Adrian Sherwood - C/D, S & D?

all of the aforementioned groups have cool full length albums. New Age Steppers have both Ari Up from the Slits and Mark Stewart from the Pop Group singing.

i dig the 3 African Headcharge albums i have. they're kinda like what would happen if Enigma or Deep Forest didn't really suck. sampled ethnic vocals over dub beats and nyabinghi drumming. i picked up a record by the leader of the group (Noah House of Dread) and thought it was kinda suck.

i've always heard to stay away from the Gary Clail and Tackhead stuff. early industrial sampler noise. i dunno because i've never heard any of it.

I also have Mark Stewart "As The Veneer of Democracy Starts to End" and i really don't like it. very claustrophobic.

i will add my list to this thread later.

african headcharge seconded. i like learning to cope with cowardice > democracy for mark stewart. fuck there are so many great on-u sound things, esp from the 80's. then i think they went a bit wayward, but the unplugged mellow bollywood strings Bim Sherman record "miracle" is a lovely thing.

also donut bitch to thread.

In the meantime, if you find Keith LeBlanc "Major Malfuction [sic]" album and not for too much, grab it. the "Tackhead Tape Time" album is alright, but kinda tinny once you have the singles that album collects, but you can usually find the CD for around a buck used.

The two volumes of African Head Charge's "Great Vintage" CDs are totally urgent and key buys... as are the Creation Rebel and New Age Steppers collection CDs.

Also, "Pay It All Back" volumes 1 and 2 are GREAT v/a primers for On-U sound in general if you can find them. (the CD for volume 2 has most of the good stuff from volume 1)

Even the Gary Clail "end of the century party" and Barmy Army "the english disease" (which for all intents and purposes are twin albums from 1989) are decent, as is Gary Clail's "The Emotional Hooligan" (1991).

Mark Stewart: "Learning To Cope With Cowardice" (1983) is great, more dubby and certainly noisy at points. "As The Veneer Of Democracy" (1985) is pure noise/beat insanity, and pretty much prototyped the entire DHR roster, and could be either a) completely bonkers great, or b) completely bonkers annoying, depending on your tolerance for that kind of thing. "Mark Stewart" (1987) is very spotty, but has great moments like "Anger is Holy" and "Fatal Attraction"... and "Hysteria" (1989) is the most solid, consistent but most "rock" Stewart album.

Search also the On-U remix of the Beatnigs' "Television".. The Beatnigs were Michael Franti's group -- pre-Disposable Heroes Of HipHoprisy and Spearhead -- when they were a crazed bunch of politically charged industrial funk Residents fans. The Beatnigs CD on Alternative Tentacles pretty much has everything they've ever done.

Keith LeBlanc's "Stranger Than Fiction" (1989) is OK, too, but your best bet is the "Einstein" 12", a single from that album.

Once the 90s hit, sadly, the On-U production quality started spiraling down.

Avoid Tackhead's "Friendly as a Hand Grenade" and definitely "Strange Things". No offense to lead singers who are soulful but I think that was an unwise move, given Tackhead's rather cold rhythmic backdrop.. the two just didn't go great together. "Strange Things" was a weird cash-in record.. featuring guest appearances from Mark E. Smith to Mick Jagger on the same record - if you had the CD with all the bonus tracks, that is. It was, to use Mark S.'s term, Tackhead's "pub rock" album. Just weak weak weak.

Ironically, Tackhead's last official release, the "Videohead" single from 1991 was one of their best moments yet a total departure... as it was a Tim Simenon (aka Bomb The Bass) production, and was mostly a hard 4/4 acid-y sounding dance tune with little On-U grime.

* Tackhead "What's My Mission Now"?
* Gary Clail "Half Cut For Confidence"
* Fats Comet "Rockchester"
* Ché "Be My (Powerstation)" (or might be under St. Ché, this version has a spoken word b-side -- by all of people, Sian Phillips, the famous Welsh theater actress best known for playing Olivia in the I, Claudius series -- which is sampled heavily in the A-side)
* Tackhead "Mind At The End Of The Tether"
* Mark Stewart "Hypnotised" (12" contains brilliant insane noise piece "Dreamers", which is thankfully a bonus track on the "As The Veneer" CD)
* Voice Of Authority LP

The rest of alright but not urgent.

I've always tried to figure out WHO THE HELL IS FATS COMET? Is it Doug Wimbish? Or just a made up name?

Prince Far-I's Cry Tuff Dub Encounter series (I understand that Sherwood was involved uncredited with most, 2-4 I think, and if you told me that he wasn't dubbing at least part of 3 I'd be shocked) are obv. classics.

Sherwood also classic for being involved with Carib Gems records, which is responsible for the UK release of some absolute corkers.

The 2Bad Card single, "Leaving Rome" was the last On-U thing I heard which I thought was genius. That's the best part of a decade ago now.

creation rebel is a bit overrated but fun anyway

as for recomedations .. all of the clail albums have the highpoints (and a few lows) the barmy army is dropdead classic .. along with Andy Fairly/Little Annie albums etc .. there is a small on-u section @ ireallylovemusic that sums up most of the classic albums of the late 80's/90's on-u stuff.
loving it.

but seriously - ghetto priest new album. go find some tracks and see what you think ..
onwards !
mark e

WHO THE HELL IS FATS COMET? Is it Doug Wimbish?

fats comet was just a silly made up name that they invented for the character that says 'fats comet' on the records.

'stormy weather' and 'rockchester' rule as does that st. che 12". the crucial tackhead 12"s are 'what's my mission now?' and 'mind at the end of it's tether' (especially for the b-side 'is there a way out). sadly, tackhead COMPLETELY lost it when bernard fowler (peech boys) joined. they rapidly descended into a cock rock parody - truly abysmal.

sherwood was on fire from '85 to around '88 with his electro productions / remixes. check his production for pankow, skinny puppy, kmfdm and especially 'twitch' by ministry and 'major malfuction' by keith le blanc which came out on the same day! maybe a little dated sounding if hearing it for the first time now but when 'twitch' came out, it changed my whole perception of what it was possible to do with sound.

i also saw him doing a live mix for lee 'scratch' perry and dub syndicate live which reduced me to a hysterical wreck. but, thee moment that still haunts me was mark stewart and maffia live. the maffia were doug wimbish, skip macdonald and keith le blanc aka fats comet aka tackhead aka the original sugarhill session band (yup, it's them on 'white lines' and 'the message'). it was like funkadelic jamming with whitehouse with sherwood doing thee most insane live mix imaginable - sounds zapping from speaker to speaker, echoes that went on forever, white noise dissolving into sheer white heat melody. i made the serious mistake of taking acid at this show and at the end i was literally glued to the spot. i could still hear the echoes running riot inside my brain. that event is forever imprinted on my conciousness and intense as it was i would still like to personally thank sherwood for frying my brain.

i haven't really followed sherwood since 1990 or so but he was my god for a while.

on the reggae side of things, ALL the singers and players, the first 4 african head charges, 'pay it back' 1 and 2 (but my god, especially volume 1), the 'wild paarty sounds' comp, everything by new age steppers, the first playgroup record, the first 4 dub syndicates and all the 10" disco plates - all are totally and utterly essential.

nd yes i saw Tackhead .. thrice .. once without Berie - amazing .. and twice with Bernie - not quite as impressive to say the least ..

funnily enough i still run into people who count that show as one of the best they've ever been to!

then again i loved the keith leblanc solo set i saw prior o takhead proper show . so guess that indicates my part of the on-u sound i dug ..

but that was then .. i am wanting to know more re now .. after all the promise (as i have mentioned in this very thread but forgot about ^^^ !!) - where for art thou Mutant Hi Fi/2 Bad Card finished albums ?

suspect the collapse of EFA is a lot to blame .. as On-U were linked up ..

at least this seems to be updated and somewhat relevant ..

