The latest On-U Sound box set is the second one dedicated to the work of Dub Syndicate. Out Here on the Perimeter (1989–1996) collects four albums from the long-running project helmed by Lincoln Valentine “Style” Scott and Adrian Sherwood, Strike the Balance, Stoned Immaculate, Echomania, Ital Breakfast, and adds Obscured by Version, a set of new versions by Sherwood based on rhythms from the era. It’s out February 28 as a 5CD set, with all the albums available to purchase separately on vinyl.
Released in 1989 as the group was transitioning into a touring entity, Strike the Balance maintained the high standard of Dub Syndicate’s prior output, with Sherwood and Scott extending a welcome to On-U Sound regular Bim Sherman for guest vocals on the opening cover of Lloyd & Devon’s “Cuss Cuss” and a version of Lloyd Parks’ “Mafia.” Both are quite strong (particularly “Mafia” with its smeary vocoder action), as is the sweet take of Serge Gainsbourg’s “Je T’aime” with vocals by Massive Attack’s Shara Nelson and a load of synthetic strings via keyboard setting.
Befitting an On-U Sound product, there’s plenty of appealingly weird bits occurring across Strike the Balance’s runtime. The “borrowed” vocals in “Shout It Out” are especially effective, for one example. But the tropical aura of “Hawaii” is quite relaxing, and the lothario vocal dunked in cough syrup in closer “I’m the Man for You Baby” is quite funny (and weird).
Cited as Dub Syndicate’s best-known album (for a reason that should be obvious), Stoned Immaculate hit stores in 1991 with a recurring Jim Morrison sample in the title track and a general musical thrust that’s a bit more synthetic than infused with roots reggae thickness. One could describe the record as tapping the ’90s sensibility, and with a track titled “Fight the Power” and the hard rock guitar wailing in “Well Tuned Now” it’s difficult to argue with that sentiment.
There is positivity in “Wadada (Means Love)” (with Keith Lavene helping out on keyboards) and social commentary in “More and More,” but Stoned Immaculate is simply not as gripping or as seductively strange as the sounds Dub Syndicate delivered before or hence. However, the rhythms remain sturdy and the set still registers as Sherwood and Scott having fun, and nowhere more than when they dish the Arabian Riff in “Forward Not Back.”
Arriving in 1993, Echomania is a more successful affair than its predecessor, and in no small part due to the return of “Flabba” Holt on bass. Also, Lee “Scratch” Perry drops in on vocals for two tracks, “Dubbing Psycho Thriller” and “Dubaddisababa,” and Michael Franti (or Beatnigs and Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy” does the same with a rap during “No No.”
Like it’s predecessor, Echomania is dominated by original compositions. “2001 Love,” with its Allen Ginsberg vocal sample, stretches out to eight productive minutes, as opener “Roots Commandment” and “Dubaddisababa” land in the ballpark of six minutes, but overall, the record elects for tidier durations, As none of the selections connect as underdeveloped, the tactic results in an album that really moves.
Released in 1996, Ital Breakfast is the last of the four reissues included in Out Here on the Perimeter, and it delivers the tightest progression between albums, partly due to Perry returning for another guest vocal turn on “The Captain’s Trance Mission.” The other notable vocal appearance is by deejay I Roy on the title track, his contribution adding value to a set that’s fully functional if lacking in surprise.
Even as it’s derived from bedrock material from the period, that the album of new versions works so well is a bit of a surprise. Style Scott’s murder in Jamaica in October 2014 means that Obscured by Version is essentially Sherwood’s show, as he enlists Cyrus Richard from the Dub Asante Band for some overdubs.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
Strike the Balance
A-
Stoned Immaculate
B+
Echomania
A-
Ital Breakfast
A-
Obscured by Version
A-
Out Here on the Perimeter (1989 – 1996)
A-
