The 10th in Mad Professor's Dub Me Crazy series "Pyschedelic Dub" has a great cartoony type cover featuring Mad Professor himself as always, Nelson Mandela (this was released months after his release in 1990),peace symbols,all seeing eyes and other cool positive images. Although bearing the title Psychedelic Dub ,it does have snatches of flute,backwards tape effects etc and I suppose top class dub has the very best in mind expanding qualities , this is more bright 'n' breezy good times dub than tripped out psychedelia, but all the ten tracks on the album are all top tunes perfect for a hazy Sunday morning. Some tracks have the unmistakable trombone sound of the legendary Rico Rodriguez too.
The psychedelic tag seemed to be having a resurgance around this time - Stone Roses , The Shamen , De la Soul and tons of others seemed to be taking elements of psychedelia ,if not the whole full on 60s' wig out style , making it more mainstream and actually having hits. Must have been something in the air then . Buddahs and Red Dragons anyone ?
Mad Professor released 12 in the Dub Me Crazy series from 82 to 93 and at this moment in time all but the first seemed to be hard to get hold of ,a box set of this complete series of upbeat digital dub seems like a good idea to me . Also can someone tell Massive Attack to let Mad Professor do his stuff on "Heligoland" ? WIKI HERE
Released in 1991 this probably represents a period when the On U Sound's profile was at its highest mainly due to a bit of chart action with Gary Clail ,the use of African Headcharge on a few soundtracks and some of Lee Perry's most critically acclaimed work since the days of The Black Ark. The Stone Roses even got themselves an Adrian Sherwood production for "One Love" , I seem to remember , not sure if it ever had an official release but if anyone can point me in the right direction I would be very grateful. Anyway this is a very good comp containing all the usual suspects from the On U Sound collective including the aforementioned Lee Perry backed by Dub Syndicate singing about one of his favourite subjects , himself , and if I was Lee Perry I would too , on "You Thought I Was Dead" , the Jim Morrisson sampling Dub Syndicate track " Stoned Immaculate" and for a reminder of late 80s'/early 90s' UK suburban drudgery hear Kilroy , both morning and afternoon editions of Neighbours , CNN , housework and checkout Qs' all name checked in Little Annie's "When I Think Of You". Dub Syndicate's "Hey Ho" and African Headcharge's "My God" are both IMHO classic On U Sound tracks that if there is/was a best of On U Sound type comp representing the past 30 years they would have to be on it.The track "Blue Moon" by Barmy Army was a John Peel favourite with it's samples of football terrace chants (Man City fans singing their "theme" ) and commentary (Martin Tyler I think) and one guy I had forgotten about was Jesse Raeand who I assumed was a figment of my imagination until digging this out and checking out YouTube. A Scotsman in a funky style complete with kilt,helmet and brandishing a proper massive Claymore still performing to this day and currently up for election to become an MEP. Shows just how diverse the On U Sound - sound - is although Dub , Reggae ,Funk and loads of experimentation are never far from the surface.
A good vinyl rip if I do say so myself, have new cartridge fitted on the ol' turntable now ,after getting my head round the fact that some places charge £20 - £30 to set it up for you , sod that , can't be that difficult can it ? Not too difficult but , wow, not as easy as I thought. Will support my local Hi fi shop in the future. PAY IT ALL BACK 3 HERE .
Tracklisting
Disconnection - Strange Parcels Heart's Desire - Strange Parcels You Thought I Was Dead - Lee Perry & Dub Syndicate Stoned Immaculate -Dub Syndicate I Think Of You - Little Annie Jack The Biscuit - Andy Fairley Hey Ho - Dub Syndicate These Things Happen -Mark Stewart Ennio - Martin Frederix To Be Free - Strange Parcels My God - African Head Charge Spirit Soul - Alan Pillay False Leader - Gary Clail Jacob's Pillow - Jesse Rae Devo - Barmy Army Blue Moon - Barmy Army Nightmare - Bim Sherman
Need to set up a turntable? Pay attention and take notes.
Anyone for some psychedelic funk/soul accompanied by bagpipes,yodeling,harps, jews harp,steel guitars,doo-wop,choirs and the genius of Eddie Hazel ? This is an early 90s' issue of Parliament's debut album "Osmium" with three non album singles added and renamed for some strange reason "Rhenium". "Osmium" was not surprisingly ignored on release in 1970 and has since been sampled to death by De La Soul and others.Although often labeled as a funk classic this skips across so many genres its beyond labeling and it doesn't ever sound like a band trying out different badly fitting outfits as it all works well together,retaining a sort of playful feel throughout probably due to the production of George Clinton .
Hard to pick highlights as I love it all even the ,probably intentionally, dumb nursery rhyme lyrics to "Funky Woman" - sample - "She threw them in the sink , the sink began to stink ....... Funky Woman " and "She threw them in the air , the air said this ain't fair"....... Funky Woman" all with church organ and some mean guitar playing. It even has a sort of come down track at the end, "The Silent Boatman" ,this is the one with the bagpipes.
As far as I can tell this contains all the original versions of some classic TV theme tunes from the 60s' and 70s' most of which will be instantly memorable to many even if some of the actual shows themselves haven't been seen since the reign of Margaret Thatcher although a quick scan through the current TV listings will probably show, in the UK at least , that a fair few of them are still showing on ITV 8 or Bozo + 3 or one of many other such mind sapping channels. Okay a few veer towards the genre that lads mags of the mid 90s' seemed to want foist on an impressionable readership , "Lounge Music", but that shouldn't detract from the buzz you may get as your brain opens up long forgotten memory cells as you hear the theme tunes to "Joe 90", "Tomorrow People","Batman" and ,cliche ahead ,the stirring "Thunderbirds"once again. As this is ripped from a tape the quality seemed to drop a tad over the first few tracks but they are both still very much listenable as is the rest of it apart from the pointless Joe 9o remix.
