The
Missing Brazilians – Warzone (On-U Sound Records)
LP
Out
Now
9
/ 10
Classic On-U Sound album receives a vinyl
re-release.
Described as ‘pushing the envelope’ couldn’t be
associated to Warzone in a more inappropriate way. Think of it more as pushing the whole of the
Staples chain. The brainchild of On-U
Sound founders Adrian Sherwood and Kishi Yamamoto, The Missing Brazilians
produced this single album back in 1984 to a shocked and unbelieving public.
Using simple melodies as the backbone to the tracks,
the duo distorted and disassembled the music industry in eight tracks and
created a legacy that the label would continue follow for over thirty
years. Based around experimental dub and
excessive electronic sounds, the album still remains unsuitable for the light-hearted
and a breakthrough in music.
Whilst many of the sounds are clinical, Missing
Brazilians somehow managed to attach an air of anarchism to the proceedings
where sounds were so wrong that they became very right. Frequency Fast is case in point as it set the
standard for many of the Sherwood influenced artists and tracks that would
follow. Completely mad and completely
original, it used a simple riff and blasted it with sounds so loud and titanic
that it created a beast to be feared.
Similarly, Quicksand Beach Party must have been
an influence to Peaking Lights somewhere along the way with its oriental
sounding melody soon to be blasted with enormous overdubs and reverbs. Rumour has it that Cherry Red Records, famed
for their strange releases were very averse to taking on Warzone. Maybe it was too far down the weird scale for
them, we may never know, instead they didn’t licence it.
With guest appearances by selected members of
African Head Charge and Mark Stewart’s Mafia the collective was completed with
Annie Anxiety/Bandez (Little Annie) and a pre Massive Attack Shara Nelson contributing
vocals to a track each.
With the album now re-cut and mastered by
Sherwood, the tracks sound amazing and prove that it was way ahead of its time
(it may still be). Meander uses a loose
dub feel with a hard hitting percussion and Igloo Inn once more distorts to an
ear-teasing level with some brilliant background melodies.
Closing with the short calling card, Missing
Brazilians, the album disappears from the chaotic fantasy world from whence it
came. An added bonus is a download card
which gives access to a previously unreleased version of Ace Of Wands taken
from the On-U sampler album Pay It All Back Vol 1. Clocking in at over nine minutes, it’s almost
worth the price of the album in itself.
Links
On U-sound Records
Adrian Sherwood website
Adrian Sherwood on Twitter
Adrian Sherwood on Facebook
Adrian Sherwood on hiapop Blog
Kishi Yamamoto on FacebookMark Stewart on hiapop Blog
Peaking LIghts album review
Published on Louder Than War 15/10/15 - here
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