Back in the mid-80’s I was in the back seat of a car. In the passenger seat was one of the local skinheads from my home town (one of the non-racist/non-asshole skins… I believe his name was Rob… Rob… if you’re reading this!) who popped in a tape of Time Boom X De Devil Dead by Dub Syndicate & Lee Perry. I was a punk & metal kid that until that point knew about dub & reggae largely through an obsession with Linton Kwesi Johnson’s live album, The Clash, Marley, and being really into PIL “Metal Box” but otherwise couldn’t say I’d looked much further. That listen to Time Boom blew my mind and I tracked down a copy the next week. That led me down the worm-hole of discovering every On U Sound record possible and was really the gate way to a lifetime of dub obsession. Although ostensibly a reggae/dub label, something about it all just seemed so different and so punk. Years later I found myself working their catalog through my job at Cargo Records. And forward 25 years later and the name still comes up on a regular basis (mostly in nerdy conversations with The Bug). So this mix has been brewing mentally for awhile. Hopefully there’s something here for the On U expert, and if you’ve never heard these records before… fucking go in!
If you dig this I would highly encourage you to empty your wallet in the same way I have to the mighty On U Sound :
www.on-usound.com
(note that upload limits have meant the stream is at 192… boo! The download link however is proper 320)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download
Tracklisting :
Dub Syndicate “Let The Spirit Rise”
Creation Rebel “Chemical Specialist”
Singers & Players “Pneumatic”
Dub Syndicate “J.A Minor”
Gary Clail “Two Thieves And A Liar”
Dub Syndicate “Hey Ho”
Singers & Players “Make A Joyful Noise”
Dub Syndicate “What Happened?”
Prince Far I “Water The Garden”
Creation Rebel “Space Movement Section 5″
Creation Rebel “Space Movement Section 3″
African Head Charge “Stebeni’s Theme”
African Head Charge “Breeding Space”
Andy Fairley “Segue”
African Head Charge “Elastic Dance”
Dr Pablo & Dub Syndicate “North Of The River Thames”
Revolutionary Dub Warriors “Dread V2″
Tackhead “Life & Dreams”
Mark Stewart “Learning To Cope With Cowardice”
New Age Steppers “High Ideals & Crazy Dreams”
Singers & Players “Quante Jubila”
Dub Syndicate “Dub Violation”
Creation Rebel “Mother Don’t Cry”
Mark Stewart “None Dare Call It Conspiracy”
Creation Rebel “African Space”
Dub Syndicate “Mafia (Mr Scruff mix)”
Andy Fairley “Jack The Biscuit”
New Age Steppers “Fade Away”
Dub Syndicate “Ravi Shankar”
Lee Perry & Dub Syndicate “Jungle”
New Age Steppers “Private Army Dub”
Bim Sherman “Can I Be Free (From Crying)”