Warning: Over exposure to the theme tune to Robinson Crusoe may induce those of a certain age to regress to a state of childhood and hanker for mornings in front of the telly during school holidays , or maybe it's just me.
1. Man from U.N.C.L.E. 2. Mission: Impossible [The Plot] - San Diego Symphony Pops, Lalo Schifrin 3. Mission: Impossible - San Diego Symphony Pops, Lalo Schifrin 4. Captain Scarlet "The Mysterons" - Barry Gray Orchestra 5. Captain Scarlet - Barry Gray Orchestra 6. Danger Man (High Wire) 7. Mannix - San Diego Symphony Pops, Lalo Schifrin 8. Batman 9. Adventures of Robinson Crusoe 10. Tomorrow People - Dudley Simpson 11. Stingray - Barry Gray Orchestra, Gary Miller 12. March of the Oysters - Barry Gray Orchestra 13. Aqua Marina - Barry Gray Orchestra, Gary Miller 14. Saint 15. Hi-Jacked [Joe 90] - Barry Gray Orchestra 16. Joe 90 - Barry Gray Orchestra 17. Avengers 18. Parker, Well Done - Barry Gray Orchestra 19. Thunderbirds - Barry Gray Orchestra 20. Joe 90 Remix - Barry Gray Orchestra
I remember copies of this being passed around at school where this blast of 70s' filth from Peter Cook and Dudley Moore was greatly appreciated.Probably due to the amount "Fucks" , "Cunts" , "Wanks" and general schoolboy level of humour contained within as two pissed up comedians make up bizarre stories and scenarios off the top of their heads. Many of it still makes me chuckle now, but the stand outs are "This bloke came up to me" ,"Blind" and "Top Rank". Oh and the track "Bo Dudley" was sampled by A Guy Called Gerald for the still awesome "Voodoo Ray". Wiki here. If easily offended stay away from HERE
Another tape from the box is this compilation from Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers released in 1990 covering his most commercially successful period on the Berkley label from 1974-1980. Many people probably know Jonathan Richman as the guy who pops up now and again singing to accompany the plot, once up a tree , in "There's Something About Mary".
A Velvet Underground influence is quite evident on the earlier tracks , this was a guy who left home at fifteen to go to New York to meet them and had John Cale produce many of their early demos which were eventually released as the classic album "Modern Lovers" ,from which many tracks make up the the first side of this compilation including "Roadrunner","She Cracked","Pablo Piccasso" and the anti hippy/stoner "I'm Straight" .
By the time Punk and New Wave were exploring and expanding on the territory laid down on these early recordings , Jonathan Richman had moved on to a more mellow sound accompanied with more whimsical lyrics with songs about Abominable Snowmen,Roller-coasters and Ice Cream Men which have a kind of laid back charm to them but unfortunately probably influenced a number of god awful fey indie type dross in the past but lets not hold that against him. Wiki Here. 23 Great Recordings Here .
Did have some vinyl lined up to record today but found out needle/cartridge is completely knackered . Nearest Hi Fi shop only gets them in on order so they've lost a sale there and ordered myself one online at a cost of £50 (Rega Bias 2 cartridge to go with Rega Planar 3 turntable if your interested ). Shame as I was looking for an excuse for a drive in the snow (it's a national disaster in the UK if all our media are to be believed ) and a visit to a Hi Fi shop which I haven't been to in years. Was sort of getting into Hi Fi a few years back and have had the same set up for the past 10 years which does me just fine and probably many years to come and won't ever feel the need to get some sleek looking and unnatural sounding box from a local washing machine/plasma telly/laptop/ipod docking station megastore . Having said all that I probably listen to most of my music through the computer or ipod now but every now and again its good to experience the warmth with a little crackle and pop of vinyl.
Anyway vinyl off limits so having a bit of a dig through the tape box and first out is a compilation of Peel session tunes given away with Vox magazine in May 92. Not much else to say apart from although this is made up the more popular end of artists featured on his show much like the much missed John Peel show itself you will probably love some of this( for me most of it) and hate the rest (for me Babes In Toyland who were probably flavour of the month at the time).
1 The Cure - 10:15 Saturday Night
2 Madness - The Prince
3 Happy Mondays - Mad Cyril
4 Babes In Toyland - Catatonic
5 Buzzcocks - What Do I Get?
6 Chicken Shack - I'd Rather Go Blind
7 The Undertones - Love Parade
8 Billy Bragg - A13
9 Syd Barrett - Love Parade
10 The Only Ones - The Beast
11 The Fall - Return
12 PJ Harvey - Water
13 The Inspiral Carpets - The Beast Inside
14 The Birthday Party - Big Jesus Trash Can
15 The Damned - Neat Neat Neat
Radio Daze here. Go here for a listen to some great Peel shows (festive 50s and more).
Another music blog pissing in the wind with a selection of sounds given a spin to on any one particular fine day while gazing out of the loft window onto the mega city below .Hope you can join me too.Anything goes sound wise , although if your looking for the latest "hits" to hoover up for free to add to a never listened to itunes library this probably ain't the place for you.All other music lovers most welcome and hope you find something to groove to, as I have on some of the prolific and interesting blogs that are out there.
If you download the music from the links provided and find you dig the groovy sounds man you can do the right thing and support the artists by maybe buying thier CDs,product etc.If you don't like the music just delete it from your computer and try something else.
