Good Days Better Nights
by Tubbs / 2004
Release Notes
“Deep grooves for sunshine kids” is how Tubbs describes it.
Call it what you like: Good Days, Better Nights is an album with infectious warmth that feels the funk.
After spending the best part of six years in the UK, Tubbs returned home in 2003 to work on his debut solo album with the cream of Aotearoa's local talent. Hauling in long-time friend Chris Faiumu (Mu) on production duties, Tubbs spent long summer nights piecing together a series of sublime tracks with guests including Dallas of Fat Freddy’s Drop, 50Hz protégé Miss La and Hamish Clarke from Breaks Co-op fame. From slow-mo, narcotic soul to energetic bass-heavy summer jams, Tubbs joins the dots with ease, mixing and contorting the genre until he creates his own. Good Days, Better Nights effortlessly swings between styles ranging from Theo Parrish style house (‘The Storm’) to deep head nodding grooves (‘T’s Groove’).
Daddy G from Massive Attack had this to say after his first listen: "F**k me, what an album! Really, really works - he certainly knows his music - great."
Tubbs set off to the UK in 1997 on a journey which has seen him djing all over the world from Singapore to London. He was a member of the Dirty Beatniks live ensemble for Wall of Sound and has djed at clubs including Ministry of Sound and Home in London. Hip hop producers like Pete Rock, DJ Premier and The Beatminerz soundtracked Tubbs' formative years, and this album is dedicated to these influences. Tubbs explains; "On tracks like ‘Missing U’, ‘Falling’ and ‘It's Love’, I tried to capture that mid-nineties dustiness without relying too heavily on samples. I called in killer muso's like Warryn Maxwell (Trinity Roots) to generate new Rhodes and horn drenched loops to capture that stoned warmth". And it works a treat. Listen for Miss La’s heart- breaking performance on ‘I Feel’ and Dallas’ porno funk vocals on 'Five Day Night', the first single from the album. 'Five Day Night' has recently been released with remixes by Brad Baloo (member of The Nextmen), Radio 1's new boy on the block Zane Lowe (the other half of Breaks Co-op) and Marcus Intalex. Four and a half minutes of creamy viscous porno funk; grimy, tasty and more than a little addictive. Tubbs: “You won’t find many three minute radio edits on this baby...all the pieces are given room to breath, so as to really get under your skin.”