Pop Group and PiL Classics in Dub

[version sound]

The Pop Group - Y in Dub
Jah Wobble - Metal Box Rebuilt in Dub

The Pop Group is a dub mix by Dennis Bovell and is apparently already out. Metal Box is a reinterpretation rather than a remix and is not out yet. “Poptones” is available on Apple Music right now. The Pop Group one sounds pretty good on first listen. I’ll definitely buy it, just not sure if I’ll pop for the vinyl or go cheap with the CD. I’m not convinced about Metal Box. Musically, it’s ok, but it has some annoying spoken word vocals (obviously not by John, who I am frankly surprised signed off on this thing even existing). I guess I’ll wait and see how the rest sounds before I decide whether I’ll bother with it. All we need now is a dub remix of Cut for the trinity to be complete…

[patient_ot]

Bovell remix could be good...a lot less familiar with JW's solo work and remix work so no idea on that one.

A dub mix of cut would be great but it's got to be done right.

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Bovell remix could be good...a lot less familiar with JW's solo work and remix work so no idea on that one.

A dub mix of cut would be great but it's got to be done right.

Didn’t Dennis Bovell also produce Cut? He’d be the man to do the dub. I would say that it’ll never happen, but we live in an age of constant recycling, so I actually wouldn’t be that surprised if it did happen.

[patient_ot]

Bovell remix could be good...a lot less familiar with JW's solo work and remix work so no idea on that one.

A dub mix of cut would be great but it's got to be done right.

Didn’t Dennis Bovell also produce Cut? He’d be the man to do the dub. I would say that it’ll never happen, but we live in an age of constant recycling, so I actually wouldn’t be that surprised if it did happen.

Yeah, it looks like he did. Good eye. I guess we have to wait for the next reissue/deluxe edition/anniversary or whatever.

[drew]

I dig the Pop Group release, listening to Poptones now. I am definitely buying this. Very cool.

[drew]

I dig the Pop Group release, listening to Poptones now. I am definitely buying this. Very cool.

Didn’t Wobble take PiL’s music another time and put his own new tracks over it? And didn’t that get him kicked out? I guess Lyndon needs the money…..

[version sound]

I dig the Pop Group release, listening to Poptones now. I am definitely buying this. Very cool.

Didn’t Wobble take PiL’s music another time and put his own new tracks over it? And didn’t that get him kicked out? I guess Lyndon needs the money…..

Yup, and even with the PiL backing tracks, that record is nothing to get excited about. PiL really was more than the sum of its parts. I haven’t really heard anything Wobble or Levene did afterwards that was particularly interesting, and once PiL became The John Lydon Show, it went way downhill (though it’s more listenable than anything from the other two).

[drew]

I dig the Pop Group release, listening to Poptones now. I am definitely buying this. Very cool.

Didn’t Wobble take PiL’s music another time and put his own new tracks over it? And didn’t that get him kicked out? I guess Lyndon needs the money…..

and once PiL became The John Lydon Show, it went way downhill (though it’s more listenable than anything from the other two).

Hey now! ALBUM is a top-three all-timer for me. I still listen regularly. Just one of those special records. But yea, a lot of the later stuff is pretty crappy.

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Hey now! ALBUM is a top-three all-timer for me. I still listen regularly. Just one of those special records. But yea, a lot of the later stuff is pretty crappy.

That one is definitely the high point post-Flowers of Romance, but it’s apples and oranges comparing it with the first three. It’s a tasteful, well written, and well played rock record, whereas the first three were attempts to escape rockist tropes and create a new musical language.