BassBruisedRibs! Amaz-zing!

...

Oh go ahead, try... guess.

...

Still guessing?

...

Well, it's obvious! Cleopatra! Aren't you happy now? *swoon*

http://www.vennfestival.com/friday.htm

Jeebus Fecking Crust!!

Can we revive this? I've been listening a bunch to the 2-disc 15 Years In an Open Boat comp, On-U Sound Celebration comp on German Trance and assorted other goodies.

I've always been partial to the non-reggae/dub stuff. I always enjoyed Tackhead Tape Time, really loved the Voice of Authority stuff on Celebration. Most of it doesn't sound "industrial" in the "shitty guitars and bellowing vocals" sense of the word today — more cut-up electro. LeBlanc's work, in particular, is really compelling.

And I'll break with others here -- after years of being told to stay the hell away, I actually enjoy Friendly As a Hand Grenade quite a bit. "Airborne Ranger" is a hoot — kind of a more aggro-Art of Noise.

still waiting for the mutant hi-fi album.

though adrians myspace seems to indicate that the uk are going to be gettiing some new on-u product by end of the year.
i'll believe it when i have the cd in my hands, as these things have a habit of falling apart for us on-u fans.

voice of authority was my first on-u album, it totally blew me away.

at the time, i was all over the more intense side of on-u (tackhead/leblanc etc), whereas these days its the reggae stuff i listen to the most.

I can't find the whole VoA album anywhere -- I only have cuts on the Celebration CD. I'd love to hear the whole thing.

I actually agree about the reggae being more appealing as I get older. At the time, I thought it sounded very same-y -- I'd be damned if I could've been able to tell Dub Syndicate or New Age Steppers apart. But as time has gone on, I hear tunes there a lot more, even in the super dubby stuff. I pulled out Dub Syndicate's One Way System this morning and really enjoyed it.

I still play Staggering Heights by Singers and Players quite often. Bedward The Flying Preacher is among the strangest tracks I know. "He have no wing but he going to fly".

Bedward The Flying Preacher is among the strangest tracks I know

without a doubt my favourite on-u record.
this was on Pay It all Back Volume 1 : track 1 side 2.
my second On-U purchase (99p!)
As soon as I got to that track, I knew me and On-U were in for the long haul.

In order of how much I play them:

Singers & Players
African Head Charge
Creation Rebel
Dub Syndicate
New Age Steppers

I listen to the Disco Plates comps and Pay It All Back somewhere in the middle and I hardly ever pull out the London Underground, Gary Clail or Mark Stewart records (which haven't aged too well.)

I don't know Clail beyond Tackhead Tape Time and "Human Nature" (which is, if nothing else, catchy), but the Tackhead stuff has aged surprisingly well, me thinks. Even with as much cut-up and splice crap that there's been since 1987, the fact that it's a live band underneath (particularly with LeBlanc's shifting rhythms) makes those records stand apart.

They were a very hit or miss act.

I was in the right place, at the right time.

I was fortunate enough to crack open a copy of ON-U LP 01 New Age Steppers "Action Battlefield" in 81 @ the record store I worked at. It was slow, the store was empty, and I saw the name "Ari" on the back. I was a huge Slits & Pop Group fan. Then someone gave me a cassette of "Starship Africa"

About a year later I was a buyer @ Rough Trade SF, so I got the gig ordering On-U and talked to Kishi (Adrian's then wife, On-U graphics lady, future collaborator with Annie Anxiety). I went to London in Summer of 82 and made a beeline for On-U and spent a good part of my time there hanging out with them and Pete from London Underground. Somewhere I have cassettes of stuff Adrian copied for me including earlier versions of the "Learning to Cope" album that are way more straight roots + a vocal version of the Prince Hammer album and I don't know what else. I was also @ some London Underground sessions.

I moved to London from 84-85 and got to be at tons of mostly mix sessions @ Southern including the Yu-Gung remix & some of Kishi tracking for Annie's album, and met Style Scott (doing drum overdubs for Dub Syndicate) and heard stories about Creation Rebel from Adrian & Lizard. Plus some other random later stuff like the Skinny Puppy remix, which was @ Trax in Chicago, and a Clail session w/Dave Harrow.

That period in the 80s was a hugely creative time for him with big advances in production both influenced and hampered by the technology of the time, like John Loder realizing they could use the AMS digital delays as primitive samplers, which gave rise to the repetitive sound bites he used @ the time. Most of those samples were triggered by pressing a button on the front of the unit, but they could be triggered by input signals. "Very Big In America" was composed mostly by Adrian in the studio, using samples off tapes, to fulfill his Cherry Red contract. That's why it sounds really stiff. I'm pretty sure the Depeche remixes were done this way 'cause he told he went to Hansa in Berlin with reels of sounds to do those mixes. I think he had reels with him @ Trax as well.

About the whole later Tackhead thing and Bernard Fowler; it helps to remember that these guys are SESSION players, not a section of the populace known for their aesthetic. I mean Doug Wimbish played with the STONES. Their later live stuff is pretty wanky, Also I'm pretty sure that Keith was never in the Sugarhill crew, he was on the Tommy Boy team. I saw 2 awesome T-head gigs, one @ Camden w/Mark Stewart & one @ the Metro w/Stewart & Clail. Powerful stuff.

Search as follows:

Roots/dub:

Creation Rebel, Singers & Players, Deadly Headley, Bim Sherman "Across the Red Sea", earlier Dub Syndicate, Lee Perry "Time Boom", Doctor Pablo (fake Augustus Pablo album). Also check the Hitrun stuff. http://www.discogs.com/label/Hitrun+Records. That's his old label, with some Creation Rebel & Far-I.

The more "progressive" stuff:

African Head Charge "My Life", Mark Stewart "Learning/Jerusalem", Annie "I Think Of You" 12", New Age Steppers, Bim Sherman "Miracle" (astounding acoustic album that cost so much to make, Adrian had to sell it to Martin Mills). Early Tackhead/Clail.

There're loads of other records that are worth grabbing cheap for the odd track, like the Andy Fairly album, Strange Parcels, Little Roy (I might still have a box of promo CDs of this somewhere).

Annie Anxiety's Soul Possession album is one of my favorite Sherwood productions.

Great post, factcheckr! You sure are right about the "right place at the right time" -- wow! That's interesting to know about the Voice of America stuff -- I actually like that record quite a bit, but your point about AMS digital delays makes a lot of sense.

I'm a little shocked at how little has been written about Adrian and the whole On-U scene. Outside of a great entry in the Spin Alternative Record Guide and a mention in Rip It Up and Start Again, and the spare interview here and there, there isn't much on the web on this stuff at all.

"i'll believe it when i have the cd in my hands, as these things have a habit of falling apart for us on-u fans."

Lee "Scratch" Perrys, The Mighty Upsetter, is solid but relatively straightforward production, Samiah Farahs debut, the many moods of .., is not a proper On-U release, but with Adrian on the mix its got a few tracks of value.

However the real deal is the Harry Beckett collaboration.

Jazz trumpeter Harry Beckett riffs over some On-U productions (some new, some known) and sets in stone a cracking album.

fatcheckr - whoa. I always wondered re VOA album .. many thanks for the insight.

