posted 2/13/2008 7:55:35 PM

African Head Charge

by Eduardo Rivadavia

Arguably the most popular act to emerge from Adrian Sherwood's highly respected On-U Sound Records, African Head Charge created a series of critically acclaimed albums dedicated to further experiments in their label boss, mentor, and producer’s patented style of psychedelic dub.

African Head Charge was founded in 1980 by percussionist Bonjo I (full name: Bonjo Iyanbinghi Noah), who surrounded himself with an ever-shifting cast of supporting characters (including colorfully named henchmen like Prisoner, Crocodile, Junior Moses and Sunny Akpan), and captained their debut, My Life in a Hole in the Ground to almost immediate international acclaim. Three more albums: ‘82’s Environmental Studies, ‘83’s Drastic Season, and ‘86’s Off the Beaten Track – followed in due course, and quickly grew African Head Charge’s fan base, regardless of their staunch refusal to perform live throughout this time period. Then again, it could be argued that the band’s intensely studio-created, hyper-mixed, and often abstract ‘psychey dub’ compositions weren’t at all ideal for on-stage reproduction. In any case, African Head Charge eventually did concede to go out on tour; then enjoyed an extended break before reconvening to work on a 1991 comeback album entitled Songs of Praise.

Since then, the group has continued to add to their already rich legacy with new albums (In Pursuit of Shashamane Land arrived in ‘93, Akwaaba two years later), remix sets, singles, and compilations, but not all of their recordings have been made available, or are at all easy to come by on vinyl or CD. 1986’s classic Off the Beaten Track, for one, has been long out of print, so it was up to Anthology Recordings to license and bring its much loved tracks to the web as digital downloads. Here they are now, ready to rekindle the memories of converts past, as well as introduce the unique dub creations of African Head Charge to a host of new fans.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Viewed 522 times Post to del.icio.us | Digg It