A Brief History Of Dub

... according to Adrian Sherwood, that is.

Having taken The Collapse Of Everything and The Grand Designer EP through the Bandcamp Friday checkout and looking forward to a weekend of Sherwood infused sounds, on a whim I've created a 45-minute Dubhed selection of Adrian's previous work with other artists.

Some old, some new, some familiar, some less. All heavy duty and guaranteed to satisfy your dub palette.

1) Jungle (Album Version By Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Adrian Sherwood): Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Dub Syndicate (1987)

2) Down In It (Singe) (Remix By Adrian Sherwood & Keith LeBlanc): Nine Inch Nails (1989)

3) Death Of A Party (12" Death) (Remix By Adrian Sherwood): Blur (1998)

4) To Let Go (Adrian Sherwood ON-U Sound ReMix): R34L, Mark Pistel, Adrian Sherwood (2022)

5) What Silence Knows (Unreleased Version By Adrian Sherwood & Style Scott): Shara Nelson (1994)

6) Danger Dub (Adrian Sherwood 'Reset In Dub’ Version): Panda Bear & Sonic Boom (2023)

1987: Time Boom x De Devil Dead: 1

1989: Down In It EP: 2

1994: Uptight EP: 5

1998: Bustin' + Dronin': 3

2022: To Let Go EP: 4

2023: Reset In Dub: 6

A Brief History Of Dub (44:59) (GD) (M)

Had A Dream The Other Night

It's been nearly two years since the last selection dedicated to Dub Syndicate, which is far too long.  

 

The previous selection from July 2021, The Dub Is Coming, comprised 10 songs clocking in at 46:29 and covering On-U Sound releases between 1983 and 1996. By sheer coincidence, this selection is also 10 songs with a run time of 46:30, but this time I've cast my net a little wider.

 

1998's Mellow & Colly was Dub Syndicate's first post-On-U Sound album, self-produced and released on Style Scott's own label, Lion And Roots, and mixed by the legend that is Scientist aka Overton Brown. Adrian Sherwood was back at the controls for subsequent albums up to and including Hard Food, posthumously issued in January 2015 following Scott's senseless murder three months previously.

Dub Syndicate's legacy lives on. The excellent 5CD box set Ambience In Dub 1982-1985 was released by On-U Sound in 2017, including Displaced Masters, a bonus disc containing outtakes and versions. The physical format is sold out but digital is available via Bandcamp at a frankly ridiculous £20.00 for 50 songs - that's 40p per track! If that's not incentive enough, the rest of their On-U back catalogue is £5.00 a pop for digital, whilst The Pounding System and Tunes From The Missing Channel have been repressed on vinyl for a very reasonable £16.00 each.

The later albums are also all worth your time though harder to find digitally. Whilst secondhand CD prices on Discogs are pretty decent, their location means some eye-watering shipping charges if you're ordering from the UK.

When I posted the previous Dub Syndicate selection, it was a grim, wet weekend and I was optimistic that Style and co. would bring back the sunshine with their good dub vibes. It worked on that occasion. I'm posting this on another grey, rain-lashed weekend and hoping today's selection works it's magic yet again. In dub we trust....

 

1) God Is A Man (Album Version: Dub Syndicate ft. Junior Reid (1998)

2) No Flash aka Socca (Version): Dub Syndicate (1983)

3) Yes Its Bless (Album Version): Dub Syndicate ft. Little David (2001)

4) Crucial Tony Tries To Rescue The Space Invaders (With Only 10p): Dub Syndicate (1982)

5) Red Sea (Album Version): Doctor Pablo & The Dub Syndicate (1984)

6) Kingston 14 (Album Version): Dub Syndicate ft. Gregory Isaacs (2004)

7) Jolly: Dub Syndicate (1984)

8) Green Stick: Dub Syndicate (1993)

9) Ascendent Part 4: Dub Syndicate (1983)

10) Love Addis Ababa (Album Version): Dub Syndicate (2015)

1982: The Pounding System (Ambience In Dub): 4

1983: One Way System: 9

1984: North Of The River Thames: 5

1984: Tunes From The Missing Channel: 7

1993: Echomania: 8

1998: Mellow & Colly: 1

2001: Acres Of Space: 3 

2004: No Bed Of Roses: 6

2015: Hard Food: 10

2017: Displaced Masters: Unreleased Versions From The Vault: 2

Had A Dream The Other Night (46:30) (KF) (Mega)

You can find The Dub Is Coming here.

