Nothin' Sez Somethin': Fats Comet

Showing posts with label Fats Comet. Show all posts

21 February 2013

It's a Miracle

Miracle is some mighty fine example of On-U Sound. Bim Sherman was a bright star in the Jamaican Dub/Reggae world by the mid-70s. Adrian Sherwood heard Bim & dug his style. He invited Bim over to London to do some work with On-U Sound. Bim went & stayed.

Miracle was released in 1996 on On-U & Mantra with: Bim Sherman – vocals; Skip McDonald – acoustic guitar & backing vocals; Doug Wimbish – bass; Talvin Singh – tablas & percussion; & Carlton Oglivie – backing vocals. With additional strings by Studio Beats Orchestra Bombay.

What I’m offering up today is the Miracle Demo Sessions from 1995. These are unreleased acoustic versions that later were developed into the Miracles official release.

Bim Sherman & Fats Comet & Friends – The Miracle Demo Sessions cassette, 1995.

Side A –

Life (called “Simple Life” on Miracle)

Golden Locks

Over the Rainbow

Side B –

Missing You

Just Can’t Stand It

Bewildered

My Woman

Enjoy,

On-U (I mean NØ)

17 February 2013

This Dub's On-U

On-U Sound with Adrian Sherwood at the helm produced, in my opinion, the best dub outside of Jamaica. When Sherwood met Keith LeBlanc in New York in 1984, things would never be the same at On-U or in the world of dub musick.

LeBlanc met up with Skip McDonald & Doug Wimbish in 1979. McDonald & Wimbish had been part of the New York 70s disco scene in the band Wood Brass & Steel They released a self-titled album in 1976 on Turbo records that gave them a pair of minor hits, "Always There" (a Ronnie Laws cover) & "Funkanova" (an underground jazz/disco classic still enjoyed by club-goers decades later). After meeting LeBlanc, the three hooked up with the newly-formed Sugarhill Records. They soon became the label's house band, providing backing for the Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, & Melle Mel. They were instrumental (literally) in launching 80s rap.

As Sugarhill self-destructed (accompanied by drawn-out legal hassles over musick rights), the three musicians continued to work together on various projects. Described as one of the day’s ‘most extraordinary rhythm sections’, they moved on from Sugarhill to Tom Silverman's Tommy Boy label. There Keith LeBlanc released some solo work ("Maneuvers" & "Uh!" on the 1985 Masters Of The Beat compilation). He created the now legendary unique DMX drumbeats style by mixing it with his own special drum sound. LeBlanc’s release "Malcolm X No Sell Out" featured the cut-up words of civil rights activist Malcolm X juxtaposed against the infamous DMX drumbeat, now acknowledged as the first ever sampling record. Sugarhill had purchased some of Malcolm X’s speeches & LeBlanc got some samples from Marshall Chess. He then recorded “Malcolm X No Sell Out” at Tommy Boy, as Sugarhill was not willing to pay Malcolm’s widow royalties. In fact, Sugarhill released a version of the song, credited to the phony group Sugarhill All-Stars.

"Malcolm X No Sell Out" caught the attention of London's dub-meister extraordinare & On-U Sound label owner Adrian Sherwood. Sherwood was working on a remix of Akabu’s "Watch Yourself" for Tommy Boy. He met LeBlanc, along with Keith’s cohorts McDonald & Wimbish. This meeting spawned the radical collaboration between the British producer & the three American musicians that continues to this day. Later the four teamed up in London to begin work on a new project which they christened Tackhead/Fats Comet. Wimbish came up with the name Tackhead, which is New Jersey slang for homeboy. Fats Comet was the alter ego of Tackhead.

Tackhead is the zenith of years of experimental collaboration: LeBlanc’s beats; Sherwood’s Dub Methodology; McDonald’s distorted guitar; & Wimbish’s funky bass.

To quote Steve Barker's liner notes for the Tackhead/Fats Comet compilations Power Inc., volumes 1 & 2:
"In short, the master plan, although never commited to either memory or paper, was for Tackhead to take dub/funk on a journey through leftfield and into the unknown to God knows where, and then for Fats Comet to pilot the mothership smoothly back from this alternative dimension to a safe earthly landing with sounds that you would recognise instantly without ever having heard before."

Here, collected in one place, are all the singles of FatsComet…

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