On-U Sound is without doubt one of the most influential British independent labels, and one of the least well known. The label is surprisingly diverse, despite it's being ostensibly a reggae label. It both is and is not that. The label's founder, genius producer Adrian Sherwood, began the journey firmly within the dub tradition of King Tubby. Within a a year or two, the radical experimentation of his production went much further and incorporated far more of the post-punk aesthetic - deconstructing the form of dub into something that only bears a family resemblance. Later albums, from about '85 onwards, begin to embrace more of the digital reggae sound as well as elements of dancehall.
I've focused on the most influential and productive period of the label - roughly the first ten years. On-U Sound has continued to this day, but it is fair to say that, until recently when it has had a period of resurgency and reorganisation, the '90s and early 2000s were sporadic in terms of new releases. I've also selected from amongst the most well known releases. I definitely recommend digging deeper. There are some fascinating and thrilling records to be found back there as well as a few surprises.
Creation Rebel - Starship Africa (1980)
Creation Rebel was the first On-U Sound studio band. It was made up of touring reggae musicians who would typically accompany visiting Jamaican singers around the country. Sherwood would book some down time in local studios and they would record some tracks with Sherwood applying whatever trickery he could.
Strictly speaking not an On-U Sound record. It was initially released on one of Sherwood's earlier attempts at setting up a label. (It did, later, get an official On-U release). Sherwood is still firmly within the Tubby school of dub but the expansiveness of his production is beginning to show. The motif of space was both figurative and literal as Sherwood made more use of the gap between musical elements. Not the most experimental On-U release, but direction of travel was clearly marked out on this record.
New Age Steppers - New Age Steppers (1981)
Another mostly studio based band but the blending of dub and post-punk influences starts here. Alongside members of Creation Rebel and the future Dub Syndicate, were a collection of post-punk luminaries. Mark Stewart, Steve Beresford and Bruce Smith had come over from Bristol pioneers The Pop Group. Ari Up, Viv Albertine and Palmolive are here from The Slits. There's even a very young Neneh Cherry in the mix.
Unsurprisingly, the post-punk aesthetic is to the fore, especially in the vocal stylings. Ari Up's interpretation of the Junior Byles' classic Fade Away is awesome, but only if you also like The Slits. Ditto Stewart's Crazy Dreams and High Ideals - Stewart's caterwaul is an acquired taste. Aside from this, you can see that the intention here is to dismantle dub in similar fashion to how these artists had dismantled elements of rock in their original bands. There's a degree of roughness to the sound here, but the willingness to go out there and try things is what made this period of On-U so influential and radical.
Creation Rebel & New Age Steppers - Threat to Creation (1981)
Given what we've said about the previous two albums, you can pretty much predict the outcome here. Sherwood employs rhythms, in classic dub-style, from their previous releases and adds layers of production and additional instrumentation. The outcome is one of the finest records from this early period.
African Head Charge - My Life in a Hole in the Ground (1981)
Bonjo I was a percussionist from Jamaica employed in a number of touring bands in the UK. His speciality was Nyabinghi drumming as well as other Rastafarian and African modes. Bonjo I formed the nucleus of another On-U 'band', African Head Charge, alongside a growing family of players from other On-U projects. (In fairness, they did, in time, begin to tour and play live a far amount.)
The album title was intended as a snipe at Eno and Byrne's My Life in a Bush of Ghosts. Sherwood had taken exception to a comment from Eno regarding a vision of a psychedelic Africa. The reggae quotia is dialled back here in favour of providing a vehicle for the percussion. The same cannot be said for the weirdness quotia. Tracks are taken apart and reassembled before your eyes (ears) - trumpets like a hoard of elephants enter and exit; atmospherics are added and removed. The net result is both more out there, but also more straightforwardly listenable than The New Age Steppers above. It's a monster - especially the haunting and slightly terrifying Far Away Chant featuring Prince Far I (credited as King Cry Cry)
Dub Syndicate - Pounding Systems (Ambience in Dub) (1982)
Dub Syndicate picked up around the time that Creation Rebel dismantled. It was largely the same collection of musicians but this time coalescing around drummer Style Scott. Until Scott's awful murder in 2014, Dub Syndicate were, along with African Head Charge, one of the longest lasting On-U bands.
This is one of my favourite On-U releases. (Most of this are also favourites.) It is back to a more traditional dub format, but despite this, and Sherwood's commitment here to the form, it has some of the most radical production. Sherwood tried everything to manipulate the sounds to disorientate and draw attention. The result is incredible.
