Sherwood & Pinch – Man vs Sofa (On-USound Vs Tectonic Recordings)
LP / CD / DL
8.5 / 10
24 February 2017
Adrian Sherwood and Rob Ellis (aka
Pinch) return with their not so difficult second album and it is nothing short
of a resounding success. The follow up
to Late Night Endless sees the duo, now in their fifth year of recording and
recoding together, developing a sound that belongs to neither party but creates
a niche sound that the pair can begin to call their own. As before, there are mighty bass sounds
throughout and more dub effects that you can shake a dubby stick at, as reggae,
techno and drum n bass are given their unmistakable treatment.
The credentials of both men can never be
questioned with Sherwood at the forefront of alternative and weird for over
thirty years and now, fully ensconced in the digital era, enjoying a continuing
ascendancy into the musical archives of popular dance culture. Pinch, the dubstep impresario known for his
journeys into reggae and jazz fusion seems to be the perfect working partner,
and vice versa.
Where, Late Night Endless centred around
meditative sonic sounds, the new collection of eleven tracks sees a more
technoid direction with distinctive overlays of percussion loops and far less
(if any) samples from the On-U sound vaults than featured previously. Martin Duffy of Primal Scream fame is present
of five tracks via the medium of piano and the tinkling ivories, often in an
improvising and intuitive fashion bring an element of jazz to the proceedings,
the title track and ‘Charger’ being prime examples of some quite stunning interplay
between all concerned.
Indeed, from the beginnings of opening
track ‘Roll Call’ the scene if firmly set.
Deep bass juddering and echoed pops provide at parts an almost modern
day version of Isaac Hayes’ ‘Theme From Shaft’, and further reminiscences comes
in the shape of a cover version of sorts of ‘Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence’. The Ryuichi Sakamoto track is nothing short
of beautiful as it takes the 80s film soundtrack theme and adds delicate and
emotive effects throughout making it a complete work of art. Halfway through it descends into an eclectic
chaos, which on first listen sounds wrong but on subsequent hearings confirms
the work of near genius.
Further guest appearances come in the shape
of Skip MacDonald (the mighty Tackhead, Little Axe, Sugarhill Gang) and the unmistakable
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry lends his instantly recognisable tones to ‘Lies’. Album lead ‘Retribution’ is a stormer of a
track with innocuous beginnings soon to explode into a thumping dub and
percussion heavy moon-bounce filled with a plethora of sounds, bytes and
effects.
The vocals of Taz, former Dizzee Rascal
collaborator on album closer ‘Gun Law’ sees the album end on another high note of buzzing bass and raw
vocals confirming that Sherwood & Pinch are far more than a one-trick
pony. Album two comfortably under their belt,
the prospect of a hat-trick completion is mouth-watering to say the least. Great stuff.
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