Someone claiming that Justin Bieber is cutting edge should not make great dance music.  But Mark Gibson does, and that may just be the reason he is becoming a standout character in the local dance scene.

‘Soldier of Love’, the new album from Mr Gibson, or ‘Tyne Dock Sound Bureau!’ (TDSB) to his friends, cleverly sequences 8 of his tracks together into a single, continuous, piece.

Highly conceptual in it’s vision, and similar in musical style to, say, ‘My life in the Bush of Ghosts’, ‘Soldiers’ is produced using cut and paste spoken word samples blended across atmospheric rhythms from the Dub, House, Dance, EDM, Reggae and 2-step worlds.

The result sounds unfinished, strange and schizophrenic.  It also sounds like nothing else in dance music.

Using psychedelic themes (“Dolly takes an acid trip”, “Do you dream in Stereo”, “Supernature”) as the basis of its concept, the art-dance record explores the possibilities of dance music and takes the listener on a journey which fleetingly reminds you of the KLF, Daft Punk, Massive Attack, Green Velvet, Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys and (Violator era) Depeche Mode.  It also makes you feel that it should be dressed up for a night out at the coolest, naffest, place in town.

Conceptually and musically this is an album that aims high and delivers higher.