Remixology: Tracing the Dub Diaspora

In Remixology: Tracing the Dub Diaspora, Paul Sullivan delves into the evolution of Dub, reggae's avant-garde counterpart. As a collection of studio strategies and techniques, Dub was among the first forms of popular music to invert the concept of a song, and its full potential is still being unearthed. With a unique understanding of dance, electronic, and popular music, the Dub-originated ideas of remix and re-interpretation laid the groundwork for twenty-first-century music.

This book investigates Dub's origins in 1970s Kingston, Jamaica, and tracks its development as a genre, approach, and musical attitude right up to the present day. Stopping in key cities where it has had the most impact—London, Berlin, Toronto, Kingston, Bristol, New York—Sullivan's study covers a variety of genres, from post-punk to dub-techno, jungle to the now ubiquitous dubstep. Along the way, he converses with a host of international musicians, DJs, and luminaries of the Dub world, including Scientist, Adrian Sherwood, Channel, U Roy, Clive Chin, Dennis Bovell, Shut Up And Dance, DJ Spooky, Francois Kevorkian, Mala, and Roots Manuva.

This comprehensive and lucid book follows several parallel threads, including the evolution of the MC, the birth of sound system culture, and the broader story of the post-war Jamaican diaspora itself. As one of the few books written specifically on Dub and its global influence, Remixology is also among the first to examine the specific relationship between Dub and the concept that now permeates all postmodern creative disciplines: the Remix.