things and time will tell.

Various Artists – Songs Of Aretha Dubwise Showcase Ariwa Sounds – ARILP 290 Vinyl, LP, Compilation, UK, Apr 12, 2019 info I had no idea this record existed until I spotted a used copy on a recent trip. A tribute to Aretha Franklin featuring reggae covers of songs associated with the Queen of Soul, produced by Mad Professor and accompanied by dub versions? Yes, I was an easy mark for that sale. Some of these are vintage Mad Professor rhythms put to new use, others are more recent recordings. I guess there's a CD version out there too with a handful of additional songs and dubs... Keeping my eyes peeled. I appreciated the choice of songs here- You get obvious hits like Natural Woman and Burt Bacharach and Hal David's wonderful Say A Little Prayer , but a few surprises as well.  In the liner notes, Mad Professor admits to having missed out on Aretha's brilliant One Step Ahead  for forty-plus years, only hearing it as part of a tribute show he listened to the week after her de...

Sade – The Remix Deluxe Epic – ESCA 5700 CD, Mini-Album, Compilation, Special Edition, Stereo Japan, Jun 2, 1993 info A CD this time, but a fairly rare one (around these parts anyway) with a couple buried treasures. A five track EP, apparently pulled together to promote a 1993 Japanese tour, Sade's The Remix Deluxe  was a Japan only release following up the previous year's  Love Deluxe album. Only one of the tracks was pulled from their then currently LP though, instead compiling together a handful of nice remixes and B sides onto a single disc. It's Sade. Do I really need to say anything else to make you want to listen? The disc opens with two remixes that had been released on vinyl singles the year before. First, Nellee Hooper adds a drum loop and ups the funk a bit on Feel No Pain . Sade's prayer for the strugglers of the Thatcher years is turned into something you could play late at night while you bring things down a little after a hop hop set in the club. (That...

We return to Bim Sherman for Reality,  his 1992 album backed by Style Scott's Dub Syndicate.  Bim Sherman & Dub Syndicate - Reality Century Records - Century 1700 Vinyl, LP, Album, UK, Nov 1992 More info on  Discogs Tracklist A1 Over The Rainbow A2 Brother And Sister A3 Keep On Moving A4 Fire A5 Rock Crys Out B1 Wake Up Reality B2 Take Me B3 Go To The Mountain B4 Best Of Love B5 Too Hot The album isn't an official "On-U Sound production," being one of the few records credited to Dub Syndicate without having Adrian Sherwood at the controls. Instead, Mad Professor contributes the mix with the great Skip McDonald as "engineer" for the actual recordings. Skip McDonald is the former Sugarhill guitarist mentioned in my last post, who not only played on pivotal funk and disco recordings and helped invent the sound of recorded hip-hop, but went on to be a central figure in the On-U orbit of artists. His guitar (and production work) became def...