Audiopile Review: Three years on from his last entry into the Acid Dub Studies series, Om Unit returns with a third volume, rounding out his heady exercises into a tidy trilogy. With each release, Om Unit still seems to find new corners to explore, revealing the endless uses and timeless sound of the 303. Volume III feels like a summation of the previous volumes, squaring the circle of the first volume’s towering monoliths to dub and the second set’s quirkier moments. There is much crossover here with French duo Froid Dub, who have been filling in the gap over the past few years while we waited for Om Unit’s return to the series. Both have wide-eyed respect for digi-dub pioneer Adrian Sherwood and his On-U Sound, dub techno originators like Basic Channel and, of course, the 70s sound system culture of Jamaica. Even though they’re in debt to the past, they’re keeping the varying strains of mutant bass interesting and vibrant.

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Jim Coles’s fifth instalment of his best-selling ‘Acid Dub Studies’ series arrives in the form of the third set of original works exploring the infectious sound of the 303 bass-line in a dubwise setting. The album takes in traditional dub mixing approaches in a digital and roots/digi-dub style whilst also making space for more electronic and ambient processes to close the project.

‘Acid Dub Studies III’ arrives after 2 years of touring the material in a live setting at festivals and clubs including CTM at Berghain, Les Nuits Sonores, and Andrew Weatherall’s Convenanza festival and is the culmination of some 5 years of experimenting with a style that has been met with critical acclaim, reaching far and wide into many a DJ’s box having been noted by some as a truly ground-breaking approach to working with the 303.