Needle Time

Playgroup - Epic Sound Battles Chapter Two [ON-U LP26 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Here is a new 24-bit rip of this dub masterpiece. Like the first Playgroup album, Epic Sound Battles Chapter Two  was originally planned as an On-U Sound release but then licensed out to Cherry Red. The sleeve carries two catelogue numbers, ON-LP26 and BRED 52 as a consequence. The band line-up also reduces in size from the first: Ras Levi (Dub Syndicate), Style Scott (Creation Rebel), Bruce Smith (The Pop Group), Steve Beresford (too many to mention), Bonjo I (African Head Charge), and Lol Coxhill all contribute - we all can guess who produces and blends the whole thing together. The mix of styles and influences here is impressive - from dub to funky soca to urban jazz, this record packs them all in. It's the sound of a multi-cultural eighties London finding it's feet after being suffocated by the first wave of thatcherism - the wonderful Going Overdrawn sums everything up into one track, ...

Playgroup - Epic Sound Battles Chapter One [BRED 28 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] Are we all sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin. Imagine members of The Pop Group, Rip Rig and Panic, Dub Syndicate, African Head Charge, London Underground, Crucial and New Age Steppers all collaborating on a highly charged album of heavily dubbed reggae beats, hard funk, and dark jazz. Sounds intriguing doesn't it? Most will likely have overlooked this 1982 gem as a planned On-U Sound release was aborted, and the end product licensed to Cherry Red Records instead. Adrian Sherwood produces of course. Another long lost classic from the On-U Sound team which sits comfortably alongside better known classics of the same era like Sextet and Seven Songs . A1 Bombs Scare A2 Epic Sound Battle A3 Crunch A4 The Slither A5 Burn Up B1 Deep & Mintyful (?) B2 Silent Mover B3 Epic One Drop B4 Shock Absorber B5 No Speed Limit B6 Hoggs Might Fly This is my 2018 24-bit re-rip which has a...