Laika Come Home

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So, the Gorillaz have hired some space monkeyz to remix their album? Right... The official story behind Laika Come Home is that it's the product of an intergalactic odyssey apparently undertook by D-Zire, Dubversive and Gavva, all descendents of the first chimps sent into space. And what does a lonely simian listen to in the dark coldness of space? Why bone-shaking dubscapes with enough reverb to transmit their message to the outer edges of the universe, of course.

Re-editing and producing a dub version of an album might sound like a pretty self-indulgent affair and to a certain extent Laika is. Whilst Gorillaz sounded original, it was a pop project with all the constraints that went with it – can you imagine the 6 minute remixed version of "Clint Eastwood" making it onto MTV?. But that's exactly what makes Laika so good. Listen to the "De-Punked" version of "Punk" with its meandering, decayed trumpet and computerised tweaks-- hardly recognisable as the original--or the swinging old-school ska that crops ups on "5/4". The two-tone skank of "M1/A1" (with Terry Hall) sounds like it should have been the original version, while the real killer tracks are those injected with dancehall vibes by DJ U Brown and Earl 16. Who says "you don't get paid for doing what you love"? Not Damon Albarn. --Caroline Butler