One of my biggest regrets (along with the Nasty Rox Inc., CA$H cd) happens to be seeing a box of ON-U cds in a shop in halifax that had a copy of the Little Roy album.

I always intended to pick it up, but i moved jobs and forgot to go back in my last week there.

Gary Clail "Half Cut For Confidence"

Annie Anxiety's Soul Possession album is one of my favorite Sherwood productions.

been listening to the first african headcharge album alot recently, it's incredible, easily the best post-punk approximation of dub i've heard, and it sounds incredibly fresh.

also really like learning to cope with cowardice by mark stewart, although i made the mistake of listening to it loudly with headphones and almost deafened myself, there is some ridiculous levels of high-range noise on that record.

can we do a s/d of adrian sherwood remixes? somebody already mentioned his mix of "master & servant", his mix of "people are people" (re-titled "are people people?") is also jaw-droppingly amazing and weird. his remix of einsturzende neubauten "yu gung" is cool. tell me more!

and yeah, twitch is a great album

great sherwood remixes -

"masimbabele" - unknown cases
"addiction" - skinny puppy
"here to go" - cabaret voltaire
"don't argue" - cabaret voltaire
"radio morocco' - pulse 8
"enjoy the silence" - depeche mode
"stop this crazy thing" - coldcut
"television" - the beatnigs
"art and madness" - pankow
"gimme more" - pankow
"rip the system" - kmfdm
"girls and boys" - pankow

is his "enjoy the silence" remix the 15 minute quad mix, made alongside tim simenon and holger hiller? i really need to hear that.

it is. the orchestral "strings" mix is also fantastic.

can we do a s/d of adrian sherwood remixes?

echodek.

as you'd expect, i listen to this a lot more than the source material.

i just seen he did a remix of "let's all make a bomb" by heaven 17, love the og, but the remix is from 1998, is it worth tracking down?

he did Shriekback's "Mistah Linn He Dead" and I think another remix of "Hand On My Heart". love 'em!

So has he been doing anything lately?

So has he been doing anything lately?

ummm. yeah. i refer the honourable fastnbulbous to the answer i gave earlier.

ie. production on lee scratch perrys new album (on-u), the new harry beckett album(on-u), and mixing of the samiah farah album.

clearly from these new releases it feels like the man is mellowing, as none of these have the trademark use of noise/distortion, but all have their moments of brilliance.

ok i need more stuff by this guy that sounds like twitch and the depeche mode remixes and less straight up dub/post-punk. please help!

Keith LeBlanc/Tackhead - Major Malfuction

St. Che - "(Be My) Powerstation"

If you don't care as much for actual notes or a constant beat, and just want something really noisy and amazing

Mark Stewart - As The Veneer Of Democracy Starts To Fade

(i think Sherwood co-produced Pretty Hate Machine by NIN?! Or was that just the "Down In It" single?)

Just the single. Flood did most of it.

I went to London in Summer of 82 and made a beeline for On-U and spent a good part of my time there hanging out with them and Pete from London Underground. Somewhere I have cassettes of stuff Adrian copied for me including earlier versions of the "Learning to Cope" album that are way more straight roots + a vocal version of the Prince Hammer album and I don't know what else. I was also @ some London Underground sessions.

wow! especially the roots version of the mark stewart album, would love to hear that for the contrast

I'm a little shocked at how little has been written about Adrian and the whole On-U scene. Outside of a great entry in the Spin Alternative Record Guide and a mention in Rip It Up and Start Again, and the spare interview here and there, there isn't much on the web on this stuff at all.

― Naive Teen Idol, Saturday, August 9, 2008 1

I think I recall reading interesting stuff way back in Op and Option that I guess is not online. I still have some of those issues, I think.

This was written about all the time in 80s and 90s zines, but yeah, as curm says, much of it never made it to the web. Honestly, not much of what was written really good or accurate either. It always came from the "Twitch was groovy!" angle. That's a perfectly valid angle, but there were far more.

I admit though that On-U was my bridge to Jamaican/Kingston based music (aside from The Specials, which really doesn't count as much.)

The one question I've always wanted to ask but was never answered was why all the gazillion aliases? Just because? Is it just the same analogous situation where certain dance artists/producers use several aliases as a tradition of sorts?

Didn't realize Sherwood used that many aliases?

Tack>>Head [insert new suffix here]
Fats Comet
Barmy Army
Gary Clail & Soundsystem
(St.) Che
The Maffia
Missing Brazilians
Akabu
The Forehead Brothers

A few of these side projects/aliases each involve someone specific to it (Clail being the obvious example.) But for the most part, all of these have been part of the same family involving Sherwood, LeBlanc, Style Scott, and all of their 1-2 degree frends/musicians. Actual recordings of songs have often been transferred to different aliases for overdubs. (e.g. Mark Stewart's "Dreamers" is basically a Missing Brazilians track distorted and fucked with, add Stewart on top, etc.)

In brief: Tackhead/Sherwood were the most "green" band ever as far as over-recycling recordings while keeping their fans happy

Oh I don't think of those as aliases though. I mean I think of most of those as distinct bands. Just cuz they included some of the same personnel doesn't mean that they sounded necessarily sounded the same.

that's a good point. what's an alias on one forum is seen as a distinct group in another forum. that's certainly true in the world of Kingston-based music, where cross pollination of musicians is far more common.

My perspective comes from getting into On-U via the difficult dark-rock/dance back door (Wax Trax!, Mute, etc.) so, for me, having a dozen bands sharing the same personnel were "aliases" to me. On-U releases are also notoriously shy on liner note info... which is what attracted me to the label in the first place i.e these mostly dark, stark album/12" covers with cruddy typewriter type face and nothing much else.

However, I can definitely site direct backing track reissue between On-U aliases though. Then again, that's kinda the definition of a dub version, right? And that happened all the time in Kingston as well as far as sound systems went, so ur same difference. Sherwood has just applied that dub concept but added a whole skullfuckery of spacey noisy "rock" effects as well, hence On-U.

back track "reuse", sorry

hence On-U

indeed.

i got the annie anxiety's first single and album based on this thread's suggestion. that is some truly messed up, wonderful stuff. i can't believe i never heard it before.

weird to see this thread being revived.

after months of denial i caved in, and for the last few days i have listened to nothing but on-u sound.

not only that, but i had completely put to one side the whole little axe stuff.
what a mistake - headphone listened has revealed the albums, paricularly hard grind, to be absolutely fantastic.
the blending of AMS's dub studio methods, and skips love of swampy blues moods really hits the spot when you're working deep into the night.
yes, its a lot more polished than the core on-u style, but i think its a wonderful progression.

oh, and the demos on his daughters myspace prove to me that their is something in the blood - to think last time i heard her voice was backing up lee scratch on one of the old pay it all back compilations back when she must have been about 8 or 9.

so much has been promised for 2010 by the man himself to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the label, but as any fan knows, these things have a habit of not materialising.

missing brazilians is the most fucked up record i've ever heard

i was about to bump this just yesterday, mainly cause i've been obsessing over creation rebel & new age steppers and need to hear more. wish i could find some annie anxiety.

i got told off by a woman on the bus t'other day because i was listening to learning to cope with cowardice too loudly on my headphones. there's a ridiculous amount of treble on that album

i still have yet to fall in love with missing brazilians.
whenever i get in the mood for on-u i head for other stuff.
but yes, i think it could be necessary to dedicate some time for that album

xpost : i blame on-u for my tinnitus. seriously. that stuff is always needed to be heard too loud on headphones.

downloading missing brazilians now... i've been into sherwood/on-u for years, but this thread is certainly spurring me to find more.

yesterday i had a realisation that AMS is the artist whose material i have the most of in the archives (and lets be clear about this for all the input that the rest of the gang put in, it really is all about AMS's production style that makes it all sound so good)

his work outnumbers my other so called favourites by a huge factor.

re : In brief: Tackhead/Sherwood were the most "green" band ever as far as over-recycling recordings while keeping their fans happy

have you seen the site on which a bunch of the hardcore have annotated each of on-u rhythm/production and cross referenced them with other tracks so you can see the interaction between them all ?

http://www.skysaw.org/onu/resources/rhythmdirectory.html

was looking through it last night - one serious work of love.

missing brazilians is amazing. "savanna prance" is seriously one of the most psychedelic things i've ever heard. i like it when sherwood restrains himself, but when he goes all out, he's pretty damn special.