Singers & Players - War of Words (1982)
Singers and Players was yet another studio band, but this time with the intention of allowing various singers to come to the fore. On this album we have the much missed Bim Sherman and Prince Far I, but on other releases there are Mikey Dread and Congo Ashanti Roy.
This is another favourite. This album contains some of Sherwood's most deranged production choices but miraculously he never lets it get in the way of the purposes of the songs. Singers and Players records are amongst the most straightforwardly listenable On-U records and this is no exception. But check out that backwards interlude in Quante Jubila or the pounding rhythms of World of Dispensation on which Bim Sherman never sounded sweeter.
Mark Stewart & Maffia - Learning to Cope With Cowardice (1983)
Talking of deranged production... This is one of the most challenging listens in the On-U Sound canon. Stewart and Sherwood produce a literal monster of an album that manically and violently assaults the listeners with rhythms and sounds layered upon rhythms and sounds. It is bewildering and distracting. On paper this should be a disaster, especially when you add to the mix Stewart's discordant vocal style. Vocals jump back and forth, rhythms chop and change, depth of echo effects twist and turn. It ought to be unlistenable, but it is not. If you're willing to go with it, it's invigorating and exciting and downright thrilling. The cover of Jerusalem ought to required listening for anyone.
Dub Syndicate & Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Time X Boom De Devil Dead (1987)
It was inevitable that Sherwood would eventually work with Lee Scratch Perry. Although I would place Sherwood firmly in the King Tubby dub tradition, he shares an adventurer's spirit with Perry. A willingness to go beyond and travel somewhere more instinctual.
In the mid-80s, Sherwood began to include more digital techniques to his production and unsurprisingly, you can date On-U records accordingly. This is no criticism mind - he managed to establish a distinctly On-U aesthetic that continues right to this day. It was less 'out there' and more danceable - a much easier sound. This was already firmly in place by this release and consequently, it's fairly light and breezy affair. Substantially, it is Perry singing over Dub Syndicate rhythms, but both producers are all over the record. Perry is as insane as you'd want him to be, but it's On-U at it's most accessible.
Gary Clail & On-U Sound System - End of the Century Party (1989)
On-U Sound had picked up all sorts of participants over the previous decade. Amongst the most influential within the stable were Skip McDonald, Keith LeBlanc and Doug Wimbush - previously Sugarhill Records' house band. Bonjo I credits McDonald in particular as integral for the sound of the label. Sherwood joined McDonald and so to form Tackhead. Tackhead were more electronic and funkier, operating with break-beats and samples. It was more American, less Jamaican. Tackhead Sound System was formed as a way of using Tackhead rhythms to perform at different events and venues. Gary Clail (apparently an ex-roofer from Bristol) used these rhythms to shout political slogans over. It was awesome. In 1988 Tackhead's Tape Time was released; this was Clail's second release with the label.
This was less stark and funky and more in line with the classic On-U sound but just as stridently political. It was also very clearly an attempt to align the sound with the growing rave culture. The single Beef, which is the closest On-U ever came to direct chart success (although in a revamped form from Clail's subsequent Emotional Hooligan LP). Two Thieves and a Liar and Privatise the Air are also second period On-U Sound classics.
African Head Charge - Songs of Praise (1990)
By 1985 African Head Charge's sound had also developed into something more coherent and less jarringly 'out there'. Off the Beaten Track had found the balance between showcasing Bonjo I's drumming and Sherwood's experimentation and excursions. (It's probably my favourite On-U record of all time, in truth.) Songs of Praise further develops that. The production is tight and controlled but without overly constraining. It is easily the most professional and polished that On-U Sound had ever sounded to this point. Again, like most things on the label from this period, it is danceable even when it is space- and forboding.
I saw African Head Charge this year at Glastonbury. I'm not a dancer but I danced to that. The crowd was floating and undulating about six inches above the mud. The electrics kept cutting out and all that remained was the booming drumming. A great gig.
There are loads of very good On-U compilations kicking about. The Pay It All Back series are good as they include different versions and some oddities. The two Discoplates compilations are cool too as they compile the series of 10"s the label produced in the early 80s. These two focus not on Sherwood's production within the On-U stable alone but show his work for other artists. Again there are some really interesting bits and bobs here including The Fall, The Slits, Medium Medium and The Beatnigs.
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