This
is a massive departure from the normal NoMen cover versions as it is the
bands first trip into the world of Jamaican dub! What is the connection
between this and the usual 1970s DIY punk records that the NoMen usually
cover? Well, in 1978 the only way to hear any new punk records was on the
John Peel show and Peel didn't ever restrict himself to one genre
of music. On an average night you would hear punk, folk, African, blues,
krautrock, avant garde jazz and god knows what else... and, of course a
whole dollop of reggae! I heard Peel play a couple of tracks from Dub
from Creation by Creation Rebel in 1978 and loved it. I tracked
it down through the Rough Trade mail order shop and soon had the album and
it was amazing!!! The whole album is minimalist and sparse. Apart from the
insistent and memorable bass and highly echoed drums there is hardly anything
else going on in the album! Years later at the height of On-U-Sound
I discovered that this was Adrian Sherwood's first production job
and he had hummed the basslines to the musicians and let them get stuck
in... truly a DIY reggae album.
When I heard about Creation Rebels follow up album Starship Africa
I almost choked with anticipation... Daddy Kool's catalogue described it
as dub meets Pink Floyd and Hawkwind! The album was reported to have only
one track per side which was destined to take reggae into a whole new world!
Unfortunately, once I tracked it down it didn't really live up to my expectations
and although Creation Rebel did excellent backing on many fantastic On-U-Sound
records none of their solo efforts ever matched the sublime beauty of their
Dub From Creation album. |