I finally found a copy of Soul Possession on LP over Xmas, yeah it is so great to hear it in full fidelity.

The 2nd Annie Anxiety album (on One Little Indian) also features a bunch of On-U players.

I have never even heard of Missing Brazilians, will rectify.

Eagerly awaiting the promised new AHC album for the 30th anniversary, but glad to hear mark e's words of caution.

I saw Sherwood at the mixing desk the other day for Lee Scratch Perry + Max Romeo + The Congos. I found myself watching the mixer at work at much as what was happening on stage. not only was his command of millions of knobs and switches impressive (I have trouble with the buttons on my washing machine), he also had some effects that he would band with a drum stick from time to time. Mesmerising.

By the way, I finally bought Action Battlefield by New age Steppers on Saturday, from a shop in Ghent (Belgium) with a huge On-U Sounds section.

watching AMS add his extras to a live show from the mixing desk is indeed special.

dont think i have ever seen a show where the man behind the mixing desk has had such an impact on the music as the various tackhead/mafia gigs that i have been too.

oh to find a shop with a on-u sound section.

those days in the uk are long long gone.

It was indeed amazing. And he was so relaxed it was like he was making a cup of tea.

To digress a bit, on the record shop theme, if you ever find yourself on this side of the channel, 'music mania records' in Ghent is a bit special. And you could do worse than a weekend record-shop trip to Cologne - you can barely move for vinyl there, and it isn't expensive.

missing brazilians is amazing

i, too, downloaded 'warzone' because of this revive- only had the chance to listen once but holy shit is it a cool album. so, yknow, thanks. very much looking forward to hearing 'learning to cope with cowardice' as well.

xpost
Flashback have a U-Sound section!

very much looking forward to hearing 'learning to cope with cowardice' as well.

i actually think the best track is one of the extras that was added to the recent reissue of that album : wrong name and wrong number

pure white noise overload with a rallying cry for the masses 'y'all bastards, bastards'

i have actively seen/heard the track blow out a very nice hi fi system. be careful.

haha yeah I destroyed a pair of speakers once cranking "Anger Is Holy".

hrm. i just looked through the skysaw website that someone linked to up there (it's an sherwood/on-u loveathon) and found i was missing a bunch of stuff. does anyone know if the "wild party sounds" and "disco plates" v/a collections are just samplers, or are they unique in any way? also, i'm completely missing african head charge, london underground, playgroup and deadly headly. any thoughts on any of those? i'm only up through the first 40 or so releases and realize i'm missing 10 or 15 of those albums. what about 12" singles? were those different? this is a fucking can of worms i don't need right now...

african head charge and playgroup are both really great. AHC puts "world" music vocal chants (sampled? i forget) on top of dub rhythms & nyabinghi drumming. obvious influence is the eno/byrne album. "my life in a hole in the ground" vs "my life in the bush of ghosts" etc. playgroup is more a post punk album with sherwoods effects and tribal drumming.

"this is a fucking can of worms i don't need right now..."

its just insane to even try and keep up with it all.
thankfully i never bothered with the vinyl side of the label (bar a couple back in the 80s) as it was just too much.
but picked up most of the cd albums at some point as and when.
missed out on a lot of the reissues on EFA due to the fucking up of the artwork on everything (the superimposed coloured 'M' really pissed me off).
now of course, i feel really fucking stupid, as the reissues are ££££ on amazon, and rarely seen in shops.
so hanging on for AMS to sort out another reissue package ..
ie. just in time for my retirement.

re : disco plates.

these were a series of 10" singles that they released back in the late 80s, and so were all collated for 2 cds at some point.

predom reggae tracks with their associated dub versions.

volume 1 :

1. African Blood - Congo Ashanti Roy
2. Blood Shed - Congo Ashanti Roy
3. Hands And Hearts - Congo Ashanti Roy
4. Revolution - Sherman, Bim
5. Too Much Workload - Sherman, Bim
6. Independent Man - Creation Rebel
7. Creation Rebel - Creation Rebel
8. Murder - Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah
9. Murderation - Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah
10. Stand Firm - Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah
11. Virgin - Prince Far-I
12. Danger - Sherman, Bim

volume 2 :

1. England Cold Pt. I - Undivided Roots
2. England Cold Pt. II - Undivided Roots
3. Move Up - Undivided Roots
4. Breaking Down The Pressure - Ashanti Roy
5. Autobiography - Mikey Dread & Singers & Players
6. What Happened - Dub Syndicate (1)
7. 2001 Love Pt. I - Dub Syndicate (1)
8. 2001 Love Pt. II - Dub Syndicate (1)
9. 93 Struggle - Dub Syndicate (1)
10. Can't Take It Easy - Dub Syndicate (1)
11. Keep You Dancing - Sherman, Bim & Dub Syndicate
12. Can't Stop Jumping - Sherman, Bim & Dub Syndicate

and brilliant of course - if you like the straight up reggae side of the label.

alright, disco plates. so they aren't just collections of already-released stuff then. late 80s though? i see them listed as some of the earliest stuff, as in disco plates vol 1 being the 12th vinyl release. which would place it back in 83 or so at the latest. i love the reggae stuff, but a lot of these titles i know. just want to know if they're different from album versions. i've actually tried to look these up before, but there was no info that would help me out. are you saying (when you say "straight up reggae") that these aren't dubbed? is "dubbed" a verb?

shit, i might have just made an ass of myself. look, between all the different rhythms and titles the man used, i'm getting confused. (nice rhyme) anyway. i guess those two albums are worth getting. at least for half of them.

i'm no collector, but sherwood drive me crazy.

sorry - i cant say if they are diff. to the album versions as dont have that deep an archive.
the cds i have basically have the straight reggae version followed by a more AMS styled dub version.
i suspect they are tracked as per the 10" singles themselves with a-sides followed by the b-sides.
my advise : if you see the cds at a decent price, buy.
simple as that.
if you are not happy with them, then i'll take them off your hands.
[my own copies are skippety-hop degrading cd-rs .. ]

xpost : yeah .. buy em.

ps. when you said 'album versions' i originally assumed you meant the various tracks appearing on other albums as opposed to these collections.

which of course they do all over the place as per the previously linked 'rhythms directory' will confirm.

i think i like the first AHC album best, my life in a hole in the ground. has to be the heaviest fusion of dub and post-punk ever

also, i'm certain the berwick st record exchange still has an on-u section, it's just empty most of the time

i'm chuffed to bits that the newly released (but recorded several years ago) AHC album, vision of a psychedelic africa, is very much in line with the classic songs of praise album.

great news!

I've been listening a lot to Jah Wobble's Molam Dub, and I really like it...one track I can't get enough of is the fourth track, "Lam Bane Xoc"...it's really good...

