*** Dubtribe Sound System

BRYANT STREET

(Jive Electro)

San Francisco's sunny hippie vibe permeates every beat on this second offering from Dubtribe Sound System, one of the rare techno outfits who actually swing. The group's ringleaders, Sunshine and Moonbeam, employ synthesizers, percussion loops, sequencers, and other tools of the techno trade, but they're also proficient on a variety of more-traditional musical instruments, and they augment their electronica with a free-floating gang of percussionists who supply a variety of African and Latin American beats.

"Feelin' Allright Now/Equatoreal," for example, scrambles hard trance, Latin percussion, and an Earth Wind and Fire horn lick before transforming into a smoky, faux African chant. "Loneliness in Dub" blends funky barbecue organ, a pumping house beat, and melodica effects out of the Augustus Pablo book of dub. "Ain't Gonna Do You No Good" is a hip-house rap that disses consumerism with a wry sense of humor, and "Wednesday Night" sounds like a lounge-lizard version of Barry White walking Stephane Grappelli through a ghostly session at Lee Perry's Black Arc Studio.

-- J. Poet