Nightmares On Wax vs Adrian Sherwood - In A Space Outta Dub

To mark twenty years since In A Space Outta Sound, George Evelyn did the obvious thing and the smartest thing at once: he handed the multitracks to Adrian Sherwood. The On-U Sound founder has been rebuilding other people's records from the inside out since the late seventies, and this eight-track version excursion sends Nightmares On Wax back toward the reggae and sound system roots the original album grew from.

Sherwood does not remix so much as excavate. "You Bliss" opens on Juno-60 haze and a trumpet line from Dave Fullwood, "Positive Touch" stretches out over flute and piano, and "Looking At You Dub" strips a crowded original down to melodica, rhythm guitar, and enormous amounts of space. Core On-U players including Crucial Tony, Doug Wimbish, and Ivan Hussey add fresh instrumentation throughout, so this reads as a genuine collaboration rather than a remix package. "Nyabinghi Dub" closes it out in heavy, percussive fashion.

The result works whether or not you know the source material, which is the real test for a dub reconstruction. Two artists with deep sound system lineage meeting in the middle and finding plenty of room there.

This LP pressing comes via Warp Records, mastered and cut at Loud Mastering. Essential for followers of either name.