In Dub: Rewind (Vol One)

The official single disc version of the bootleg three CD set the band issued themselves in 2014, which collects decades of remixes done by and for the band. As far as below the radar gems go, this one is up there. Rock bands used to do dub versions in the Eighties as a matter of course and the practice continues (if quietly) in Europe. The Orb’s version of “Requiem”—the “A Floating Leaf Always Reaches The Sea Remix”—is a marvel of pacing and texture that unfolds over eleven minutes. Somehow all of this works, even when it seems like a noisy guitar band would not easily merge with reggae. The fact that it does speaks to how much dub ran through the original songs, as bassist and producer Youth has often pointed out.