The System Is Unjust Because It's Not Made For Us

Side 1 of a Smith & Mighty mixtape, recorded 6th September 2002 and a belated return to the dub 'n' bass sounds of the Bristol legends. It's hard to believe that I posted Side 2 of this cassette compilation back in August 2021 and that it's been 20 years since the last Smith & Mighty album.

 

Again, this side is heavy on vocal tracks but a truly amazing line up of rappers and singers joining Rob Smith, Ray Mighty and Peter D. Rose. This selection is drawn from their three albums, Bass Is Maternal (1995), Big World Small World (1999) and Life Is... (2002). 

 

There's also bonus cover version of U2's Drowning Man, an album track from 1983. In a 2018 interview, Ray Mighty explained that “War was a favourite album of ours in the studio. Drowning Man had a dub feel about it. It was definitely a dubby bass line. Not so hot on the band, but I still love that track.” A dub version of Drowning Man eventually appeared on the debut album, but this full vocal version originally appeared on the rather excellent soundtrack to 1994 film Shopping. 

 

I'll return to Rob Smith, who has been an incredibly prolific DJ, remixer, producer and solo artist in the last two decades, in a future post. For now though, revel in the glorious sounds of one of the greatest acts to come out of Bristol. Much love, respect and thanks.

 

1) 1,2 Mic Check (ft. Kelz & Louise Decordova) (2002)

2) Drowning Man ("Shopping" Album Version) (Vocal Mix ft. Felix) (Cover of U2) (1994)

3) Time (ft. Felix & Marilyn McFarlane) (1995)

4) Closer (1995)

5) No Justice (ft. Rudy Lee) (1999)

6) Year 2000 (ft. Niji 40 & Louise Decordova) (1999)

7) Maybe It's Me (ft. Hazel Jayne) (2002)

8) Believers (ft. Tammy Payne) (1999)

9) I Saw You (ft. Chantelle Champagnie) (2002)

1994: Shopping OST: 2

1995: Bass Is Maternal: 3, 4

1999: Big World Small World: 5, 6, 8

2002: Life Is...: 1, 7, 9

Side One (45:59)

Side Two here

 

Buy Smith & Mighty and friends' music on Bandcamp:

The Ashley Road Sessions 1988-1994

The Three Stripe Collection 1985-1990 

Connected Sequences 1985-1992

Smith & Mighty albums released on !K7 

Rob Smith / RSD  

Rudey Lee (aka Rudy Lee)

Sir Beans OBE & MC Kelz 

Louise Decordova (with More Rockers)

Tammy Payne

Contrasts

Side 2 of a mixtape, compiled 6th September 2002 and highlighting Smith & Mighty's three albums, Bass Is Maternal, Big World Small World and Life Is... Bass-heavy classics from one of Bristol's finest.

1) Odd Tune For Piano (1995)

2) Sea (2002)

3) Rise (ft. Caroline) (2002)

4) That Woman (ft. Tammy Payne) (1999)

5) Hold On (Strange Mix By Smith & Mighty) (1995)

6) Drowning Dub (Cover of 'Drowning Man' by U2) (ft. Felix) (1995)

7) Flash Of Joy (ft. Tammy Payne) (2002)

8) Small World (ft. Alice Perera) (1999)

9) Evolve (Album Version) (1995)

10) Yow He Koh (1995)

 

1995: Bass Is Maternal: 1, 5, 6, 9, 10

1999: Big World Small World: 4, 8

2002: Life Is...: 2, 3, 7

Side Two (45:54)

If Is The Middle Word Within The Word Life

In the 1990s, the Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1 was exactly that. Launched by Pete Tong in 1993, it's still going to this day and whilst I'm not going to pretend that I've stuck with it, over a thousand shows have literally provided a Who's Who of mixing majesty.

 

Smith & Mighty delivered one of the greatest Essential Mixes ever way back on 24 November 1996. This in a year that featured other excellent sets from Armand Van Helden, Goldie, Slam, Richard Fearless, Carl Cox and Andrew Weatherall. 

 

What is so great about Smith & Mighty's 1996 mix is that it showcases much of their own music and productions, including Massive Attack's first single, Any Love, a Top 10 hit with Fresh 4's Wishing On A Star, aliases More Rockers, Jaz Klash and Blue & Red, as well as new material such as Seeds, which inspired today's post title, but didn't see an official release until 1999. Forty - count 'em, 40 - tracks down the line and you'll barely notice that two hours have passed.

 

This set seems to be pretty widely available on Soundcloud and Mixcloud, but possibly from the same source as most postings seem to have a few minutes missing at either end. The link below is 192kbps but the full two hour Essential Mix.

 

1) Any Love: Massive Attack (Massive Attack)
2) Walk On: Smith & Mighty (Three Stripe)

3) Mix Me Down Maestro: Smith & Mighty ft. MC Kelz (Three Stripe)
4) The Time To Rhyme: The General (FFRR)
5) Wishing On A Star: Fresh 4 (Ten)

6) Anyone: Smith & Mighty (Three Stripe)
7) Irrational: Receiver (Swarf Finger)
8) The Look Of Love: The Wild Bunch (4th & Broadway)

9) Seeds: Smith & Mighty ft. MC Kelz & Tammy PAyne (White Label)
10) A & R Man: Wilks (White Label)
11) Love To The Power Of Each: Dub Ghecko (Dub Head)

12) Killa: Smith & Mighty (FFRR)
13) Blessed: Blue & Red ft. Freddie (Acetate Pressing)
14) Unity: Blue & Red (Acetate Pressing)
15) Don Anything: Blue & Red ft. K.Oil (Acetate Pressing)
16) Baltimore Remix 2: Tamlins (Acetate Pressing)
17) Baltimore Remix 3: Tamlins (Acetate Pressing)

18) Heavens In: Smith & Mighty (Acetate Pressing)
19) Ghuraliya: Bally Sagoo (Columbia)
20) Rainbows: Virginity (More Rockers)
21) New World: Flynn & Flora (White Label)
22) Off The Edge: Jaz Klash (White Label)
23) BQE: Jaz Klash (White Label)

24) Same: Smith & Mighty (More Rockers)

25) Higher: Smith & Mighty (More Rockers)

26) Another Day: More Rockers (More Rockers)
27) Sound Boy: More Rockers (More Rockers)
28) Show Love: More Rockers (Acetate)
29) 162: More Rockers (Acetate)

30) Nightfall: More Rockers (More Rockers)
31) First Time: More Rockers (More Rockers)
32) Frush: More Rockers (Acetate)
33) Das Ya One: More Rockers (More Rockers)
34) 1 2 3 Break: More Rockers (More Rockers)
35) Talk Is Toy: Silent Poets (Acetate)
36) Than The Haze: Jaz Klash (Acetate)
37) Bibo: More Rockers (Acetate)
38) Cure: More Rockers (Acetate)
39) Down In Rwanda: Smith & Mighty (More Rockers)
40) Bass Speaker: Flynn & Flora (White Label)

Essential Mix, 24 November 1996: Smith & Mighty (2:00:06)

 

Buy Smith & Mighty albums on Bandcamp:

The Ashley Road Sessions 1988-1994

The Three Stripe Collection 1985-1990 

Connected Sequences 1985-1992

Smith & Mighty albums released on !K7 

RSD (Rob Smith) on Bandcamp  

There's a great interview with Smith & Mighty from 2018 on the Vinyl Factory website.