Time Warp Dub Clash - Old School vs. New School (Raiders Of The Lost Dub)

Old school dub tracks from 1981 and what was new school dubs , at the time  of release in 93 ,from the early 90s' .This compilations first ten tracks originally made up the legendary Raiders Of The Lost Dub from 1981 .This only had a limited release before being withdrawn after some minions from the empire of  George Lucas and Steven Spielberg took exception to the original sleeve along with the titling of some of the tracks relating to scenes and events in Raiders Of The Lost Ark which is in itself a sort of homage to bygone Hollywood action movies so maybe they should have been informed of the tradition of Reggae homage/tribute (Kung Fu,James Bond,Six Million Dollar Man etc )to a popular movie or TV show of the time. Certainly would make an interesting alternative to the familiar John Williams score. Mainly comprising Sly and Robbie productions these tracks are a great slice of very early digital dub. The final nine tracks are from familiar names from the early 90s' including Mad Professor, Jah Shaka,Alpha & Omega and Dub Syndicate. What we need now is other compilations covering the last twenty years and one covering the well tread dub of the 70s' to make a sort of history of dub through the decades. I suppose using your favourite brand of audio player anyone could make up a decent playlist that will do the job well. But I'm far too lazy to bother with that , gonna leave it to someone far more knowledgeable. 

Have a go.

1. Indiana James (Man Next Door) -- The Paragons
2. Whip That Tarantula (Moulding) -- Ijahman
3. The Monkey Is a Spy (Sinsemilla) -- Black Uhuru
4. Pit of Snakes (Social Living) -- Burning Spear
5. Well of Souls (Feel the Spirit) -- Wailing Souls
6. The Dub of Gold (Heart Made of Stone) -- The Viceroys
7. Who's in the Tomb (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) -- Black Uhuru
8. Convoy Hijack (Sponji Reggae) -- Black Uhuru
9. Bazooka Blast (Fort Augustus) -- Junior Delgado
10. Fire and Brimstone (Journey) -- Black Uhuru
11. Dub So Hard -- Mad Professor
12. Absentee -- Manasseh Meets the Equaliser
13. Smiling Dub -- Jah Shaka
14. One Prayer -- Alpha & Omega
15. Zulu Warrior -- Mixman
16. Kumbia Dub -- Jah Shaka
17. Warrior Dance -- Mixman
18. Rastafari --  Alpha & Omega

19. What Happened? -- Dub Syndicate

Mikey Dread World War 3

Classic reggae from 1980 by Mikey Dread who was probably best known to many for his production work on The Clash's "Bankrobber" single and performances on the "Sandanista" album.They also get a shout out on the back sleeve of this album , "The Clash for the positive vibes".Recorded at Channel One,mixed at King Tubby's by Scientist this is an absolute must for anyone who loves a bit of bass as it contains some seriously heavy dubs on the extended tracks that benefit from the bass being turned up to wall shaking levels.Wiki here.Link removed by request.

The Macc Lads - Beer & Sex & Chips 'n' Gravy

Come this way for some grade A 80s' filth from the semi notorious and legendary Macc Lads . Released in 1985 this album achieved a sort of cult status among aficionados of puerile/juvenile humour,Punk Rock and Viz . Which I suspect many would not admit to liking now. Well after a gap of nearly twenty years since the last listen I'll admit it still makes me chuckle . A lot . Rumored to have been funded with the aid of a government grant this sort of reminds me of a mix of Sham 69 , Half Man Half Biscuit and Chubby Brown. The lyrics are bordering on genius , for instance -  "Vauxhall Vivas's all covered in rust , but you can't shag yer bird on a 29 bus" or rhyming George Michael with menstrual cycle ,which everything written about The Macc Lads since 1985 has to mention by law. Quite fittingly The Macc Lads later went on to have their own cartoon strip in gentlemen's art pamphlet* , "Fiesta". Although I'd like to think the lyrics are all done just fer a laugh as all songs appear to be ARE about sex, drinking and fighting there is a whiff of homophobia hovering over it in places, which in one track come close to a frenzy (no pun etc )of anatomical detail which are either mean spirited or maybe ,cod psychology ahead, self hatred. And many will find the track "Buenos Airies" extremely jingoistic as this was released not long after the Falklands War . Just bypass those songs  and listen to the hilarious "Blackpool" and "Dan's Underpants'" or maybe "Sweaty Betty" - "She wore big knickers and worked on sewage farm". If none of that puts you off play this and offend everyone  within earshot or listen with headphones and try to keep a straight face . Boozy,bawdy humour from Northern England (macclesfield , as is quite rightly pointed out throughout) . Vinyl rip HERE .  BET THIS GETS DOWLOADED MORE THAN ALICE COLTRANE

Jah Shaka Presents Dub Masters Volume 1

Collection of dubs released in 1989 that previously could only be heard on Jah Shaka's world famous sound system . Kicks off with a sublime dub to Burning Spear's "Institution"  that features a mighty deep and hypnotic bass line that coupled with the snatches of righteous/ pleading vocals courtesy of the legend that is Winston Rodney can almost give me bloodshot eyes ( as often seen sported by Bunny Wailer in the '70s), stone cold sober . Not sure if there was a volume 2 to this but on its own still a good set of dubs worth adding to your itunes (or similar) dub playlist . Vinyl rip Here .

