The Greatest Fake Dub Albums

Setting aside the legends and the originators, what are your favorite dub albums from the inspired imitators? Thinking of records that don't lean too hard on Jamaican rhythms but wouldn't exist otherwise.

I'll start:

Colleen - Captain of None (and The Tunnel and the Clearing)
Forest Swords - Dagger Paths
Peaking Lights - 936
chunks of Atliens and Aquemini, actually

Also just to get it out of the way, obviously yes Arthur Russell, Basic Channel and all dub techno, Shackleton and early dubstep, Portishead and Massive Attack, etc etc but give me some deep cuts please.

Blind Idiot God!!

and Pole for dub techno ofc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqnfa32SP6w

Lifetones - For A Reason

Ankia's debut on Stones Throw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXPOfrzuvh4

...and the pre-Johnny Jewel Chromatics album Plaster Hounds come to mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEArL-UfTXM

Good stuff!

Two Lone Swordsmen - Stay Down
The Sabres of Paradise - Haunted Dancehall
Primal Scream - Vanishing Point

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5NTMBTorpc

Seefeel - Quique

Burnt Friedman's albums

some of the stuff on Public Image Ltd's Metal Box/Second Edition comes real close to this

Pop Group — Y

Not an LP so already off topic, but the first dub I ever heard was this b-side dub remix of (of all people) Inspiral Carpets. Still never heard anything quite like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnFUvKIz2-Y

Lots of 90s post-rock / Thrill Jockey-type stuff was at least dub adjacent, here's Rome from 1996 to prove the point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiYnI9pWAY8

In fact 1996 might be peak era for ex-hardcore guys busting the beanie hats out and going all rub-a-dub. See also: Tortoise.

Techno Animal's "Re-Entry" (esp. the 'Heavy Lids' disc).

Emotional Rescue have put out quite a few great records in this vein, including a comp from early 80s US band Delay Tactics that has lots of lovely dub-via-eno sort of stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzMjp89Mmys

AR Kane's '69' probably needs a mention too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wes8tT2_YG8

Check almost everything touched by Sir Freddie Viadukt (& lots of Brenda Ray).

If i had to pick one, i'd maybe go for the Naffi-Locksman album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC7JGGyIc14

Sheriff Lindo And The Hammer – Ten Dubs That Shook The World

Australian fake Dub.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuIECjhcvfc

That Delay Tactics is gorgeous, wow.

The Slits - Cut

actually, Sheriff Lindo And The Hammer not a good shout as it does lean too hard on Jamaican rhythms.

Million more votes for A.R. Kane’s 69

Also Nordub by Sly & Robbie with Nils Petter Molvær and Vladislav Delay

Also pretty much any Vladislav Delay, come to think of it

Don't have any handy links to a good example, but there is quite a big of dub in Matt Valentine's Wet Tuna project.

quite a "bit"

lol I only just now got that joke!

Also Nordub by Sly & Robbie with Nils Petter Molvær and Vladislav Delay

This is wild too, also new to me

The Homosexuals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhIOHQMhJBg

rhythm and sound?

lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbcMO71-obQ

always thought this was fire, not sure why the video has a naked person as the image, sorry/shrug.

i guess this is sort of a basic channel rip but always overshadowed by the house remix of the same track, also by eight miles high.

there are so many weird and disparate tracks that fit the bill for this thread tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vvOiGjuKa8

oh Blue Room duh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrzqO7t-Q60

The first time I encountered the word Dub in this context was an REM b-side called Chance (Dub). There is nothing dubby about it and to this day i’m not sure why it’s called that. I initially thought dub meant overdub, I hadn’t heard of the genre at that point.

x post

my fave mix of 'lovelee day'

are Dub Syndicate albums considered "fake" or "real"? African Head Charge? lotta Adrian Sherwood related stuff in that zone

i'd say they are real but lots of other on u stuff would fit.

such as

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AyNMCJPywo

A lot of Cabaret Voltaire but this most obviously:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo893DAkcac

it's the only remix of it i still listen to regularly. one of those all-time high summer tunes for me.

xpost

I'm repeating some here but

A.R. Kane - 69
Lifetones - For a Reason
PiL - Metal Box
The Slits - Cut
The League Unlimited Orchestra - Love and Dancing
Barmy Army - The English Disease
Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System - Tackhead Tape Time
Mark Stewart - As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade
Imagination - Night Dubbing
The Orb - U.F.Orb
Carlton - The Call Is Strong
Tricky - Pre-Millennium Tension
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
John Martyn - One World
Mr. Partridge - Take Away/The Lure of Salvage
The Clash - Combat Rock
General Strike - Danger in Paradise
Eric Lou Root - Don't Worry
Renegade Soundwave - In Dub
Smith & Mighty - Bass Is Maternal
Primal Scream - Vanishing Point
Dean Blunt - Black Metal
F Ingers - Awkwardly Blissing Out
Dreadzone - Second Light
Meat Beat Manifesto - Storm the Studio
Gorillaz s/t
(C) - Witch
Sly & Robbie - Language Barrier
The Aloof - Sinking