I wz thinking about getting the first New Age Steppers album, along with Annie Anxiety's Jackamo and African Head Charge's Off the Beaten Track? Are those good ones?

hell yes to all three imo

There are no bad African Head Charge albums.

Found the Missing Brazilians record this weekend and its great, but I think I like the Dub Syndicate album I got Strike The Balance just about as much.

according to new Mojo, AMS is working with Kevin 'the Bug' Martin on a dub version of London Zoo.

could go either way i guess, but i'm hoping for all out sonic immenseness.

of course i wont get my hopes up until the disc is actually in my hands, as the list of on-u related albums i have got excited about only for them to never appear continues to grow (audio active slash-n-mix , mutant hi-fi to name but 2)

Classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTgp8UtwmSc

^^^ my all time fave on-u track !!

The most hilarious thread ever.

New African Head Charge album streaming http://www.onu-sound.com/african-head-charge/index.html

will be getting that asap.
hopefully this new release is the beginning of a proper 30th anniversary celebration.
a boxset has been promised, but as always for on-u follwers, i suspect that patience will be tested.

They seem to be taking it quite seriously:
To mark the label’s 30th anniversary in 2011, we will be reissuing a number of classic On-U Sound albums, a selection of new releases, renewed live activity and the release of an extensive box-set.

The year of celebration begins in early March with the release of a new African Head Charge album and 3 classic reissues – New Age Steppers debut, Creation Rebel’s highly influential Starship Africa and African Head Charge’s hard-to-find Off The Beaten Track.

The plan will then be to release further new albums and classic reissues throughout 2011.

The new releases planned include a collection of contemporary remixes of Lee Perry’s On-U Sound output, the long-awaited On-U produced Little Axe album and a New Age Steppers long-player – their first since Foundation Steppers in 1983 – featuring vocal contributions from the late Ari Up and Mark Stewart amongst others. Details of further new releases will be announced shortly.

Amongst the classic reissues are albums from some of the label’s most acclaimed artists including Lee Perry, Dub Syndicate, Bim Sherman, Tackhead, Little Annie and Singers & Players.

There are also plans for a deluxe box-set which will include extensive sleeve-notes from Adrian Sherwood, rare and un-released tracks from the archive, a collection of classic tracks and a selection of some of Adrian’s finest remixes.

They seem to be taking it quite seriously

That's been up for quite a while - we're now in the second half of March, and there's no listings of any forthcoming reissues of the three titles mentioned for release in early March. We've been through this before. What's sad is the huge amount of crucial early material in the archives still unheard - post-Slits Ari Up, various Mark Stewart goodies, a Prince Hammer record, etc. Will these ever see the light of day?

Ah I see. I'll keep checking back then...

We've been through this before

i think its safe to say AMS struggles with the industry.

he has been burnt several times over the years (EFA going bust being the big one, the deal with EMI not going too well etc), so, i guess these things have gone back to being a cottage industry set up (literally ! on-u studio is now in the living room/kitchen of his house, according to various online videos), so, big projects like this will indeed take some sorting out.

AMS has said before how in the 80s his albums sold tens of thousands of copies, whereas now, a high profile release isn't going to sell anywhere near as much, meaning that a high cost project like a boxset is going to need funds, and i suspect he has become somewhat risk adverse, and so tests the waters for responses to such promises, in order to figure out demand.

i mean the last dub syndicate compilation was virtually a bootleg. no barcode, no label detail etc.

like i said, patience will be tested.

tis the on-u way.

more into the re-issues than the boxset tbh

http://www.djhistory.com/interviews/adrian-sherwood

Nice mix of old Adrian Sherwood/On-U Sound tunes:

http://testpressing.org/2010/02/02/producers-series-1-adrian-sherwood/

And here's a Part 2:

http://testpressing.org/2011/02/21/producers-series-11-adrian-sherwood-part-2/

was just thinking on the way into work it could be time to delve back into on-u (i go for months without listening to on-u, and then once i start, its very hard to move away from it .. ), so these mixes could be just the job.
also, seen the new reissues yesterday (african headcharge, and creation rebel).
very nicely packaging - a bit like the old mo'wax cd albums in carboard covers.
still, no word on the boxset though ..

30th anniversary on-u sound tour, anyone checking it out?

i'll be at the sherwood gig on wednesday in boston (five bucks!)

The year of celebration begins in early March with the release of a new African Head Charge album and 3 classic reissues – New Age Steppers debut, Creation Rebel’s highly influential Starship Africa and African Head Charge’s hard-to-find Off The Beaten Track

has anyone picked up these new editions ?

are they straightforward reissues (albeit but in nice packaging), or is the music remastered ?

still no sign of the boxset ..

Saw Dub Syndicate live once and was bored to tears. It didn't help that the group was preceded by two hours of dub over the PA. So it was like dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub .... 15 minute break ... dub dub dub dub dub dub.

i wouldn't be bored by two hours of dub, if it was a good PA!

went to see Sherwood last night. amazing to see that guy work a mixing board, and all those live effects he was using

"It didn't help that the group was preceded by two hours of dub over the PA. So it was like dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub .... 15 minute break ... dub dub dub dub dub dub."

What the heck did you think it was going to be?

"are they straightforward reissues (albeit but in nice packaging), or is the music remastered ?"

I think it's just nice packaging. The albums were reissued/remastered in the late 90s. Has remastering really improved that much since then?

alex otm

no idea.
just the latest dub syndicate compilation was specifically promoted as remastered, and sounds amazing.
so was hoping AMS had gone back and spruced up these latest reissues, but i guess you're right.
to be honest, i care not, if the reissues happen to still be there tomorrow, i'm grabbing them.
and yes, 2 hours of dub = heaven
would love to have seen dub syndicate live ..

xpost I expected a little more diversity over the PA before the headliner went on, to break things up a bit. Just as you wouldn't play, I dunno, Bob Seger for two hours before Bob Seger goes on - or for that matter "Music for Airports" before Bang on a Can does "Music for Airports" - so I expected some contrast for effect. I also felt it lessened the presence of the live band.

Wasn't terrible music, mind, but I had a raging headache by the end.

"Just as you wouldn't play, I dunno, Bob Seger for two hours before Bob Seger goes on"

Uh sure, but I'd probably expect two hours of rock before Bob Seger. Or similarly minimal music pre-BOAC does "Music For Airports". Were they playing only Dub Syndicate tracks for two hours prior? Or is this one of those all dub sounds alike things?

"I was shocked that when I went to this rave and all they played was techno and it all sounded the same."

"I was pleased when I saw Diplo that he didn't confine himself to playing a bunch of dancehall. He also played a Celine Dion dubstep remix!"

Just as you wouldn't play, I dunno, Bob Seger for two hours before Bob Seger goes on - or for that matter "Music for Airports" before Bang on a Can does "Music for Airports"

dub is not one person: it's a genre, a culture, a feeling, etc. it's not one sound but a panorama of sounds--it encompasses so much

would write more but typing is hard for me, mostly confined to one-liners

This set of dub did not comprise a panorama of sounds, encompassing much. I blame the DJ and/or soundsystem.

At the same time, it was something like a decade ago, so maybe it was awesome and I was not.

i succumbed and picked up the new little axe and new african headcharge albums today.

love the artwork - much better than the last round of "new" releases, basically the mighty stepper/dubstepper releases - both of which had truly dreadful artwork.
the new style fits in well, and goes with the redesigned website.
as for the music : well, neither album stretches the boundaries of on-u sound, but are very solid albums.
especially the new little axe, which as a project has become more and more real world/radio 2 friendly over the years, so good to have the sound go back to on-u both in record label, and sound.

not bothering with the new remix album of the mighty stepper as its by various dubstep producers and i doubt i'd enjoy it.

so all that remains now, is the much promised boxset ..

oh, and new age steppers album i believe thats on its way ..

