Review

Vladimir Dubyshkin

The Botox Queen

Trip/трип • 2022

Who Vladimir Dubyshkin means with the title of his new EP will remain his secret for now.  The five tracks, which have been haunting the global dance floors for a while now, are released on Nina Kraviz’s трип Recordings, as always in monochrome, in this case in elegant mint green.  If you ignore the political situation and the label boss’s miserable bumbling in this regard, you can definitely enjoy »The Botox Queen«.  Dubyshkin is not considered one of the most creative and versatile producers around for nothing.  Number one, »No Tell Motel«, mixes a nimble beat with a rumbling bass line that forces you out onto the dance floor, and features poppy Russian vocals.  It reminds us of Dubyshkin’s hit »The Return of the Drunken Son« from 2020 or Schacke’s »Kisloty People«.  With dazzling house chords, the Russian forges material for Peggy Gou and the new trance guard alike.  The blaring closer »no ticket to childhood« works in a similar way, but with an even stronger tendency towards trance topicality, which is exactly what the starving ravers with its fun bass line and fiep samples are exposed to. In contrast, »noodle soup« as the second track serves up breakbeats, British hardcore bass and confused rave stabs that are predestined to drone out of the listening booth into the world.  In the middle of the EP, »paranoid thoughts« is a curiosity that combines hyperactive bass line, Dubyshkin’s trademark, at least on this EP, with staccato clashing hi-hats and minimal Detroit techno in the style of the hood.