Tracks

1. Institution Dub - Burning Spear

2. Very Well Dub - Wailing Souls

3. Row Fisherman Dub - Wailing Souls

4. Wild Suspense - Wailing Souls

5. Natural Aggression - Aswad

6. Mosman Skank - Aswad

7. Carry Us Beyond - Human Cargo

8. Ghetto In The Sky (Version) - Aswad

Dr Phibes And The House Of Wax Equations - Hypnotwister

Second album of spaced out cosmic rock from Dr Phibes , my favourite "shoulda been massive" group, released in 1993 and just as good as thier storming debut.Keeping it short 'n' sweet on this one , check out previous posts for more info ,debut and Glastonbury 93 boot ( link now working again along with the link to Rockabilly Psychosis And The Garage Disease)

Hypnotwister

A bit late for this but some wise words from the old rogue ......"Be childish. Be irresponsible. Be disrespectful. Be everything this society hates" or the more well known and usefull, "You only get cash from chaos"

Alice Coltrane - Journey In Satchidananda

Hunting through local charity shops for vinyl,CDs and tapes the chances of finding anything interesting seem to be becoming increasingly rare lately, although it seems if you're after The Stereophonics or many other Brit Pop also-rans you will hit the mother lode . Now and again if the stars are aligned correctly I get lucky with something like this gem buried in a local Oxfam shop for £1.00 and which I thought would post up here.
My knowledge of Jazz stretches to hearing a teeny bit of Miles Davis and recognizing the names of some of the main players and thats about it so "Journey In Satchidananda" was ,as well as a bargain, a bit of a revelation. These 37 minutes of  "cosmic psychedelic trancendental jazz" was first released  by Alice Coltrane , the wife of John Coltrane, in 1970 . All four tracks have a sort of hypnotic drone thing going on provided by a tamboura in the background accompanied by  oud, saxophone (Pharoah Saunders),bass,drums,bells,tambourine and harp and piano, both of these played by Alice Coltrane. This is not freeform type jazz with weird ,odd time signatures and obscure musical scales or bland noodling lounge jazz ( my previous views on jazz) but should be way easy to get into if you have open mind 'n' ears. At the same time also picked up a Herbie Hancock CD, "Crossroads", which is just as good so may up that at a later date. Any recommendations on a similar trip,send this way.

"I hope this album will be a form of meditation and a spiritual awakening for those who listen with their inner ear.Om shanti."  - Alice Coltrane (from sleeve notes) .HERE.

Repo Man - Original Soundtrack

Storming soundtrack for one of the best films of the 80s' featuring Iggy Pop on the title track with Steve Jones doing his thing on guitar , bracing LA hardcore from Black Flag,Suicidal Tendancies,Fear and The Circle Jerks. Plus added Latino punk, a spacey instrumental mixing surf guitar , synthesizer,choir and orchestra which sounds like it ends on a snatch of Also Sprach Zarathustra , and throw in a mean "n"moody lowdown cover of Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso" and you have a soundtrack completely devoid of any duff/filler type tracks.
For a film that is creeping towards a mind blowing 30 YEARS OLD "Repo Man" made in 1984 still looks,feels and sounds to me like it could have been made anytime since then. First saw it while I was still at school on VHS and was blown away by the mix of comedy,violence,punk rock, sci-fi, swearing and Harry Dean Stanton ,"Ordinary people I fuckin' hate 'em". The film bears up on repeated viewings as it reveals much more . Probably the best film Alex Cox ever made , the guy portraying John Lydon in Cox's next film "Sid And Nancy" makes me cringe to this day just thinking about him .
 While googling "Repo Man" found out that Alex Cox has made a sort of sequel called ...... "Repo Chick" which I will leave everyone to judge for themselves by the trailer here.


For all things "Repo Man" this site has it all  http://www.bobcantor.com/repo/repoman.htm

Tracks:
1. Repo Man - Iggy Pop
2. TV Party - Black Flag
3. Institutionalized - Suicidal Tendencies
4. Coup D'Etat - The Circle Jerks
5. El Clavo Y La Cruz - The Plugz
6. Pablo Picasso - Burning Sensations
7. Let's Have A War - Fear
8. When The Shit Hits The Fan - The Circle Jerks
9. Hombre Secreto - The Plugz
10. Bad Man - Juicy Bananas
11. Reel Ten - The Plugz

Vinyl rip of soundtrack here