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.

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