ADRIAN SHERWOOD - RA.1001 MIX (320kbs/174mb/1hr16mins)
Resident Advisor podcast: 24th August 2025
"Adrian Sherwood has spent nearly half a century reshaping how dub is heard, felt and understood. From his teenage years absorbing reggae and funk at the Newlands Club in High Wycombe, to cofounding his revered On-U Sound label in 1979, he's been a restless force in British sound system culture. His debut production, Dub From Creation, was striking for what it wasn't—instead, it signalled his instinct to twist the Jamaican genre into new, experimental forms.
"That invention defined On-U Sound. The outlet epitomised the creative collision of reggae and sound system music with post-punk, industrial, synth pop and beyond, forging a catalogue that still sounds singular today. In the process, he became a vital bridge: producing for the likes of Prince Far I, Bim Sherman and Lee "Scratch" Perry while also working with Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and Sinead O'Connor. For some, it was radical-"What on earth are you doing to reggae?" David Rodigan once asked after listening to African Head Charge—but for Sherwood, nostalgia was the real death knell. His mantra was simple: don't follow, make your own sound.
"That ethos runs straight through The Collapse Of Everything, his first solo album in 13 years. It's a heavy, hallucinatory record that draws on desert blues riffs, dread bass pressure and noirish textures from collaborators like Doug Wimbish, Keith LeBlanc and Brian Eno. The result feels contemporary yet unmistakably Sherwood, responding to "contemporary fuckries and impending madnesses" with both spiritual weight and flashes of psychedelic uplift.
"His RA Mix (yes, you read that right) arrives at a moment of renewal—RA.1001 is the first in a new era for the series. (After 1,000 editions of the RA Podcast, we're updating the name to better reflect what it's become.) Recorded at his Ramsgate studio, the 76-minute mix folds in cuts from The Collapse Of Everything alongside material from across the On-U Sound universe, plus collaborations with Panda Bear, Sonic Boom, Coldcut and Spoon. It's Sherwood doing what he's always done: stretching dub into endless new shapes." - Bella Aquilina
African Head Charge - Asalatua
Adrian Sherwood - Russian Oscillator
Coldcut & Adrian Sherwood - Metro
Dub Syndicate - Pleasurezone Transmitter
Sonic Boom & Panda Bear - In My Body Dub
Horace Andy & Lone Ranger - Dub Guidance
Creation Rebel - Jubilee Clock
Neysatu & Likkle Mai - War
Lee "Scratch" Perry & Vin Gordon - Crickets In Moonlight
Adrian Sherwood & Friends - On-U In Space
Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto - Fuego de Cumbia / Dub de Sangre Pura (Dub Mix)
Audio Active (feat. Bim Sherman) - Free The Marijuana
Spoon - The Devil & Mister Jones (Adrian Sherwood Remix)
New Age Steppers - Aggro Dub Version
Sherwood & Pinch - Excessive Drinking
Higher Authorities - Neptune (Version)
Mark Stewart - Favour
Adrian Sherwood - The Collapse Of Everything
African Head Charge - I Chant Too