I'm a HUGE Adrian fan, and I stumbled on the New Age Steppers shortly after it came out (thank you Ray Farrell). The new album is dreadful IMHO.

not heard anything off new New Age Steppers album.

in what way is it dreadful, as i cant see it going too far off on-u course given that AMS has his thing pretty locked down these days.

not bothering with the new remix album of the mighty stepper as its by various dubstep producers and i doubt i'd enjoy it.

well today i did a u-turn on my own statement and got the dubstep styled remix album.

some good, some mad (the cover of 'iron man' with dennis bovell is a bit hard work .. )

still no sign of the boxset.

(aint going to happen .. )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SbnsgRaiZ0

*spam*

http://soundcloud.com/twitch/optimo-podcast-12-adrian

http://soundcloud.com/alexchase/ohm-dedication-series-2-jd

new solo album by adrian sherwood is a lot more mellow than previous releases.

none of the usual on-u style edginess, which i have to admit takes a bit of getting used to.

I've been finding it pleasant enough, in the background while reading or whatever. But yeah, it sure doesn't seem much like an Adrian Sherwood album.

exactly.

its pleasant.

i dont normally listen to on-u for pleasant.

its a definite late night/reading soundtrack kind of album, which of course sounds amazing.

i thoroughly, thoroughly recommend stirmonster's MONSTER mixes linked just four posts above this one, btw.

I'm a HUGE Adrian fan, and I stumbled on the New Age Steppers shortly after it came out (thank you Ray Farrell). The new album is dreadful IMHO.

well, i ignored this statement and picked up the new new age steppers album today.

its certainly not dreadful, i suspect AMS wanted to make a 'final' album worthy of one his best friends so made sure the album covers all sorts of bases, its good, but i concur it's not a classic.

it is a solid on-u album, and even in 2012 that's always going to hit the spot for me.

oh, and the new solo album by AMS has clicked.

once i readjusted my expectations i have really come around to loving it.

boxset is never going to happen is it ..

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19299-creation-rebel-new-age-steppers-threat-to-creation/

reissue

originally released in 1981

classic. going to play "chemical specialist" at max volume right now.

Been listening to Starship Africa, which is awesome

news just in :

"Various Artists: Sherwood At The Controls Volume 1: 1979 – 1984
Double vinyl / CD / download, out 6th April 2015, via On-U Sound

· Compilation of early tracks produced or remixed by the legendary Adrian Sherwood; a pioneering blend of post-punk, mutant disco, dub, funk and electro

A1. Medium Medium – Hungry, So Angry (1981)
A2. Maximum Joy – Let It Take You There (1982)
A3. Nadjma – Some Day My Caliph Will Come (1984)
A4. Mark Stewart + The Maffia – Learning To Cope With Cowardice (flexi version) (1983)
B1. The Fall – Middle Mass (1981)
B2. Gardening By Moonlight – Strange Clues (1983)
B3. Shriekback – Mistah Linn He Dead (1984)
B4. Voice Of Authority ft. Congo Ashanti Roy – Running (Feeling Wild) (1984)
C1. The Slits – Man Next Door (1979)
C2. Annie Anxiety (aka Little Annie) – Third Gear Kills (1984)
C3. Prince Far I – Nuclear Weapon (1983)
D1. Singers & Players – Reaching The Bad Man (1981)
D2. African Head Charge – In A Trap (1982)
D3. Vivien Goldman – Private Armies Dub (1981)

"

oh and according to the PR :

"This is the first release in an extensive On-U Sound reissue campaign that will be coming out over the next few years."

hahahaha .. i have lost count the number of times i have had my hopes raised by such a statement.
but you never know ..

(ahem ... boxset .. )

Ha, was just about to post this here, thank ya Mark.

Very short trailer for it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxJLCI3qDJg

hopefully this does not mean the collaboration with pinch has been dropped off the release schedule as i am really looking forward to that.

in 2015 it is a weird thing for me to still get PR mailouts about things of interest to me.

actually thinking about it, and checking the tracklisting, i suspect this is the result of the work he probably put into the boxset.
i.e. these are the only tracks he could get for clearance at a price that would make the project worthy.

so, any love for the ams/pinch album ?

unsurprisingly, i love it.

its so deep and warm, and yet, still an on-u album.

only complaint : 35 minutes is way too short.

"Various Artists: Sherwood At The Controls Volume 1: 1979 – 1984
Double vinyl / CD / download, out 6th April 2015, via On-U Sound

· Compilation of early tracks produced or remixed by the legendary Adrian Sherwood; a pioneering blend of post-punk, mutant disco, dub, funk and electro

This is awesome

2nded

3rded

4thed

The Annie Anxiety track does it for me the most

the album it's from, "soul possession", is an all time fave, as is "jackamo" the sherwood mixed album she did after that.

i can't believe prince far i's "nuclear weapon" off this went unreleased for so long. so great!

Soul Possession is all time, yes

I need to find "Jackamo" for sure. Have always wanted to hear that one.

@thewiremagazine: On-U Sound have released their full back catalogue containing over 70 albums from the label's archive: http://t.co/TU8ByqKYTW

Trevor Jackson compiles Science Fiction Dancehall Classics for Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound

Triple vinyl set coming in October.

Audio-visual artist Trevor Jackson, fresh off his first album in fifteen years, has teamed with Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound for a compilation of electronic, dub and post-punk entitled Science Fiction Dancehall Classics.

“Not only did On-U sound and Adrian Sherwood’s early production work introduce me to dimensions of sound I’d never experienced, inspire me to start making music and start my own record label, his live mixing at a notoriously loud Mark Stewart and the Maffia gig during the mid-80’s also gave me lifelong tinnitus,” Jackson writes.

“On-U’s timeless releases portray a savage disregard for conformity, representative of an era where attitude and ethos spoke volumes. An uncontrived mix of cultures, minds and powerful personalities combined to produce revolutionary sonic adventures that sound as unique and vital today as they did over 30 years ago. Putting this compilation together is nothing short of an honour.”

The compilation bounds from Neneh Cherry and Massive Attack’s Shara Nelson to On-U Sound regulars Singers & Players, Mark Stewart + The Maffia and more. It is due out on October 2 and is available to pre-order now.

http://www.factmag.com/2015/07/22/trevor-jackson-science-fiction-dancehall-classics-compilation-adrian-sherwood-on-u-sound/

bloody hell, that's a brilliant compilation.

wasn't that interested in the mothmen release (tried a few tracks online, and realised it's not one for me), had most of the 'controls' compilation, so not bothered about that one, but this hits all the right spots.

loving the cover art.
my very first on-u track was a 'science fiction dancehall classic' remix, so it's great to see the re-use of the phrase.

this is a very far-out compilation.

From David Toop's A to Z of Dub

C is for Cyberdub
Iconic in William Gibson's Neuromancer ("the long pulse of Zion dub") as the humanistic healing force in a wired world, a naive touch of natural magic, dub has become a sci-fi soundtrack for techno-Gaians, hippie zippies and cyborg animists. C also stands for Crusties. The perfect environment for observing the evolution of the crustie look during the 80s was at Gary Clail's On-U Sound System parties, where the white rasta look of blond dreadlocks and ratty paramilitary fatigues interlocked with On-U's mix of urban noise terror and spiritual bass.

