8 Tracks: OF On-U Sound
Legendary British independent label, On-U Sound, are about to drop the second volume of ‘Sherwood At The Controls’, a series that mops up sought-after remixes, classic productions and unreleased gems from the mixing desk of label head Adrian Sherwood. The first volume covered the label’s 79 – 84 formative period, taking in tracks by The Slits, The Fall and Medium Medium alongside the heavy dub reggae On-U is often associated with. The latest installment takes the story forward to the late-80s, a period when Adrian began working with three American musicians: Keith LeBlanc, Skip Mcdonald and Doug Wimbish. The trio had served time as the house band for seminal hip-hop label Sugarhill Records, playing on classics such as “White Lines”, “The Message” and “Eighth Wonder’. Moving to England, they formed the groundbreaking group Tackhead with Sherwood, which resulted in production invitations from bands from the industrial scene, duly impressed by his ability to combine beats, noise and electronic textures.
To celebrate the release, On-U Sound have put together this playlist of Sherwood-produced EBM bangers.
Sherwood At The Controls Volume 2: 1985 – 1990 is released by On-U Sound on June 24th. You can pre-order and find out more information HERE.
Launch Party at the Jazz Cafe in London on 17 June with Adrian Sherwood, Andrew Weatherall, and a special live set by Doug Wimbish (Tackhead) and Perry Melius (Tricky). Find out more information and grab tickets HERE. Check out the event page HERE.
Adrian met Daniel Miller back in the early days of the Rough Trade shop when he would be in there selling the latest reggae imports and Daniel was making music as The Normal and starting out with his Mute label. Invited by Daniel to remix Depeche Mode, Sherwood completely deconstructed the synth-pop of “People Are People” into the gibbering madness of “Are People People?”, and turned out this fast and raw version of “Master & Servant”, perfectly tooled for mid-80s alternative night club action. If tracks had a scent, then this remix would give off a mixture of leather and amyl nitrate. We also took the name of this mix for the excellent compilation that Trevor Jackson curated for us last year.