He Who Seeks Only Vanity And No Love For Humanity Shall Fade Away

One of my music reissue highlights of 2021 was New Age Steppers career-spanning box set, Stepping Into A New Age 1980-2012. In addition to their three albums from the 1980s and the 2012 reunion, there's an additional album of previously unreleased dubs and outtakes. 

I was only really familiar with their debut self-titled album and follow-up Action Battlefield, both from 1981, so it was a delight to immerse myself in the set as as whole and it's one that I've repeatedly come back to in the past year. The much-missed Ari Up and Bim Sherman add a unique vocal edge, as does Denise Sherwood and the then-teenage Neneh Cherry. Musically it's all underpinned by a red hot line-up variously including Style Scott, Bruce Smith, George Oban, Viv Albertine, Skip McDonald, Nick Coplowe and Doctor Pablo, and (of course) Adrian Sherwood at the controls.

 

You can buy the individual albums on vinyl or digital formats, or the 5-disc box set on vinyl, digital or CD via Bandcamp. Well worth every penny, as today's selection hopefully demonstrates.

Side One

1) Fade Away (Album Version) (1981)

2) I Scream (Rimshot) (1981)

3) 5 Dog Race (1983)

4) Love Forever (1981) 

Side Two

1) Abderhamane's Demise (Album Version) (1981)

2) The Worst Of Me (ft. Denise Sherwood) (2012)

3) Wide World Version (Dub By Adrian Sherwood) (Cover of 'My Whole World' by Bim Sherman) (1981)

4) Vice Of My Enemies (ft. Bim Sherman) (1983)

5) My Love (Album Version) (Cover of The Gaylads) (ft. Neneh Cherry & Bim Sherman) (1981)

 

1981: The New Age Steppers: A1, A4, B1

1981: Action Battlefield: B5

1983: Foundation Steppers: A3, B4

2004: Action Battlefield (Japan-only bonus tracks): B3

2012: Love Forever: B2

2021: Avant Gardening: A2, B3

Side One (21:15)

Side Two (22:01)

The Dub Is Coming

It feels like most of the sunny, bright warm days this summer have been confined to the working week, when I'm stuck indoors and too busy to enjoy it. In an attempt to blow away the bad vibes of another grey, soggy Saturday, with the sun struggling to shine through, here's an imaginary two sides of Dub Syndicate. Let's face it, when you add Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Congo Ashanti Roy, Bim Sherman, Fats Comet and Doctor Pablo, with Adrian Sherwood on the mix, you cannot go wrong. Pops and crackles on some songs from the original 10" vinyl, but I'm (fairly) sure I've avoided any jumps and skips...

 

Side One

1) What Happened? (10" Mix): Dub Syndicate (1993)

2) Night Train (Album Version): Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Dub Syndicate (1987)

3) The Show Is Coming: Dub Syndicate ft. Fats Comet (1985)

4) Keep You Dancing (10" Version): Dub Syndicate ft. Bim Sherman (1983)

Side Two

5) Fight The Power: Dub Syndicate (1991)

6) Jungle (Wall Of China) (Version): Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Dub Syndicate (1987)

7) Japanese Record (Remix): Dub Syndicate (1996)

8) 2001 Love (Part 2): Dub Syndicate (1993)

9) Mafia (D.J. Scruff Remix) (Cover of Lloyd Parks/Black Expression Band): Dub Syndicate ft. Bim Sherman (1996)

10) Pressurized: Doctor Pablo & The Dub Syndicate (1984)

 

Side One (23:07) (Box) (Mega)

Side Two (23:22) (Box) (Mega)
 

An extensive Dub Syndicate back catalogue is available on Bandcamp. Ambience In Dub 1982-1985, which collects the first four albums plus a bonus disc of previously unreleased dubs, is highly recommended. Stoned Immaculate and Echomania are also essential albums but, really, you need them all in your life.

Sadly, on 9th October 2014, Lincoln "Style" Scott was found dead after shots were heard at his house in Manchester, Jamaica. A tragic, senseless loss.