Every size is sold out anyway. Cool shirt though.

wow that comp looks great

doesn't it just.
i have rarely been this excited re a compilation, but that tracklisting just is insane.

ok, i have clicked that link re the t-shirt now 3 times and get a website timeout message.

please advise as to what it is.

thankfully i have bought several copies of all the t-shirts available via the old on-u shop, but that seems to be out of action now.

It's a fake label logo inspired by Neuromancer:

http://i.imgur.com/e6F1Ztm.jpg

ah .. fair enough .. i care not then.

ordered the boxset of the trevor Jackson compilation.

pretty good price for what you get : £50 gets you 3 slabs of vinyl (incl. exclusive 12" with edits), 2cd, t-shirt, poster, stickers.

for once, I have a feeling this deal with warp/bleep could be good for the on-u catalogue, after all, it has had a troubled life over the years (so many broken promises .. )

just found in the archive : che - narcotic.

someone on the on-u list sent me a copy of this years ago, and I never paid any attention to it.

opening track, scream like a swift = duran duran vs on-u sound.

oh my, lets hope the rest of the album is as good.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61jJV0GBDUL._SY300_.jpg

just noticed, one track on the album is actually called : be my powerstation

ha !

ahh .. the powerstation track uses a lot of the same samples as the voice of authority track, 'middle east power station'.

silly me, should have guessed.

still, its rather good.

Great that the Tackhead Tape Time album is available via the On-U webstore, but I wish they'd gather all the original 12" singles and their B-sides into a single compilation...

ahh .. to get all the various tackhead 12" versions, then you need to track down the power inc series.
the problem is that the tackhead material is not part of the on-u sound catalogue.
it appears that keith leblanc owns the rights to that stuff, and so releases his own compilations via his own various labels/licencing deals, that are often short lived.
however, the TTT set is a brilliant entry into the tackhead noise machine, as is the slash&crash mixtape that came out during the short lived on-u/EMI era.

i LOVE about 50% of that Che album - Imperfections, Be My Powerstation, View From A New Perspective and Celebrating Life are all so good.

12" of Be My... also ace.

http://www.discogs.com/Che-Be-My-Powerstation/master/293895

CHE from hereon will be a massive playlist fave, even the tracks that aren't officially produced by AMS have massive on-u-isms due to the band being Tackhead.
however, it's nothing in comparison to my other find that I have ignored for years :
Flux of Indians - Uncarved Block.
this is like the best of shriekback vs on-u sound (which of course happened with various 12"/jam science etc)
it's truly immense.
again, someone sent me a cd-r of it years ago, and I filed it away.
f*ck was I wrong.

re uncarved block : much to my amazement, this album is asily available.
time to replace my cd-r copy as its the best thing I have heard in ages.
well, ok, since the three johns boxset last weekend, but hey ..

I really, really, really love "uncarved block". i'm working on a comp at the moment that will hopefully feature a track of it. there was meant to be a follow up 12" ep to it but sadly it never saw the light of day. the original album also has phenomenal packaging.

of the two new discoveries, carved block, is by far the better
how on earth I missed this when I was sent it baffles me.
out of guilt I have ordered a proper copy.
well, a basic cd edition which I doubt does not have the packaging you mention.
other mentionables : the annie anxiety/jackomo album.
I have a vinyl edition of it, but I once saw a gorgeous cd/tin edition of it,
but I was with bh at the time, who did not understand why I needed another copy of it in another format.
needless to say, I have never seen that edition since, and have regretted it ever since.

missing brazilians up next - http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=31183

yeah, I got a mailout yesterday about that.
not an album that's done much for me to be honest.

it's another big favourite of mine. it's an intense listen and possibly sherwood at his most sci fi / out there but it never fails to tickle my synapses.

yeah, you and strictly kev ..
he has used this album as a source of samples and has tried to get me to give this release more attention.
I tried it again yesterday.
its an album that definitely requires a few spins.

Been jamming the vinyl reissue of Singers and Players' War Of Words. Side 2 is a monster.

Being a Sherwood novice, I've been playing and enjoying the hell out of At the Controls.... Like the collab with Pinch as well. Will go after the Trevor Jackson comp. As for the rest, I'll just follow all recommendations in this thread I think :)

I ordered at the controls.. a few days ago.
really looking forward to hearing it.
would love to get that singers and players album on cd ..
but its rather pricey ..

mark, see here for more ILM love re: Flux

C or D:: Flux "Uncarved Block"

cant wait for the proper cd as the cd-r rip I have has massive gaps between tracks, and yet it sounds like the tracks blend into one another.

I totally agree with the comments that nothing else sounds like it - its a definite one-off.

yes, the tracks are seamless

Ravi Shankar by Dub Syndicate came on on random play yesterday and damn it was good.

Ravi is one of my favourite DS tracks ..
the rhythm has been used many times, but it never fails to impress.

the extra one sided/etched 12" that has a previously unreleased akabu track that comes with the bundle is fucking brilliant.

(the actual comp is of course glorious, but then i would say that)

There aren't CD versions of the single-artist album reissues, apart from those Japanese Trifecta bundles sold direct by On-U? That's too bad.

on the whole no.
there have been the odd one appear online from time to time when a box has been found, but that was a long time ago, so, i doubt will happen again.

saw Adrian DJ before Roots Manuva last night - he was wonderful! had lots of dub triggers set up on a drum pad beside his decks, which he'd fire off as and when he saw fit.

nice !
did he play the 'space oddity' cover that he and LSK have made ?
i suspect it will never get an official release, so adrian often drops it into his live sets.
i love it.

he did not, just lots of dub and reggae classics. LUCIFER! SON OF THE MORNING! etc

would love to see him do a live set .. i once had the pleasure before a mark stewart/mafia gig, and it was fantastic.

I was there too... The sound was quite shit for Sherwood I thought, though I only caught maybe the last fifteen minutes of his set.

African Head Charge DNA Mixtape

To celebrate the first four crucial African Head Charge albums being back on wax for the first time in 30 years, we’ve compiled a special AHC-themed mixtape. This is a two hour night flight through the strange and wonderful world of African Head Charge, putting their early music in a wider context of influences, collaborators and intersecting sounds. Featuring Count Ossie, Brian Eno & David Byrne, Psychic TV, Don Cherry, Jah Wobble, Sun Ra, Pere Ubu, Tortoise and more.

http://on-usound.com/african-head-charge-dna-mixtape/

Sherwood At The Controls / Volume 2: 1985 - 1990
ONULP132

2LP in wide-spined sleeve with printed inners

Tracklist:
A1. Mark Stewart - Hypnotised (12" Mix) (1985)
A2. Tackhead - Mind At The End Of The Tether (1987)
A3. Doug Wimbish & Fats Comet - Don't Forget That Beat (alternate dub) (1985)
B1. Flux - The Value Of Nothing (1986)
B2. The Unknown Cases - Masimbabele 89 (Adrian Sherwood Remix) (1989)
B3. Keith LeBlanc - These Sounds (1989)
B4. The Beatnigs - Television (Dance Mix) (1988)
C1. Pankow - Girls & Boys (1987)
C2. Ministry - All Day Remix (1986)
C3. Rinf - Big Bondage (Kinky Sex Wet Mix) (1987)
C4. KMFDM - Don't Blow Your Top (Adrian Sherwood Remix) (1988)
D1. Dub Syndicate - Snatch A Style (1985)*
D2. Lee Perry - Music & Science Madness (1987)*
D3. Bim Sherman - Haunting Ground Dub (1986)*
D4. African Head Charge - Hold Some More Version (1990)*
D5. Dub Syndicate - Early Mafia (1990)*

suspect that this is going to get a lot more spins than volume 1.
looks f*cking brilliant.

