yesterday was one of those rare rare days.<\/p>\n
i walked into a record shop and bought an album on the day of release, with cash.<\/p>\n
of course such events are very rare these days, but given that on-u sound records<\/u> haven’t released anything in the uk for a few years due to the ever present chaos that is on-u, meant that the long awaited arrival of this new album was all that more special.<\/p>\n
in case you are not aware, back in 87 dub master lee "scratch" perry<\/strong> teamed up with on-u sound’s adrian sherwood<\/strong> to make the classic time boom x devil dead<\/font> album that to this day sounds like nothing else (as indicated in a recent mojo ‘how to buy on-u" article in which yours truly was quoted in reference to the brilliance of the number one listing : time boom). the cassette was a permanent fixture in my walkman playlist, and quite simply cemented my love for on-u sound<\/u> productions forever<\/a>. the duos followup, from my secret laboratory<\/font> didn’t quite reach the same consistent highs, though a few of the tracks still sound as good as anything else in the labels catalogue meaning that i was always hopeful for a third outing.<\/p>\n so to say my expectations were high when i read about this album a long time ago, would be an understatement.<\/p>\n being honest, my first impressions were mixed. <\/p>\n one of the main aspects that i loved about time boom<\/font> were the extra overdubs of newsreel samples, distorted vocals that sat alongside lee’s off the wall ramblings. you can never have too many ‘found’ vocal samples as far as i’m concerned, so when i found that the mighty upsetter<\/font> is a relatively straightforward production of laid back grooves i was a little disappointed.<\/p>\n thankfully, this negativity didn’t last long at all. <\/p>\n a few more listens and i came to realise that adrian has really upped his game for this album, providing lee with some high grade productions with some fantastic subtle twists in the mix.<\/p>\n firstly, the albums opening track, exercising<\/font>, sounds like a lost little axe<\/strong> track. all dubbed up effects and delicate swampy blues guitar groove, with a sonic depth that needs to played on a proper system as opposed to mp3 player ear buds.<\/p>\n as to be expected, the music is fleshed out by a whole host of on-u<\/u> regulars (skip mcdonald, akabu, ghetto priest all appear) but added to the mix are a couple of unexpected treats. for the hip hop influenced track (in as much as there is dj, listed as "dj moodie", cutting things up a little), international broadcaster<\/font>, we get an appearance from dub lover roots manuva<\/strong>, and backing vocals from l.s.k, <\/strong>over which the horns do their skanking brilliance and lee chatters his usual surreal mantras. superb.<\/p>\n after these two opening deviations, the direction of the album settles down into a more traditional dubbed up reggae vibe. horns are reverb’d and echoed, lee’s vocals are stereo phased, and the general feeling is one of a highly honed live band doing their harmonious roots thing while lee tells the listener his take on all aspects of life, religion, politics and, of course, money.<\/p>\n where a lot of this album differs from previous team ups, is that these recordings sound like a proper band as opposed to a studio creation, meaning that there is a more organic, natural, gorgeous feel to the music. which is possibly the reason why adrian has held back on the much loved on-u<\/u> trademark overdubs, and now that the tunes have become more familiar, i totally concur with this decision.<\/p>\n summary : 24 hours in and i am pretty sure that by the end of this week, i will be pronouncing this as my album of the year. simple as that.<\/p>\n