13.3.12

incredibly Strange Perfumes Pt.6 (The Smell of Music: Dub)

From Wikipedia

Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae. Music in this genre consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, emphasizing the drum and bass parts (this stripped down track is sometimes referred to as a 'riddim'). Other techniques include dynamically adding extensive echo, reverb, panoramic delay, and occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works.

Dub was pioneered by Osbourne "King Tubby" Ruddock, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Errol Thompson and others in the late 1960s. Similar experiments with recordings at the mixing desk outside of the dancehall environment were also done by producers Clive Chin and Herman Chin Loy. These producers, especially Ruddock and Perry, looked upon the mixing desk as an instrument, manipulating tracks to come up with something new and different. Dub has influenced many genres of music, including rock (most significantly the sub-genre of post-punk and other kinds of punk), pop, hip hop, disco, and later house, techno, ambient, and trip hop. Dub has become a basis for the genres of jungle/drum'n'bass and dubstep.

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Lorenzo Villoresi Sandalo

When it comes to Villoresi, I can't count myself among the biggest fan of him and that is probably why I thoroughly enjoyed his controversial/polarizing Sandalo. With the exception of Piper Nigrum and, up to a certain point, Incensi, I find most of his fragrances to be too heavy and a bit cacophonic (not only during their openings). Sandalo is none of that. Don't get me wrong, this nothing subtle or restrained but it's incredibly addicting.

Lavender and rosewood get the party started together with the usual herbal quality of most of the Villoresi's compositions. The fragrance immediately shows a dry character by introducing the main element of the whole composition: Sandalwood. Vetiver chime in to support the main note and together with rosewood gives birth to a nutty, sort of comforting/meditative and extremely deep drydown. Probably a tad too linear yet incredibly satisfying. Dry and smooth. Fantastic lasting power, good projection. A big winner.

Rating: 8.5/10

Parfumerue Generale Cozè 

Cozé opens dark, smoky and dusty with coffee, desweetened dark chocolate, woods, prominent patchouli and a slight boozy bourbon note. Spices join the party in a while adding depth and mistery to this warm composition. In the drydown I still detect a remarkable patchouli note together with dark woods, sandalwood and hints of vanilla. While Cozé is often listed as a gourmand, I more get it as a sort of dirty spicy oriental that will appeal to fans of the most challenging compositions by Maitre Parfumeur Et Gantier, Parfum D'Empire and a bunch of Lutens.

If you're into fresh and clean fragrances you should carefully stay away from this, for all the others, this is great stuff. Maybe not as much unconventional as they want us to believe but still highly recommended.

Rating: 8/10

Parfumerie Generale Intrigant Patchouli

A great (great) fragrance. IP opens with a blast of patchouli and a considerable dose of animalic notes of rare charme. Castoreum and Civet are perfectly blended to other ingredients to never be overwhelming, and are used to add extra depth to this master composition. Then pathcouli, musk and amber start to play together to create an incredibly comfortable yet intriguing drydown that brings to mind of smoky clubs, purple velvet and noir atmospheres. Patchouli is a very crowded territory but this interpretation is a total stand out. Bold but not pompous. Traditionally modern. Simply Sublime.

I used to think that Parfumerie Generale was offering too many inconsistent fragrances but I had to change my mind. It looks like I'm learning to love Pierre Guillame, his subtle "special touch", his ability to create fragrances that are sophisticated and refined but never too affected. His enviable sense of elegance.

Rating: 8/10



Maitre Parfumeur Et Gantier Santal Noble 

If you're looking for a pretty fragrance, carefully avoid Santal Noble. Instead if you're into challenging, deep and compelling scents you could be amazed and satisfied by this one.

It opens with a sweet coffee note immediately joined by sandalwood and incense. Then the sandalwood takes over showing its creamy/dry aspect. Bold and almost overwhelming for a couple of hours. If you're into sandalwood you won't be disappointed as you'll have plenty of it in this phase...Then it settles down and blends together with vetiver, incense (again) and a musky-amber for a truly fantastic drydown that's creamy, warm, quiet and very deep.

Personally I think this is one of the best sandalwood available on the market yet it's surely not a fragrance for everybody. A masterpiece.

Rating: 8.5/10

Smell Bent Hungry Hungry Hippes 

Some of the Smell Bent compositions smell like fragrances for comics characters. They're funny, colourful and not too serious. Hungry Hungry Hippies could be a scent worn by a character from Gilbert Shelton's The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. It opens with a bizarre chocolate and cannabis combo where the former is  leaning towards the cocoa and latter is a tremendously realistic and very resinous interpretation of the dried plant (yes, I smelled it). A strong "head shop" patchouli bends all together in such a bizarre, kinda gourmandic fragrance that's delightfully funny and very nice. Reasonably priced.

Definitely something not to wear while flying back from Nepal or Morocco, unless you want to get stuck at the customs for a deep inspection.

Rating: 7/10

Parfumerie Generale L'Eau Guerriere


Aldehydes and green/ herbaceous notes joined by frankincense, a subtle oud note and something else that smells much like resinous cannabis. Dry, woody and masculine in a very modern way. Maybe not groundbreaking but incredibly likeable and easy to wear. Together with Comme Des Garcons Standard, one of my favorite office fragrance of the past 5 years. While L'Eau Guerriere is surely not a sillage monster I get a reasonable projection and lasting power.


Rating: 7.5/10 




Other fragrances you might want to check:

Comme Des Garcons Avignon (Review)
Amouage Epic Man
Andy Tauer L'Air Du Desert Marocain (Review)
Parfumerie Generale Aomassai
O'Driù Vis Et Honor (Review)
Maitre Parfumeur Et Gantier Ambre Precieux (Review)
I Profumi Del Forte Ambra Mediterranea (Review)
Byredo M/Mink (Review)
Kinski (Review)
Nasomatto Black Afgano (Review)





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