On 2011-06-02 13:16:53I appreciate all the passion here, and I hope everyone who commented will legally purchase a copy of the Cubist Reggae EP. It really is his best work in years, and that's the main point of the review. Thanks again for reading and taking the time to comment.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-06 11:15:11thank you for the review, and a good one too. a pity however that for such a well written review, your main commenter is a bastard of a troll, and a poor one at that (a good troll atleast has an idea about whatever he is commenting on).
this cd certainly is a breath of fresh air - even though i did love the brutality of 'filth'.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-06 17:11:37Aaron himself has stated that Filth had nothing to do with dubstep.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-08 03:04:10Ooooh, looks like the author is posting anonymously, pretending to be someone else, as though someone took his shitty article seriously
Posted by Ranta On 2011-06-08 12:12:17Nope. I have enough integrity to put my name (and even my face) behind my opinions. Anonymous opinions aren't worth very much. I always answer comments on my reviews, though, as I consider myself merely part of the discussion, not the final word on it.
Quite frankly, it wouldn't hurt you to take this review a little less seriously. 20+ posts is getting obsessive.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-27 18:10:15God this guy is a fucking idiot. You clearly know absolutely nothing about music you dipshit.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-11 01:06:16Filth really was Aaron Funk's exploration of the roland 303 and therefore his own -crappy- version of acid. This Cubist Reggae album is just another musical style he tries to integrate in his typical 'VSnarian world' (like he already did with a lot of musical genres: classical, jazz, ...). For me personally this EP is really really poor: it just adds a genre to his catalogue of chopped-up music. I guess he's just out of inspiration after all the music he has made over the years (I lost the count, but he has done just too many albums). For golden pieces of this man, try Chocolate Wheelchair or Find Candace.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-10-04 19:26:04This review is not about Filth so shut up keyboard warriors.
This review says it how it is. It is definitely one of the more accessible VS records, but that's not necessarily a good or bad thing. It does have a really polished, intricate feel to it. Some would say it's just another genre ticked off by Funk, but that's beside the point. Is it a good record? Personally I think it's a great addition to his discography.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-10-24 10:26:08Shitty review
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-11-05 15:30:21Dear Poseur
You have no friends
Sincerely
Me
CONCERT: Buck 65 - Venue, Vancouver BC May 18
Dance & Electronic 
SHARE IT! 
