8 Tracks: Of On-U Sound With Jimpster

This LP first dropped in 1984 but don’t think I heard it until around ’86 and it was my introduction to On-U Sound and Adrian Sherwood. The diversity on this compilation was it’s biggest draw for me, and as someone without much knowledge of reggae it felt accessible due to the mixture of crazy electronics, hip hop and electro influenced sampled beats, and more traditional dub and dancehall. This was where I discovered the likes of Singers & Players, Dub Syndicate and Mark Stewart And The Maffia and was a springboard for me to go onto discover the artists other releases.

I grew up in Braintree, Essex and was lucky enough to have a branch of Parrot Records which was managed by a massive On-U fan. He always had a great stock of their catalogue so a lot of my break times at school were spent listening to music in the shop and buying the odd LP here and there when I had some cash. This Singers & Players LP from 1982 sounded so earthy and raw and Prince Far-I’s vocals were about as far away from the ubiquitous Madchester sound that was sweeping up and down the country. Growing up in rural Essex I obviously had no connection to it culturally but was drawn to it’s sense of space and minimalism and the low end sounded so fierce compared to much of the radio-friendly pop music and other indie stuff of the time. With On-U being London-based there were always a lot of live shows going on and with them tapping into the student community they’d be playing places like ULU which were accessible and safe for a 16 year old to see a gig. Roofer turned vocalist Gary Clail was a regular at these On-U sound sessions at ULU and you’d have the band on stage but Gary Clail upstairs at the front of house desk delivering his politically charged vocals through a wash of dub delays courtesy of Adrian Sherwood who would be manning the desk.

This LP from 1988 was a real ear opener for me and Holy Scripture stuck out with it’s amazing vocal from Sister P and fat dancehall groove. I love the way you have the vocal section in the first half then it switches to a dub, stripping things down to the keys, drums and bass for the mesmerising second half.

As US Hip Hop grew to became a global force in the mid eighties it was the more industrial and experimental sound of the likes of Renegade Soundwave, Meat Beat Manifesto and Tackhead that I was drawn to.
I guess it was the fact that they were getting rid of the raps and switching funk and soul breakbeats for a much heavier, sampled drum sound that made it interesting for me. Tackhead had this seal of authenticity from their involvement with SugarHill Records as their ‘house band’ but it felt much more raw and experimental and drummer Keith Leblanc was pushing the boundaries with his approach to sampling and sonic mangling. They did three or four excellent 12” releases in the mid ’80’s before Bernard Fowler (of Peech Boys fame) joined the outfit and they went off in a funk-rock direction and it lost the appeal for me.

I first heard this on a pause button mix tape which a friend (who was always digging for the weirdest, freshest stuff) had put together. It must have been around ’86 or ’87 and it stood out from much of the other dub reggae of the time due to it’s sampled spoken word and melancholy synth lines. Super moody, deep and very trippy!

This is just a fucking crazy record and it blew me away when I first heard it. Whoever thought of doing a crazy, sample cut-up noise-dub version of Jerusalem deserves a medal! The way it’s been put together is genius, pure live-jam sounding without any obvious structure and some strange cuts where the beat flips to a different measure. Hits of white noise, dub delays, Mark Stewart screaming through a space echo…. A true masterpiece in my opinion.

This is another one from the Singers & Players featuring Prince Far-I who delivers a true story about Bedward, a preacher from Jamaica who thought he could fly but guess what happened…. he jumped off of a building top and broke his neck!

Dub Syndicate, led by drummer Style Scott were synonymous with On-U sound and Adrian Sherwood, having recorded their debut The Pounding System in 1982 and going onto release some of my favourites for the label including this one with melodica supremo Doctor Pablo in 1984. The Greensleeves/Black Adder inspired sleeve which references Augusto Pablo’s East Of The River Nile is worth the asking price alone but from the very first track I couldn’t help being blown away by the mad dub antics on the drums, seemingly at odds with the seriously cheesy melodica tunes. It just makes the whole thing that much trippier and wonky. This version of the Doctor Who theme tune is inspired!