God, it’s YEARS since I heard Creation Rebel. Hazy memories of sitting in my darkened room before I’d even become a teenager, listening to John Peel, come flooding back in full, vibrant colour as needle hits vinyl on the band’s 1978 masterpiece Close Encounters Of The Third World. This is reggae/dub as it absolutely should be, and I can’t think of any better way to absorb it than how I just described.
Let’s be honest – with these kinds of records, there’s little variation, as it’s more a constant flow of ideas. But oh my, HOW it flows. ‘Shouldn’t Do That‘ is probably the most commercial track here, its gentle lull typifying the content within. That said, Close Encounters… is a little different from the other records in this boxset, having been produced not by the usual man at the helm, the late, great Adrian Sherwood, but by Prince Jammy. As the sleeve notes here allude to, unlike the other albums in this boxset, this one “has more vocals than dub.“
It works, however, to the extent that it probably nourishes the soul the most out of all the gems in the set. There are a lot of those to choose from too. The other long player I want to focus on here though, primarily, is 1981’s Psychotic Jonkanoo, as it perhaps most spectacularly showcases the ‘dub’ side of Creation Rebel that bridges the gap between Black Uhuru and King Tubby. Not that this a great leap, admittedly, but it’s truly a thing of beauty. Opening track ‘The Dope‘ arguably pulls off that dream juxtaposition most notably, with other compositions following more of an adventurous, psychedelic, instrumental bent. It’s almost ‘prog dub’ in many ways, and you can see where The Specials may have taken some inspiration from Creation Rebel on some of their darker tunes, most notably those penned by Jerry Dammers.
It’s an arresting listen, but I will say that, like everything else here, it’s best listened to in a state of bliss in a darkened bedroom. I’ll leave it to you as to how you reach that state of bliss – hey, I won’t judge, honest! – but I guarantee you, there have been fewer more intoxicating bodies of work put out by bands than High Above Harlesden. It’s soul food, and it tastes amazing.
The set comprises Psychotic Jonkanoo, Starship Africa, Rebel Vibrations, Close Encounters of the Third World, Dub From Creation and Hostile Environment, but quite honestly, take your pick. They’re all amazing records.
