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Influences: Rob Smith

 
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This Friday, seminal Bristol production duo Smith & Mighty are putting out a new compilation of unreleased material from their most prolific period. Named after their famous studio in the St Pauls area, Ashley Road Sessions 88-94 marks 30 years since their first release, and also acts as an excellent primer for their pioneering hybrid sound which led them to work with artists such as Massive Attack and Neneh Cherry.

Listening to the compilation, the extent of the duo's influence on both the Bristol sound and the wider UK urban and electronic music scenes becomes staggeringly apparent, laying the foundations for everything from jungle and dubstep to UK rap.

Bass manipulator extraordinaire Rob Smith aka RSD has put together this excellent playlist of his own influences. From U-Roy and Dionne Warwick to Jah Wobble and This Mortal Coil, get stuck in below…

Ashley Road Sessions 88-94 is out 9th November via Tectonic / Punch Drunk, pre-order it here.

LISTEN
Dionne Warwick - Anyone Who Had A Heart

As a five year old, this song (sung by either Dione or Cilla) made me feel things I didn’t understand, like nervous warmth or a soft vague agony. Similarly Gene Pitney’s ’24 Hours from Tulsa’ and The Righteous Brothers’ ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling’. They remind me of watching Emma Peel and Doctor Who in black and white. My elder brother had a veneered wood music centre which stood on four legs with a crystal glass cabinet on one side and a record deck which slid out as you opened the front. A faint glow from the valve amp at the back and stereo speakers along the base behind matted cloth grill which were at the perfect height for a kid playing on the carpet. Warm bass, reverbed strings and haunted melodies.

  • Dionne Warwick - Anyone Who Had A Heart

    As a five year old, this song (sung by either Dione or Cilla) made me feel things I didn’t understand, like nervous warmth or a soft vague agony. Similarly Gene Pitney’s ’24 Hours from Tulsa’ and The Righteous Brothers’ ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling’. They remind me of watching Emma Peel and Doctor Who in black and white. My elder brother had a veneered wood music centre which stood on four legs with a crystal glass cabinet on one side and a record deck which slid out as you opened the front. A faint glow from the valve amp at the back and stereo speakers along the base behind matted cloth grill which were at the perfect height for a kid playing on the carpet. Warm bass, reverbed strings and haunted melodies.

  • U-Roy - Festival Wise

    I was pleasantly surprised that I could find this one on YouTube. As a kid maybe 11 years old in school, I found a classroom where the older Jamaican girls hung out during lunch break playing 7″s on a portable record player. I slid in and sat at the back and listened while they took turns to play records – first the A-side then the B which was like the A… but different. I discovered that this was ‘version’. I got talking to one of the girls and she gave me ‘Festival Wise’ which was the first reggae record I owned. I played it till it was worn out.

  • Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown

    Quite simply the perfect dub.

  • Big Youth - Lightning Flash (Weak Heart Drop)

    In the ’70s, a friend of mine called Hoggs had a wikid record collection. In-between playing a Faces album and ‘Next’ by Alex Harvey Band he put on the ‘Dreadlocks Dread’ album… wtf!? I was already into reggae but this album and this track in particular opened things up much wider. I could hear a full range of sound and at the same time empty spaces. Perfect vocal harmonies being dissected by gruffer militant vocals. Guitar chips sharp enough to slice skin. The drums, keys and bass forming a kind of 3D structure. Pretty sure that this album’s music changed the direction of my life.

  • Jah Wobble - How Much Are They?

    Along with the punk movement in general, Holger Czukay and Jah Wobble made me believe that making and producing music was possible, and not just for an elite privileged set. Both Wobble and Czukay’s DIY attitude and use of available sound sources combined with mix and blend bravery provided vital inspiration.

  • This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren

    Ha! The top comment under this YouTube vid says “gotta skip this one, else I’ll dissolve into a pool of salty tears”. At this time I was sharing a flat with Dave McDonald (later a founding member of Portishead) and we played this a lot, along with stuff like Tones On Tail, Bauhaus, PIL and On-U Sound. Just memories. I love Liz’s voice. Stillhead’s remix of ‘Teardrop’ is awesome.

  • Renegade Soundwave - Ozone Breakdown

    Certain tunes that came during the period after acid and before hardcore – like Unique 3 ‘The Theme’, Renegade Soundwave ‘The Phantom/Ozone Breakdown’, Meat Beat Manifesto ‘Radio Babylon’ – were game changers IMHO.

  • Toasty - The Knowledge

    Killa 12″, both sides. I don’t really know if dubstep was a genre at this stage or not, but this was ahead of its time.