what happened to On-U Sound??

Buick6

too punk to drunk
i remember in the late 80s that Adrian Sherwood was the Brian Eno of his day. I always loved the 'Pay it all back' comps, though some of it became horribly dated.

i haven't read reynolds latest book, but did On-u get a mention? I just read a review that commented on his ommiting Crass (fair enough), but Southern Studios and distribution had a HUGe part in alot of the On-u stuff that was TRES post-punk.

And Tackhead is still fucking excellent sounding to this day, in fact it's a great tonic to the done to death Timbaland trademark, and sounds better than alot of that grime/2step rubbish.

Maybe it's time the electronica nose-pickers start looking to Tackhead as a direction to take the whole dance/electronic thing outta its slump. That fantastic 'Tackhead: Live in new york' Cd is a good signpost of post-funk-hip-hop 'band' electro. It's funny coz I never really 'got' Tackhead until a few months ago, and they sound totally 'fresh' (to me) right now.
 

Woebot

Well-known member
Yeah. I wonder. I guess they just sort of faded away. I imagine Adrian Sherwood (who got some viciously bad PR courtesy of Penny reel at the Blood and Fire forums very recently) is probably plugging away the same as ever.

Maybe he's making more money/concetrating his energy on the pressure sounds reggae reissue label. I'm sure Jon Eden or 2StepFan will be able to tell us.
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
No time right now to deal with this properly but there's quite a bit of info over at uncarved.org and there's some informative fan sites out there...

... all I'm saying is, Sherwood is God, regardless of what Penny Reel (who is a great man) says...

... and On-U was the ultimate post-punk / proto-rave label ...
 

Buick6

too punk to drunk
2stepfan said:
... and On-U was the ultimate post-punk / proto-rave label ...

You know, when you line the zodiac signs up, yr prolly right. Did 'Guru' Reynolds ever mention this?
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
Buick6 said:
You know, when you line the zodiac signs up, yr prolly right. Did 'Guru' Reynolds ever mention this?
I suspect he got so bored about me droning on about the seminal importance of Tackhead he lost the will to live when the subject came up... :)
 

Diggedy Derek

Stray Dog
I'm kinda ambivalent to a lot of On U stuff, but Pressure Sounds is a wonderful label. Those Phil Pratt and Roots Techniques compilations were awesome.
 

polystyle

Well-known member
What happened ?

From artists who have worked with AS long ago and friend in Tokyo who got AS to do remix of New Age Steppers for Ozone Community Lt. Ed. a couple years ago , it sounds like Adrian is out and about again to some degree .

What happened to On -U ?
Not to be overly dissy but that question may be partly related another question I hear from people who have worked with him - where's the money On-U artists are owed ?

Re: Tackhead . i agree , they are from the same period as Death Comet Crew and somehow have a similar lineup (ie: they can play that *hit live) , still sounds fresh in ways
 

labrat

hot on the heels of love
2stepfan said:
the seminal importance of Tackhead

On U Sounds audience were far from a purist reggae crowd; in my social experiences they were crusties, anarcho-punx,indie kids lookin for a way into dub , pot heads,LMC avanty guardy sorts,cult studs wadicals,hipsters etc etc.
then On U did Tackhead that project to an extent unified these elements and provided a path toward dance music that peviously would'nt have been of very appealing to your average soft crust.
for better or worse they calibrated the "anarcho" hive mind in preperation for a fuck off rave...
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
labrat said:
On U Sounds audience were far from a purist reggae crowd... {snip} Tackhead unified these elements and provided a path toward dance music that peviously would'nt have been of very appealing to your average soft crust.
Yeah, very much my argument -- that's just how it felt at the time.
 

Buick6

too punk to drunk
labrat said:
On U Sounds audience were far from a purist reggae crowd; in my social experiences they were crusties, anarcho-punx,indie kids lookin for a way into dub , pot heads,LMC avanty guardy sorts,cult studs wadicals,hipsters etc etc.
then On U did Tackhead that project to an extent unified these elements and provided a path toward dance music that peviously would'nt have been of very appealing to your average soft crust.
for better or worse they calibrated the "anarcho" hive mind in preperation for a fuck off rave...

Pretty true, i guess the rave thing 'rocked' it together quite well, digested it, and gave us this new ' Global Religion' - 'TRIBAL TRANCE TECHNO' - that is basically Israelis, capitalistic hippies and rich hippiy kids spreading their 'love' as long as their trust-fund is still intact at the end of it...
 

D84

Well-known member
It took me a while to click onto Adrian Sherwood and On U Sound even though one of the first electronic CDs I bought was a Sherwood production.

I enjoyed Adrian Sherwwod's "Never Trust a Hippy" on Realworld. Apparently he's recording a follow-up according to the web-sotes.

Anyone heard the new Little Axe?
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
Funny to see Eno mentioned as a point of comparison - no guesses for any Eno fan as to what the African Headcharge album title 'My Life In A Hole In The Ground' was taking the piss of. :)
 

mms

sometimes
labrat said:
On U Sounds audience were far from a purist reggae crowd; in my social experiences they were crusties, anarcho-punx,indie kids lookin for a way into dub , pot heads,LMC avanty guardy sorts,cult studs wadicals,hipsters etc etc.
then On U did Tackhead that project to an extent unified these elements and provided a path toward dance music that peviously would'nt have been of very appealing to your average soft crust.
for better or worse they calibrated the "anarcho" hive mind in preperation for a fuck off rave...

much like the acts on the label then,
speaking to warp elders who ran the shop in sheffield mid 80's about what they sold prior to the dawning of late 80's dance and the first thing they said was on u.
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
mms said:
speaking to warp elders who ran the shop in sheffield mid 80's about what they sold prior to the dawning of late 80's dance and the first thing they said was on u.
When I used to go down Warp there was a lot of On-U, bit of industrial, lot of kraftwerk-y electronics, lots of jacking house music.

If you asked nicely Rob would let you use the toilet.
 
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