Laika - If You Miss (Laika Virgin Mix) (1995)

Burbling, dubbed out dub indie.

This remix version of 'If You Miss' from Laika's debut album, throbs will sampled tones creating a woozy setting for Margaret Fiedler's hazy vocals.

Download Laika 'If You Miss (Laika Virgin Mix)' (Too Pure, Post-Rock, Dub, mp3) (Divshare)

Grace Jones - Private Life (Dub Version) (Island, 1980)

Langorous. Echoplexed. Genius.

Very much enjoying the 'Compass Point Sessions' album at the moment. This gem of dubbed-out tension really stands out amongst some wonderful tracks.

Taut, damped guitar is juxtaposed against burbling synths, pattering rhythm, poised bass and ricochet-ing rimshots.

It's a prowling, febrile track that is at beautiful odds with Grace Jones' calm, controlled, dispassionate vocal. Classic.

Download Grace Jones - Private Life (Dub Version) (Island, 1980)

Grace Jones - She's Lost Control (Long Version) (Joy Division Cover) (Island, 1980)

Sultry Joy Division gone dub action.
 
The pallid, skeletal angst of Joy Division's 'She's Lost Control' is given a blast of Vitamin D by Sly & Robbie on an unlikely Carribbean holiday and stretched out even further across this aptly named "Long Version".

Grace Jones' detached, aloof vocals are a perfect match for the detachment of Ian Curtis' lyric and the tune bumps along on a delicious dubby skank.

Download Grace Jones - She's Lost Control (Long Version) (Joy Division Cover, Dub, mp3) (Divshare)

One Dove - Breakdown (Cellophane Boat Mix) (Junior Boys Own, 1993)

A Dub House symphony. Epic. Beautiful.

'Morning Dove White' - also touched by the hand of Andrew Weatherall - is up there with 'Screamadelica' for me in distilling the emotions and dynamics of Dub and House into a sumptuous cocoon of sound. You could call it Post Club Soul. Maybe it doesn't need a label.

'Breakdown' is a teasing, irresistable web of shuffling beats, reverb-happy piano, meandering bass and dubbed-out effects, bouncing subtly around the soundfield. It settles into a laidback groove and Dot Allison unleashes an angelic soliloquy to lost love.

A perfect companion piece to the Dub Symphony version of 'Higher Than The Sun' and the Lemonentry Mix of Saint Etienne's 'Pale Movie'. A seriously under-rated album.

Download One Dove - Breakdown (Cellophane Boat Mix) (Junior Boys Own, One Dove mp3) (Box.net)

Saint Etienne 'Pale Movie (Lemonentry Mix)' (Heavenly, 1994)

Spectacular dub epic treatment of Saint Etienne's Flamenco indie disco classic.

The Lemonentry Mix of 'Pale Movie' by Rick Smith of Underworld fame is one of my all-time favourite remixes.

It takes the breathless Latin flavours of the original's pop classicism and re-sets them amid a stately, digital dub spectacular that fits perfectly.

The verses are poised, almost ponderous, riding a magic carpet over a fug of bass and rhythm and, most importantly, lots of space. Sarah Cracknell's vocals still sound sweet and build a tension that is released by the chorus' waves of strings and splashes of percussion.

It's a match for any of Andrew Weatherall's work on One Doves' magnificent 'Morning Dove White' album and makes a perfect come down to Flowered Up's epic indie dance masterpiece of 'Weekender' (mp3) or a companion piece to Weatherall's dub symphony version of Primal Scream's 'Higher Than The Sun' (mp3).

Enjoy.

Download Saint Etienne 'Pale Movie (Lemonentry Mix)' (indie dance, dub symphony mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Download the whole 12" worth of beauty over on The Vinyl Villain's excellent blog.

Sly & Robbie 'Boops (Here To Go)' (4th&Broadway/Island Records, 1987)

The go-to rhythm section for dub-Reggae unleash their own tech-dub beast.

Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare have some track record, playing on an alleged 200,000 tracks in their four-decade career. They've played for Lee Perry and his Upsetters, Bunny Lee, Jimmy Cliff, Horace Andy, Peter Tosh as well as producing Culture's seminal 'Two Culture's Clash'. And then there's Grace Jones' 'Slave To The Rhythm' and her Jamaican excursions.

Producer by Bill Laswell of Material is no slouch either, being responsible for a strain of modern, gleaming dub. The mash-up of the two entities resulted in 'Boops (Here To Go)' with vocals by Shinehead.

'Boops' is a spectular piece of dub collage, sadly now most renowned for providing sample and inspiration for Robbie Williams' 'Rude Box'. Forget about that, though, and immerse yourself in its collision of influences.

Download Sly & Robbie 'Boops (Here To Go)' (dub, reggae, future pop, alternative mp3 download) (Mediafire)

The Boo Radleys 'Lazarus (Demo)' (1993)

Fascinating blueprint of the ground-breaking indie/jazz/dub masterpiece.

'Lazarus' in its full "Sun Ra meets the Rockers Uptown with Kevin Shields at the controls" guise is a wonder to behold. It's a breathtaking journey of a song, an explosion of joy from seeds of self-doubt. Trumpets erupting in a chorus that arrives from a tasty broth of dub and noise.

It sounds like a classic studio creation but this demo version reveals that it's nothing of the sort - Boo Radleys songwriter Martin Carr had scoped it all out in his demo. All the parts are there though the vibe is sketchier. You can hear the same mind at work on the previous demo I posted for 'Upon 9th and Fairchild'.

Total genius.

Download The Boo Radleys 'Lazarus (Demo)' (Creation Records, genius, indie mp3 download)

Download the complete 'Giant Steps - The Demos' over at archive:live+rare