Well, this is a remarkable set.
It’s difficult to adequately explain just what an impact Adrian Sherwood and his seminal outfit Dub Syndicate made on the music world, but given their early beginnings at the beginning of the 1980s, they were real game changers and their resonance cannot be underestimated. This series of re-issues focuses primarily on those years in which the collective would enjoy its greatest success, although I don’t think ‘mainstream’ can ever be used to describe Dub Syndicate. No way.
With the likes of Massive Attack and Faithless among others establishing themselves firmly in the 1990s, several of these artists were quick to cite Sherwood and fellow production genius Style Scott as a huge influence, and you can already hear that, on the first disc included here, 1989’s Strike The Balance. It’s no stretch of the imagination, either, to surmise that The Prodigy must have been paying attention too, though this is a far more laid back affair than Flint, Howlett and Maxim’s music was.
Starting with a cover of Lloyd Robinson and Devon Russell‘s ‘Cuss Cuss‘ and navigating its way through a series of ‘reggae with a bite’ compositions that thrill as much as they impel you to get up and dance, it’s not at all surprising that Strike The Balance was the beginning of a rich, much celebrated chapter in Dub Syndicate’s history, containing, amongst other gems, perhaps the dreamiest interpretation of Serge Gainsbourg‘s ‘Je T’aime‘ as you’re ever likely to hear.
1991’s Stoned Immaculate came about as a result of Style’s retreat to Jamaica for a while, where he’d assembled a team of musicians who would excel in pushing that dub reggae sound to its limits, while (on ‘Wadada (Means Love)’ and ‘Glory To God’) paying tribute to Prince Far I, a pioneer of the genre and a friend of Sherwood, who had died far too young back in 1983 during a robbery at his home. The Supremes are also acknowledged on the title track with brief bursts of ‘You Keep Me Hanging On‘ over an irresistible dub backing. Perhaps best of all on Stoned Immaculate though, is the upbeat ‘Fight The Power‘, with its trippy, slightly off-kilter choppy guitar and its anti-war message.
Echomania came next in 1993 and I’m having so much trouble believing these records were all over thirty years ago. Everything sounds so fresh. The blissful ‘Roots Commandment‘ opens the album and leads you through some of the greatest moments in the history of Dub Syndicate. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry steals the show on ‘Dubbing Psycho Killer‘, in which his calm, expertly delivered almost spoken-word delivery is interspersed with his unexpected screams every now and again. This could have been annoying, but somehow it isn’t, and is something of a classic. ‘Walking Jerusalem‘ too, is a real high point, with Talvin Singh‘s introduction to the Syndicate’s fold adding a techno bent to proceedings, while ‘No No‘, also featuring Singh, is a playful, cheerful bastardisation of Dawn Penn‘s ‘You Don’t Love Me (No No No)‘. Echomania might not feel quite as ‘authentic’ in terms of the true dub sound, but it’s my favourite of this excellent set and the one I would urge folk who are not familiar with the band’s work to start with.
Ital Breakfast, from 1994, can almost be called ‘lounge dub’ in some ways, with Dean Fraser‘s smooth saxophone embellishing ‘The Jewel‘ and ‘Japanese Jig‘ possessing a real coffee table feel to them. It never gets dull though. As with all Dub Syndicate records, Ital Breakfast is simply a very easy listen that makes you smile regularly and puts you in a state of bliss. Even our cat, Bertie, is a big fan. Seriously, he comes over to me EVERY TIME when I put it on, closes his eyes in contentment and purrs loudly!
The final disc in the set is a new one, called Obscured By Clouds, features new versions of older tunes, given a makeover by Sherwood with the help of RipX. Some of these are nothing short of astonishing, with ‘Alive And Burning Bright‘ now even more vibrant due to its thunderclaps and firework noises. It sounds even more triumphant in its new incarnation, and that’s the only way to describe this five disc set – an out and out triumph.
Out Here On The Perimeter is released on 28th February through On-U Sound.
