Dread Operator - From The On U Sound Archives - Produced by Adrian Sherwood

Hot Milk is back with a crucially wicked box set of some of the most forward thinking and experimental reggae of the early 80’s. Inside you’ll find four studio albums from Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound label, including the fourth instalment of the Singers and Players series, two Creation Rebel albums and the other planetary compilation of industrial reggae experiments, Wild Paarty Sounds Vol.1.

Released in 1984, Leaps and Bounds by the collective known as Singers and Players features vocal contributions from Prince Far I (who was murdered the previous year), Congo Ashanti Roy (famed for his work with The Congos), Mikey Dread and Bim Sherman with the addition on the players side of the likes of the Roots Radics as well as Deadly Headley on sax making this album a who’s who of early 80’s reggae and a fine follow up to the previous Singers and Players records.

1981’s Threat To Creation is a Creation Rebel / New Age Steppers double billing. Probably the most daring dub album to emerge from the UK, this is the nexus where reggae and post punk collide. There’s too much cloud and soot for this to be a 100% Jamaican affair, its dark and brooding pulsations mixes Caribbean beats with vibrations from the dark satanic mills.

Coming out of 1982, Creation Rebel’s Lows and Highs featuring vocals from Crucial Tony and Lizard Logan is the most straight ahead reggae album in the box. One for those less experimentally minded, Style Scott lays down the beats next to Eskimo Fox and Donald Campbell and Deadly Headley blows away on his horns yet again. Includes the bonus track Read And Learn, the B-side from the Love I Can Feel 7” single.

Wild Paarty Sounds is where it all starts to get really weird. There must have been something in the water in 1981, this is Charles and Diana’s child the establishment didn’t want you to know about. Reggae greats like Jah Woosh and On U Sound staple Prince Far I mix with the likes of arty outsiders Jeb Loy and Al Pillay. There are even measures of reggae vs industrial post punk noise colliding in a proper clash style. This is the sound of the currents meeting down at Cape Horn. An album for those who like reggae influenced by PiL’s Metal Box.