A scintillating collaboration between two titans of reggae - known as Dub Syndicate - will be revisited in a series of reissues covering their late '80s and early '90s output.
Out Here on the Perimeter 1989-1996 is a new 5CD box set, available from the On-U Sound label on February 28, that features new pressings of Dub Syndicate's studio albums Strike the Balance (1989), Stoned Immaculate (1991), Echomania (1993) and Ital Breakfast (1996), along with a new remix album of material from this period called Obscured by Version. Most of the standard albums have CD-exclusive bonus tracks and will be packaged with a 36-page book of liner notes and photos. All five albums will also be re-pressed on vinyl, using their original format track lists and housed in replicas of their original LP jackets with newly-created inner sleeves offering liner notes and rare photos.
Dub Syndicate was the brainchild of Adrian Sherwood, a British producer/mixer and the co-founder of the experimental dub/reggae label On-U Sound Records. (Sherwood has since remixed tracks by Depeche Mode, Sinéad O'Connor and others.) Sherwood's co-founder was Lincoln Valentine "Style" Scott, drummer for the well-regarded reggae group Roots Radics as well as Creation Rebel, the de facto house band for On-U Sound artists. Active from 1982 to 2014, the duo combined reggae, dub, electronica and other genres into a unique blend of sound with the help of a killer line-up of session and guest musicians, eventually gaining a reputation as a live act after the release of 1989's Strike the Balance and securing some modest distribution deals in America. Additional musicians on these albums include Sherwood's bandmates in Tackhead (guitarist Skip MacDonald and guitarist Keith LeBlanc, both members of the Sugar Hill Records house band), Style Scott's Roots Radics cohorts Bingy Bunny on rhythm guitar and bassist Errol "Flabba" Holt, vocalist Shara Nelson (who'd later collaborate with Massive Attack), Lee "Scratch" Perry, posthumous samples of Jamaican DJ Prince Far I, singer Michael Franti (who, with his group Spearhead, had an unlikely pop crossover hit with 2004's "Say Hey (I Love You)") and others.
Though Dub Syndicate came to an end when Style Scott was tragically found dead in his home in 2014 - a still-unsolved mystery - Sherwood has extended the story of this period of their work with Obscured by Version, revisiting select songs from around this era to create new dub tracks, including new keyboard overdubs by Cyrus Richard of Dub Asante Band. This disc puts a terrific capper on Out Here on the Perimeter.
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Out Here on the Perimeter 1989-1996 (On-U Sound ON-U CD163, 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
* only on CD box set, not on vinyl reissue
CD 1: Strike the Balance (On-U Sound ON-U LP47, 1989 - Vinyl Reissue: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Cuss Cuss
- Hey Ho
- Shout It Out
- Je T'aime
- Chapter & Verse
- Mafia
- Hawaii
- J.A. Minor
- Boof Um Baff
- I'm the Man for You Baby
CD 2: Stoned Immaculate (On-U Sound ON-U CD15, 1991 - Vinyl Reissue: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Wadada (Means Love)
- Stoned Immaculate
- Forward Not Back
- Glory to God
- No Dog Barks
- More and More
- Well Tuned Now
- King of Sound and Blues
- Fight the Power
- Wadada (Means Love) (Part 2) *
- Well Tuned Now (Part 2) *
- Well Mashed (Japanese bonus track - Beat Records BRC-116, 2005) *
- Barking Mad (Japanese bonus track - Beat Records BRC-116, 2005) *
CD 3: Echomania (On-U Sound ON-U CD24, 1993 - Vinyl Reissue: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Roots Commandment
- Dubbing Psycho Thriller
- Dubaddisababa
- Walking Jerusalem
- No No
- '93 Struggle *
- 2001 Love (Parts 1 + 2)
- What Happened? *
- Green Stick
- Rock Back
- Echomania
CD 4: Ital Breakfast (On-U Sound ON-U CD84, 1996 - Vinyl Reissue: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Throw Down Your Gun
- The Corporation
- The Jewel
- Gun Too Hot
- No Lightweight Sound
- Ital Breakfast
- Japanese Record
- Jamaican Jig
- Natural Selection
- Above and Beyond *
- The Captain's Trance Mission *
CD 5: Obscured by Version (On-U Sound ON-U LP162, 2025 - Vinyl Release: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Plains of Africa (Echo, Echo, Echo)
- Alive and Burning Bright
- Right Back to Your Soul
- Stay Tuned
- Pleasurezone Transmitter
- Command Centre
- Corporate Takeover
- No Lightweight Here
- Intercommunications
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