Tom Val and his Les Disques Omnison imprint keep the creative hot streak rolling with this collection of dub re-workings of various tracks from the Orion Music Workshop albums. It's perhaps their most accessible release to date, though on reflection, it's an entirely logical progression. Much of the LDO output is impressionistic - there are rarely 'songs' as such, in their place textures, tones, noise, discordance. Maybe, mostly, a feeling. Dub, as an aesthetic and ideological form, shares this same ethos, it just moves in another sonic direction. What also - and most importantly - uncuts the whole endeavour is the DIY, autodidactic sensibility at the heart of all of Val's work. Feeling - that word again - persists over form, intent superseding application. Which isn't to say these songs aren't well realised, but that something instinctive and intuitive guides them along, and in doing so presents unexpected nuances and flourishes that keep you guessing and returning. In that sense, there's an obvious affinity with the ON-U-Sound crew, and of course, the 'it was easy it was cheap go and do it' freedom of Ten Dubs That Shook The World. It's killer evolution for an artist and label clearly uninterested in standing still. Edition of 200 (and this stuff always sells out, sorry)
FFO: Sheriff Lindo, Gary Clail, Adrian Sherwood, Dub Syndicate, Vivien Goldman
