Show 25: Adrian's Echo - An On-U Sound Special

show 25: adrian's echo - an on-u sound special

Adrian Sherwood.

Those two words alone could be the write-up for this week's show.

But The Awkward Sons are wordsmiths - linguistic sculptors carving knowledge shapes into the rocks of incomprehension.

Plus I've got loads of time to kill in work. Nice.

This week is all about On-U Sound, possibly the greatest record label the UK has ever seen. Well, in their '80s heyday, anyway. Back then, they were absolutely fucking untouchable. One listen to Mark Stewart's skull-shaving dub/industrial/funk/noise/post-punk (I know...!) masterpiece, Learning To Cope With Cowardice, is proof enough for any unbeliever.

Sherwood was the mastermind producer behind the label, turning ubiquitously incredible song-writing into head-scratching sonic perfection with the flick of an echo switch. For my money, he's up there with Tubby and Perry as one of the most important desk-wreckers in the history of modern music.

So, tonight is 60 minutes of Sherwood gold. Pretty much everything was either released by On-U Sound or features that incredible ahead-of-the-pack production. But in keeping with the label's continued irreverence for all things 'correct', there's the odd rinser that has no connection to the theme whatsoever, other than a loose historical connection with the label. I'm sure you'll cope admirably, though.

For lung-rupturing experimental dub with a huge post-punk/industrial low-end kick, you won't find anything else that even comes close.

Start writing those apology letters now - your neighbours are going to be fucking raging.

Posted at 12:44, 11th April 2012