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Dub Housing ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED Remastered
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Dub Housing ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED Remastered
5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
 Weird but Funky!, October 21, 2003
Listening to this recording, it's hard to imagine that it was released in 1978. Pere Ubu is a band that has had few antecedents and few followers. Their work is an odd mix of pop hooks, noise, edgy instrumental improvisations on guitar and sax, and the always spine tingling psychovoice of Dave Thomas. Ubu is unique and in many ways hard to get into initially. My first and last Ubu experience for 20 years was the Art of Walking, the band's "anti-rock" album and after two or three listens I sold the album (big mistake probably, since the LP is worth serious bucks now.) But picking up Dub Housing, I realize now that I was missing something quite special and prophetic.Dub Housing is a masterpiece. From the hook rich tracks like Navvy and On the Surface to the noise experiments on Thriller, this is a forward thinking album. Moments in the recording might have roots in the art-rock of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, but mixed in with that is the rock drive of Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and some of the sound experiments of the Art Bears, or Henry Cow. Yet Ubu is not like any of these bands. Stand out tracks on the recording include the tense and yet funky, Navvy; the terrifying Dub Housing; the slightly wobbly Drinking Wine Spodyody, with is not-quite-together feel in the rhythm section and Dave Thomas' warbling neurotic vocal; the almost psychobeachpop of Ubu Dance Party; the noise freakouts of Thriller and Blow Daddy-o; and the superspooky stalker music of Codex. But to me the cut that most perfectly depicts Ubu on this CD is Caligari's Mirror. The cut is a wild take off on the sea chantey "What Can You Do With a Drunken Sailor" delivered with barely controlled paranoia by Thomas, which then morphs into a bright pop-hook chorus. The song is layered with keyboard white noise and Tom Herman's tense guitar licks. This captures the tension in Ubu between art and rock; between paranoia and hilarity. Pere Ubu is not easy music, though, with their well crafted pop hooks, they are more accessible than Captain Beefheart, the band they most resemble. Dave Thomas' vocals are the signature of the band, and if you don't like his brand of warbling and his thin tone, you won't like Ubu. But listening now with 21st Century ears it's hard to imagine a rock band that goes farther than Ubu. Their influence can be heard in the work of Sonic Youth, Radiohead, and perhaps arguably even Nine Inch Nails. Love them or hate them, Pere Ubu was probably one of the most important alternative bands to have come out of the 70s, and one that still sounds outré even 25 years later.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
 Tuneful dissonance, April 14, 2004
This mostly dark album contains some great moments and engages the mind with its sonic experimentation that can perhaps be described as a type of psycho funk rock, more or less along the same lines as Captain Beefheart. Navvy is a burbling ditty, the title track has interesting arrangement with rhythmic and vocal variation whilst Thriller! with its muffled vocals presents quite an eerie soundscape. The tortured vocals of David Thomas have a strange charm, especially on songs like I Will Wait, Drinking Wine Spodyody and the impressive Ubu Dance Party with its rousing build-up. My favorite song on the album is the semi-instrumental Blow Daddy-o that has an ominous and hypnotic instrumental texture with background whispers. The music is art rock with visceral appeal and although Dub Housing is considered a masterpiece, my real rating is three and a half stars. I find their pop album Worlds In Collision far more enjoyable and memorable.
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Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
In a just world..., February 25, 2005
...Pere Ubu would be hailed as one of the most original acts to come out of America in the last thirty years. Instead it's almost total obscurity. I'm always amazed at the sheer number of "informed" music lovers who have never even heard of them. Truly sad. I was looking through some SPIN Record Guide thing and they had little boxes where people from bands would list their favorite records. I was astonished the number of times Dub Housing and Datapanik In The Year Zero appeared. Greil Marcus gave them gushing admiration as well while simultaneously trashing the NY and LA scene of the same time period, saying the very best was coming straight out of Cleveland. I agree. This work, along with Terminal Tower and Modern Dance, is a great starting point. I think this album holds together as a cohesive unit better than the other two. If they had released Terminal Tower as just the original Datapanik In The Year Zero E.P. and left off the last few tracks, I wouldn't be saying that. Something about this album is so cold and wintry and bleak, and I always crack it out at that time of the year.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A Little Different, November 17, 2004
I really laughed when I read the review by the Dead Boy's fan!No,these guys don't sound much like the Dead Boys!In fact,they don't sound like anyone else in the world.The Talking Heads and Gang of Four both achieved some success with sounds that were as unique,but Pere Ubu never had a #1 hit or got long,fawning reviews in Rolling Stone.But you can argue that they should have.These guys from Cleveland,of all places,were doing something that was completely new.They acheived zero commercial success but anyone that loves rock should at least have this album or The Modern Dance.After this album their work became uneven-I don't know this but I'm betting that David Thomas became convinced that he was important or something along those lines occurred.The communiques I'm getting from the Ubu website lead me to believe that he's become aware of his band's legacy and he now sees himself as an artist-or maybe I'm just imagining it. Anyway,this album and The Modern Dance are both required listening for anyone who is interested in rock as genuine folk art. They don't sound like the Dead Boys,that's for sure! Buy this album!
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Music that's off the beaten path - especially "Thriller!", July 9, 2004
In all honesty, this album can be rather irritating to me if I'm not in the right mood for it. Thomas' bizarre caterwauling is unique to say the least, but it's very expressive. I'm sure this music would've been more of a revelation to me if I could've heard it when it first came out. It's pretty fun when I feel like hearing it though.
Conversely, I really like weird, unique, otherworldly music and therefore I really dig the "Thriller!" track. Without a doubt, it is really trippy. It starts off meandering rather aimlessly in a spacey jazzy sort of way and is soon overcome by some sort of alien rhythmic frequency. A while back I made some old tapes of the strangest music I could find (Faust, Cabaret Voltaire) and "Thriller!" always made the cut.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
required title, June 14, 2004
Reviewer: A music fan
Subtly creepy. Get a copy of this as soon as you can. Play at loud volumes when applicable. Repeated close listenings bring great rewards.
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