...are what came to mind first

You mentioning General Strike has reminded me that I’ve still never heard The Secret Dub Life Of The Flying Lizards

You can add Terminal Cheesecake to that list, esp. King of all Spaceheads

Ther'es a bunch of dubby Japanese indie/dream-pop stuff, from Fishmans' Long Season to Sugar Plant (Another Headlights, dryfruit etc)

pretty sure i only ever heard of SUB OSLO -- perhaps specifically DUBS IN THE KEY OF LIFE -- because of ilm

Some examples of dub-not-dub off the top of my head (that, glancing upthread, haven't yet been mentioned):

Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus
Knife Slits Water - A Certain Ratio
Souvlaki Space Station - Slowdive

Viviene Goldman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhjYgGkLZyM

The album it^ comes from https://viviengoldman.bandcamp.com/album/resolutionary

From the bandcamp notes, and very much of relevance to a thread about dub-adjacent music:

"Resolutionary takes us through Vivien’s first three musical formations: first as a member of experimental British New Wavers The Flying Lizards; next as a solo artist, with her single “Launderette,” featuring postpunk luminaries; and then as half of the Parisian duo Chantage, with Afro-Parisian chanteuse Eve Blouin. Goldman’s synthesis of post-colonial rhythms and experimental sounds are threaded together by her canary vocal tones and womanist themes. Her eclectic musical crew included PiL’s John Lydon, Keith Levene and Bruce Smith; avant- gardists Steve Beresford and David Toop; The Raincoats’ Vicky Aspinall; the mighty Robert Wyatt; Zaire’s Jerry Malekani; Manu Dibango’s guitarist; and Viv Albertine, then of her good friends, the Slits."

Bill Callahan / Have Fun With God. A bit like Leonard Cohen in dub.

Thanks, fetter, this is what I need right now. (I like Bill Callahan and dub...)

young marble giants - colossal youth

Some amazing sentences from Sub Oslo's wiki page (emphasis mine): They have also performed alongside influential dub artists such as Mad Professor, Steel Pulse and The Roots. They also performed with less known artists such as Fugazi, Raz Mesanai, the Make-up, Yeti, Him, June of 44, and DJ Krush.

htrk - psychic 9-5 club

quite a lot of cs + kreme's music too

A couple of Wobble-adjacent things:

Radioaxiom: A Dub Transmission - Wobble and Bill Laswell
Anomic - Wobble and Marconi Union

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZGiXJAs1P4

this has got me contemplating how much of what were posting is equal parts kosmische and dub, and how quickly the affinities were noticed with records like Metal Box or (very literally) Rastakraut Pasta. The tropes and motifs of the genres were only set circa 1976, and by 1979 you've got people fusing them and they've continued to do it for 45 years.

Maurizio, Basic Channel

great thread idea

Lots of 90s post-rock / Thrill Jockey-type stuff was at least dub adjacent, here's Rome from 1996 to prove the point.

Pan American's 1998 s/t = what i instantly thought of after reading OP

indeed which reminds me to dig out my HiM records.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/13240-HiM?srsltid=AfmBOorRmiJmblf5D-dqjpDBZg_AkAMQ77eVvzXOYM9xNMMdY4awDWHO

Pole too.

i used to love Many In High Places Are Not Well

Many in High Places holds up really well

have been playing the first pan American record a lot and also came here to post it. ‘97 though

I'd not heard HiM (or I've forgotten them). Many in High Places is great. Seems to me anything in the orbit of Bundy K. Brown is worth tracking down.

I didn't know HiM either, listening now and it's sick.

i was into them cos i was a massive Codeine fan and HiM was that band that their drummer Doug Scharin started when Codeine folded

not that they sound anything like them of course

How could I forget my all-time faves Tied + Tickled Trio -- 'Observing Systems' is a jazz dub classic, and 'Aelita' is incredible ambient dub (almost like a dub version of Vespertine in some moments, if you squint).

