Laika Come Home is a reworkings album of the Gorillaz's debut album, Gorillaz released in July 2002. Unlike a typical remix album, it is done by just one group, Spacemonkeyz. It contains most of the songs from Gorillaz' debut album, but remixed in dub and reggae style. The album features Terry Hall , U Brown, Earl 16 and 2-D.
Background[]
The Spacemonkeyz originally remixed just one track ("Tomorrow Dub", which later suffered minor changes and was renamed into 'Bañana Baby') which appeared on the "Tomorrow Comes Today" single release, but Damon Albarn liked the result so much he gave the go-ahead for a whole album of dub reworkings. In real life, the remix was made by DJ Darren Galea, but the same story applies.
The Spacemonkeyz certainly know their dub; even seasoned reggae fanatics have been known to admit that 'Laika Come Home' 's sound is truly authentic, and the Gorillaz songs for the most part lend themselves excellently to this treatment. The fan reaction was mixed; for many young fans this departure from the Gorillaz usual sound was too much, and the soundscape was too sparse. And of course not everyone likes dub reggae in any case. In spite of this many fans did rate the album, at least as a soundtrack to a chillout session. Damon, renowned lover of World Music must surely have taken pleasure at the thought of so many Gorillaz fans being introduced to the world of Dub in this way. The standout track 'Lil' Dub Chefin' ' (originally M1 A1) was lifted from the album for a single release in the UK. This release has always been referred to as officially by 'Gorillaz Versus Spacemonkeyz'.
Track listing[]
| Standard Edition | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Gorillaz original | Length | |||||||
| 1. | 'Jungle Fresh' | 19/2000 | 5:28 | |||||||
| 2. | 'Strictly Rubbadub' | Slow Country | 3:41 | |||||||
| 3. | 'Bañana Baby' | Tomorrow Comes Today | 5:29 | |||||||
| 4. | 'Monkey Racket' | Man Research (Clapper) | 5:57 | |||||||
| 5. | 'De-Punked' | Punk | 5:20 | |||||||
| 6. | 'P.45' | 5/4 | 4:26 | |||||||
| 7. | 'Dub Ø9' | Starshine | 5:17 | |||||||
| 8. | 'Crooked Dub' | Sound Check (Gravity) | 5:31 | |||||||
| 9. | 'Mutant Genius' | New Genious (Brother) | 5:02 | |||||||
| 10. | 'Come Again' | Re-Hash | 6:04 | |||||||
| 11. | 'A Fistful Of Peanuts' | Clint Eastwood | 5:53 | |||||||
| 12. | 'Lil' Dub Chefin'' | M1 A1 | 5:42 | |||||||
Total length: |
62:36 | |||||||||
| Hidden tracks | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 13. | 'More Rubbadub' ('Strictly Rubbadub' extended version) | 5:14 | ||||||||
| 14. | 'More Peanuts' ('A Fistful of Peanuts' extended version) | 6:39 | ||||||||
Total length: |
75:47 | |||||||||
| Japanese CD-ROM bonus content | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | 'Game Of Death (G-Bite)' | 1:24 | ||||||||
| 2. | 'Jump The Gut (G-Bite)' | 1:17 | ||||||||
Personnel[]
Musicians[]
- Damon Albarn - vocals, piano ("Strictly Rubbadub", "Bañana Baby"), stylophone ("Strictly Rubbadub"), melodica ("Bañana Baby", "Monkey Racket", "A Fistful of Peanuts"), guitar ("Dub Ø9", "Crooked Dub", "Come Again")
- Spacemonkeyz - instrumentation, programming, guitar, bass, drum programming
- Miho Hatori - additional vocals ("Jungle Fresh", "Come Again")
- Tina Weymouth - additional vocals ("Jungle Fresh")
- Michael Smith - horn, horn arrangements ("Jungle Fresh", "Strictly Rubbadub", "Bañana Baby", "De-Punked", "P.45", "Come Again", "A Fistful Of Peanuts", "Lil' Dub Chefin'"), flute ("A Fistful Of Peanuts")
- Martin Shaw - horn ("Jungle Fresh")
- Dan Left Hand - bass ("Jungle Fresh")
- Jeff Scantlebury - percussion ("Jungle Fresh", "Strictly Rubbadub", "Bañana Baby", "De-Punked", "P.45", "Dub Ø9" "Crooked Dub", "Come Again", "A Fistful Of Peanuts", "Lil' Dub Chefin'")
- Jaques Shythé - castanets ("Jungle Fresh")
- U Brown - vocals ("Strictly Rubbadub", "A Fistful Of Peanuts")
- Dennis Rollins - horn ("Strictly Rubbadub", "Bañana Baby", "De-Punked", "P45", "Come Again", "A Fistful Of Peanuts", "Lil' Dub Chefin'")
- Dominic Glover - horn ("Strictly Rubbadub", "Bañana Baby", "De-Punked", "P45", "Come Again", "A Fistful Of Peanuts", "Lil' Dub Chefin'")
- Phil Soul - bass ("Strictly Rubbadub", "Bañana Baby", "Monkey Racket", "Crooked Dub", "Come Again", "Lil' Dub Chefin'")
- Earl Sixteen - vocals ("Bañana Baby", "A Fistful Of Peanuts")
- Stuart Zender - bass ("Bañana Baby", "Monkey Racket"), clavinet ("Monkey Racket")
- Pete Collis - incendiary device ("De-Punked")
- Simon Katz - guitar ("P.45"), organ ("Lil' Dub Chefin'")
- Brian Pisce - strings ("Crooked Dub")
- Terry Hall - vocals ("Lil' Dub Chefin'")
Technical[]
- Gorillaz - production
- Tom Girling - co-production, engineering, Pro Tools
- Jason Cox - co-production, engineering
- Dan Nakamura - production ("Jungle Fresh", "Strictly Rubbadub", "Bañana Baby", "Monkey Racket", "De-Punked", "P.45", "Crooked Dub", "Mutant Genius", "Come Again", "A Fistful Of Peanuts", "Lil' Dub Chefin'")
- Spacemonkeyz - additional production, re-mixing
- Pete Collis - assistance
Artwork[]
- J. C. Hewlett - illustration
- Mat Wakeham - art direction
- Kate McLauchlan - design
- Roland Hamilton - monkey photos
Release dates and chart positions[]
Due to chart rules concerning remixes at the time, sales of Laika Come Home counted for the parent album Gorillaz in the album charts.
- UK: 01/07/02 – highest chart position: #108
- JP: 3/07/02 – highest chart position: did not chart
- US: 16/07/02 – highest chart position: #156
- FR: 16/07/02 – highest chart position: #118
Trivia[]
- According to the fictional Gorillaz biography Rise of the Ogre, the Spacemonkeyz were actually three escaped lab monkeys used in space tests. 2-D had accidentally left Kong Studios unlocked while the band were touring America in 2002. This allows the trio to break into the studio, steal the master tapes and create a remix album in to contact their god, Laika. Impressed by the monkey's recordings, he decided to release the compilation as an album under the Gorillaz name.
- The album's title is both references to Laika, the Soviet space dog, and the 1943 film, Lassie Come Home.
- The album contains mixes of almost every song on the original debut album except for Double Bass, Latin Simone (Que Pasa Contigo), and Rock the House.
- The album also features singer Tina Weymouth, who provided additional vocals for the song "19-2000", and consequently the Spacemonkeyz remix and the album's first track, "Jungle Fresh", however she was not credited on the cover of it such as how the other featured artists were.
- Noodle, who provides backing vocals for some of the tracks, is also not featured on the cover, unlike 2-D.
Gallery[]
