To coincide with the electronica revolution of the late '90s, Bill Laswell remixed a number of Bob Marley records as ambient dub for the Dreams of Freedom: Ambient Translations of Bob Marley in Dub album. If these songs were remixed by any other producer, the results could have been disastrous, but Laswell is one of the masters of intellectual dub – he knows what to take out and what to add, creating a spacious, cavernous mix that is provocative without being extreme. Some longtime Marley fans will balk at the very idea of the album, but the results are undeniably impressive, even if it's a little too restrained and cerebral to qualify as first-rate ambient dub for clubs.
Jungle’s new album Loving In Stereo is the soundtrack for a summer quite unlike any other. The British producer duo have created a huge disco record for the post-social distancing age, with a life-affirming, dancefloor-igniting, sun-kissed celebration of all the things that make music irresistibly joyful. Both their Mercury Prize-nominated, Gold-certified debut and 2018’s follow-up For Ever landed in the UK Top 10 and charted globally.
Unbeknownst to the London massive, deep within the English countryside lie a number of brilliant music producers. One such unfashionable but extremely talented artist is Ott, best friend of Simon Posford aka Hallucinogen and previous editor of the Shpongle albums. Hallucinogen's stuff would lend itself well to dub - and this proves you right. It's a dub circus with flecks of the original souping in and out, and the effect is truly psychedelic. Spiritual Antiseptic uses the original's cutup vocals with a more traditional dub arrangement - melodica, clattering drums, and reverb to hell and back. Twisting and turning, the way the main LSD melody surfaces is pure sonic poetry, and certainly gets those brain chemicals flowing. Finally Angelic Particles - with swirling vocals and sweet guitar (specially recorded by Simon Posford) creating a sort of timeless dub full of rich psychedelic harping back to Floyd, Gong and the Grateful Dead…