At almost thirty-five years old, the debut album by Singers And
Players has been re-released by On-U Sound Records. The band never had a firm line-up but over
the seven years of their ‘existence’ they included the likes of Price Far I , Keith
Levene and Ari Up in the revolutionary reggae supergroup.
War Of Worlds was always just more than reggae. It transcended the struggling genre and,
together with the emerging label presented a new kind of Dub which was quickly
take to the heart of music connoisseurs demanding something new. Quite incredibly, the album sounds as fresh
now as it did then.
Crisp, clean productions and minimalist soundtracks gave way
to some of the most unique productions methods ever witnessed. Album opener, Devious Woman starts simultaneously
with vocals and percussion slowly to be joined by guitar riffs and reverbs a
plenty. Followed by Quante Jubila with its
occasional backwards vocals it again sees a quite revolutionary album begin to
open up.
Largely dominated b Bi Sherman on vocals, War Of Words contained
just seven tracks, each one beautifully re-mastered by Adrian Sherwood giving
the tracks and adding bass thump which often has to be heard to be believed.
Fit To Survive does follow a roots theme, Reaching The Bad
Man has one wicked bass-line if ever there was one. Again, with backwards
loops, shouted echoes and some lovely dubs it’s quite an aural delight.
The album closes with
seven and a half minutes of quite stunning reverb in the shape of 91 Vibration
which is a must for any reggae/dub fan as it sets the standard for anything
that may have followed. Every trick in
the book is employed – bass, hi-hat and percussion solos, more dubs than you
shake a dubby stick at and some quite gorgeous keyboard excerpts.
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