thanks for posting that, looks interesting!

happily playing "mind at the end of the tether" in my head now, so thanks, mark

this is the era that i wanted trevor jackson to excavate more from for his compilation.

still not got that "n/a" release.
first time in years i have not ordered/bought a new on-u release on its release date.
but i am just not sure with what i have heard from it.
no doubt i will succumb, but its definitely a different groove to what has been released on the label before.

the Nisennenmondai one? I've listened to it, pretty good, but to be honest I've liked their other stuff better. it's a collaboration that sounds like a great idea, not sure if I need another listen or if it didn't quite pan out

yeah that.
was only interested in it cos of the AMS live remix version that comes with the cd version.
but having heard some of it, i still am not sure.

when is that vol 2 coming out?

amazon says june 24 in the us

same in uk.
quite a wait then.
aint fussed re the preorder bundles.
this is not an album cover i want on a t-shirt ..
unlike the brilliant cover that trevor jackson sorted out.
i ordered several t-shirts of that design.

have been playing the recent on-u comps a bit of late but only just twigged that the rest is up on the streaming services. ohhhhhhhhh yeah.

Sherwood At The Controls vol 2 isn't as good as vol 1 for me. I'm just not that into the electro/EBM/industrial stuff

Masimbabele remix and the whole of side D are amazing though

http://on-usound.com/pre-order-african-head-charge-return-of-the-crocodile-and-5cd-boxset-now/

african headcharge early albums : remasters : boxset : extras : ordered.

oooh yes.

nice

Pre-ordered this morning, and got MP3s of the four albums (but not the previously unreleased material) instantly.

i ordered the cd boxset a couple of weeks ago, and did not get an email re the mp3s,
so logged into my account at on-u, and boom.
there they are !
ta for the nudge.

well, this year has been interesting for on-u/AMS fans.

the fair-to-middling coldcut/on-u album (high hopes, but i think both sides of the partnership played it too safely),
the mellow sunday morning vibes of ghetto priest
and a surprise new album from little axe.

all released on other labels as opposed to on-u.
however, we did get the excellent dub syndicate boxset which i have been waiting years for.

what about 2018 then ?
word has reached me that alongside the AHC tour that has been promised, this is what's supposedly on the way :

Dub From Creation 40th anniversary reissue
more AHC reissues
Dub comp
new Lee Perry album
new Horace Andy album
new Creation Rebel album
Dub No Frontiers [the long-awaited and increasingly-outdated!]
Mark Stewart reissue

oh, and 2017 gave us the wonderful second AMS/Pinch collaboration album.

new Creation Rebel album - !!!!

ha, thought you might be interested in that.

he has been promising a excessive psych dub album a la starship africa now for a while.

but as any on-u fan knows, what's rumoured to be released is often very different to what actually is made available.

missing brazilians is amazing. "savanna prance" is seriously one of the most psychedelic things i've ever heard. i like it when sherwood restrains himself, but when he goes all out, he's pretty damn special.

― zingzing, Monday, March 22, 2010 11:49 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

A month or so ago (right before the world shut down) I bought the second African Head Charge box set and the Dub Syndicate box set. Now I just wish they'd do one for Creation Rebel.

Creation Rebel, and Singers & Players are top of my wish list re boxsets.
was supposed to be at the On-U 40th (!!!) Anniversary AHC gig last night.
been rearranged for March 2021.

Creation Rebel top of mine along with a Hitrun singles comp.

https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/interviews/bonjo-iyabinghi-noah-by-dave-segal

Interview w/ African Head Charge member

Really, Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah IS African Head Charge. Cheers for the link.

ta for the pointer re the interview.
not got the latest AHC boxset as i have all the albums on cd from when they were originally released.
however, i suspect that during the current situation, i will succumb to the lure of the extra tracks, and cd of unreleased bits-n-bobs.

Man, Drastic Season is going down really well right now. I love this era of Sherwood. Almost makes me want to get the first box.

I can’t stop listening to this stuff now that it’s all on Spotify – the Lee Perry/Dub Syndicate/AHC playlists there are all pretty well-curated overviews and a good launching point for dipping into individual albums. Even tho a lot of it is blending into a psychedelic haze, some observations from my quarantine OST:

AHC – Drastic Season, as noted, this hits the spot in a ton of ways. Notably this is Xgau’s favorite.

Gary Clail – End of the Century Party, I’m kind of surprised I’m enjoying this as much as I am but this is a poppish side of the On-U sound yet plenty experimental

Lee Perry/Dub Syndicate – Time Boom X De Devil Dead, maybe a little disappointing? It almost feels like a James Brown record with all the boasting in the first several tracks but any version of Music & Science Madness is worth your time. Allergic to Lie is a great little tune as well. Oddly not on Spotify for some reason.

Barmy Army – The English Disease, kind of a mellower Tackhead with football cheers instead of Maggie Thatcher samples? That’s kind of hilarious.

Flux – Uncarved Block, digging into this now. Took me a second to realize this was a different record from AMM’s The Nameless Uncarved Block. Well, this wasn’t remotely what I was expecting. MBV-style backing vox? Hmm. Def. an unprecedented car crash of influences but I’m not totally sure the singalong choruses over stadium funk workouts entirely work for me.

I'd love to be hearing Time Boom X De Devil Dead and Uncarved Block with fresh ears. Both are totemic albums for me, with Uncarved Block in particular being one I return to again and again over the years. Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah is all over this as much as Sherwood.

I revisit Time Boom a little less but Kiss The Champion remains all time.

i find it hard to pick an AHC fave out of the first phase (the first 4 albums).

Gary Clail and Barmy Army I can't see myself revisiting any time soon though. I loved them then but time has not been so kind, Two Thieves And A Liar and Sharp As A Needle possibly excepted.

this feels rather strange, and makes me feel old.
but many years ago adrians daughter appeared on various on-u tracks as a kid (eg gary clail/magic penny) , and now, tomorrow she is releasing her debut album - 'this road'.
i love the opening d-n-b track featuring LSP, but suspect this is a one off and the rest will be laid back mellow grooves.
that said, of course i will purchase it during bandcamp friday

https://denisesherwood.bandcamp.com/album/this-road

if I were to buy one of the new age steppers reissues, which would be The One?

tough, tough, tough...

the debut.

nice, thanks for the spiritual guidance stirmonster

the new AMS remix album for Spoon makes it 4 non-On-U remix albums yeah ?
the other 3 being Primal Scream (Echodek), Screaming Soul, and Mongrel (a Reverend and the Makers side project).
weirdly, the Screaming Soul remix album seems to have been scrubbed off bandcamp.

https://darkfloor.co.uk/recommended-screaming-soul-ghost-inna-dub-emerging-species/

correction, the screaming soul dub album is still up on bandcamp, just takes some digging to find it :

https://emergingspecies.bandcamp.com/album/ghost-inna-dub

https://www.clashmusic.com/news/mark-stewart-the-pop-group-has-died/

fuck.

the artwork for their new shirts/prints is amazing

https://on-u-sound.myshopify.com/collections/all

New Creation Rebel album - their first in 40 years! - in October.

I interviewed Keith LeBlanc, drummer for Tackhead (and the Sugar Hill Records house band, who played on all your favorite early hip-hop hits).

Interesting. Thanks.

Nice

very sick timing—will link out to you on a post ive been working on