Don't know if this belongs here or the real dub thread or somewhere between: Noda & Wolfers released a record last year: https://legowelt.bandcamp.com/album/evil-fades-in-echo

Their thing from 2022 is great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc8qTylJYX8

Noda & Wolfers - In Opposite Reality

David Cunningham/Flying Lizards discography

Crescent / By the Roads and Fields

Weirdly that was recommended to me by my musical partner when I was listening to a lot of this stuff for inspiration, really good.

dif juz - soundpool

Loop had a lot of dub influence especially on their last lp A Gilded Eternity. Possibly even more pronounced in Robert Hampson's next project Main and the rhythm section of the band in Hair & Skin Trading Company.

Kevin Martin's Brixton based unit God had a lot of dub influence on their studio lps.

Dennis Bovell was a dub producer so does that make his rock production's fake.I've loved the Pop Group's Y's freefall since I first discovered it in the early 80s while looking through The Birthday Party's influences. The Slits' Cut is simply fantastic.

Adrian Sherwood did a lot of dub influenced remixes in the mid 80s.

Pere Ubu's Dub Housing seems to pick up on some dub techniques.

Speaking of, I'm looking forward to listening to this interview: https://soundcloud.com/resident-advisor/ex755-dennis-bovell

Listened to that Dennis Bovell interview earlier. It's pretty good.

So was the interview last month in Record Collector I think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0hf9ape72Q

not an album but it doesn't get much better than this EP imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0h2zVmxutA
Colourbox - Baby I Love You So

Prolly a stretch but Leslie Winer - Witch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bzcNRRphjU

(That's a slightly different version of that track. Love how tripped-out and dubby it gets.)

i like the sound of this forthcoming release on Spiritual World, which is a pretty interesting Canadian label who mostly do dub adjacent indie and electronica. This one is on the more floaty/flutey song-based side of things...

https://spiritualworld.bandcamp.com/album/original-watercolour

don't think i've ever listened to much lesley winer though i do recognise that tune. kinda sounds like a cross between Rip Rig & Panic and Little Annie

Aye, fair - not heard a ton myself. There's a good LITA compilation out there. Wobble plays bass on on a bunch of her stuff.

yeah i need to catch up with that one i think

First thing that Teal track made me think of was Morcheeba or Lamb, which sounds like a diss but isn't meant to be!

This thread rules.

oh no! vocal made me think of stina nordenstam or hanna hukkelberg or someone. it is very 90s!

(c) - 'witch' is all time. some of it is produced by karl bonnie of renegade sound wave who should also probably feature in this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stj8JqRH5MM

suede - wsd

eh?

WSD is easily one of my favourite Suede songs.

Here was me thinking this was going to be all Easy Star All-Stars and Dub Side Of The Moon type things

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW-Q4Iv1arw

I'm going to go and look if there is a Meat Beat Manifesto thread now!

I think Leslie Winer was an American model who got involved with Ants/Bow Wow Wow guitarist Matthew Ashman and had a kid with him, She gets short shrift in Jordan's memoir but that Witch lp is really good.
I think I discovered it through a sale in Dublin, possibly the Tower flood sale. I know I had a cd copy in the mid 90s because I can landmark or timemark events it was part of. Somebody being left with a load of my cds and them discovering it through that. I think the copy I have now may be a replacement I picked up later. I think Soul Jazz or a similar label anthologised her work a few years ago including some music that wasn't on the Witch lp.

Leslie Winer did not sing with Sleeper though.

I like that 'Original Watercolour' track by Teal. I listened to a couple of other tracks ('Yellow Moon', also by Teal, and 'Such Love' by N1_SOUND) on that Spiritual World label and I liked those as well. I like the flute. I can see the comparison to Morcheeba (who I liked at the time). Nothing to do with dub but the vocal melodies on 'Original Watercolour' reminded me of something straight away. I eventually figured out what it was: 'Two Weeks Last Summer' by Sandy Denny (the slow version she did with Fotheringay, not the Strawbs version).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trNWEhQfXko

That Teal track also feels a bit Peaking Lights to me.

Macro Dub Infection vol.1 CD on the Virgin Ambient series (compiled by Kevin Martin I think). Covers a lot of the Mid 90s acts mentioned above. I didnt enjoy vol.2 as much.

that reminds me that I forgot to mention the Datacide CD on Asphodel, which sounds like fake dub being played underwater

I'd forgotten about Peaking Lights; the 936 album sounds like Nico singing with the Congos.

Ha, excellent description

Once11's "smile hunter" is flipn awesome.
litle tempo have a propensity to do awful schmaltz like covers of "norwegian wood", but when they get the steel pans out, stick their bass through a fuzz pedal & spin the dials on the tape delay can get pretty far out

point in case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WtRVEM9UoU

lol a friend posted this today

Planning on listening to a whole bunch of Basic Channel/Chain Reaction-styled stuff today, please supply me, for free, links to your favorite dub techno where Europeans attempt to answer the question, what if Lee Perry was a robot on downers.