We have a limited pressing – 500 copies only available to preorder now on beautiful RED Vinyl

Enjoy!

www.bristolarchiverecords.com

TALISMAN: ‘Dole Age.’ The 1981 Reggae Collection.

This is an inspired choice of release from the forward-looking (or perhaps that should be backward-looking) Bristol Archive Recordings. Having previously issued two albums of retrospective compilation material showcasing the punk and reggae scenes within Bristol around the latter half of the Seventies / start of the Eighties, they now concentrate their attention on the vastly underrated reggae stalwarts TALISMAN.

Although TALISMAN were deemed worthy of support slots with bands the calibre of The Clash, Burning Spear and even The Rolling Stones, a major record deal was never forthcoming. As far as I can ascertain, the sum recorded output from the band amounts to two singles and a couple of albums released in 1984 and 1990.

However, talent like this should not remain inaccessible, and Bristol Archive Recordings have now made available those two much sought-after singles (‘Dole Age’ and ‘Free Speech’) as well as seven carefully selected tracks from the band’s classic shows at Glastonbury and Bath University to comprise the seventy-two minutes of this wonderful album.

Admittedly, reggae does sound at its best when pumping out some massive sound system on a gloriously sunny day. But we don’t get many such days up here in Glasgow (and my crappy music system and even my I-pod are currently knackered!) but I can tell you, it still sounds magnificent on the van stereo and my laptop.

There is lovely warm feeling about this brand of reggae. The sax and keyboards see to this. But the whole album also incorporates substantial helpings of dub along the way, often integrating it as a mid-song breakdown. Tracks like ‘Run Come Girl’ feature the ‘harp’ (mouth organ) in the haunting manner made more commercially acceptable by the likes of Beats International (‘Dub Be Good To Me’) about a decade and a half later.

The live tracks have never been properly released before and although the crowd sounds are muted / sparse, it somehow makes the tracks even more special in that they feel that bit more intimate – that they are being performed just for you.

Of course there are also a few tracks that seem to transpose into big jams. ‘Words Of Wisdom’ for instance spans almost fourteen and a half minutes, with some great drumming / sax combinations given the dub treatment while vocalist Lazarus Taylor skanks his way through set, delivering his deliciously reverb-drenched lyrics with clarity, conviction and authority.

I genuinely can’t believe just how atmospheric this album is – it really transports the listener back to a time of dingy basement parties and oppressive, fuggy air. If your perception of ‘old skool’ reggae is based upon say UB40’s version of ‘Red Red Wine,’ then you really have to listen to this album and sample just what it was like back in the day. (Look! I sound like your Father!)

If you were indeed around or experienced the vibe at the onset of the Eighties, then you‘ll be equally enthralled by this release, which serves as a reminder that the UK reggae scene, while it remained steadfastly in the ‘underground,’ was in fact an equal of the burgeoning but more exposed Punk movement.
It also perfectly illustrates that UK reggae had more to offer than just Aswad, Steel Pulse and Misty In Roots.

(Released through Bristol Archive Records on 9th May 2011)

www.bristolarchiverecords.com

** The album will be released on CD and Download basis, but there will also be run of Limited Edition Vinyl Albums which will include five different tracks – including the 12” mixes. **

(10/10)

Taken from: http://loudhorizon.wordpress.com

COLIN
LOUD HORIZON / ARTROCKER

7” Vinyl – Limited Edition Single

“RIOT” and “Re-Arrange (Version)”

Released 11^th July 2011

The success of “The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1979-1983”, has helped many new fans discover some of the wonderful reggae music hidden away and half forgotten in Bristol’s musical story. Many people have got in touch with us and asked if there was any chance of re-releasing some of these tunes in their original seven or twelve inch vinyl format. Having dipped our toe in the reggae singles market with our very limited release of a Joshua Moses/Sharon Bengamin split seven inch for Record Store Day we are delighted to announce our first full release is the most requested track from the album, 3-D Production “Riot”, coupled with it’s original B side, “Re-Arrange (Version)”.

3-D Production were an offshoot of The Radicals with John Carley on vocals, guitar and percussion and Black Roots member King providing the bass lines. This two man core were then supplemented by other local musicians. The single was released in 1980 on the small reggae label Third Kind and judging from it’s scarcity it seems to have sunk without trace, fortunately we didn’t forget it !! So after more than thirty years it will be re-released on Bristol Archive Records.

The title “Riot” needs no explanation and is about the St. Paul’s riot that had only just happened, a classic case of reggae reportage, opening with police sirens and the sound of smashing glass. The original picture cover is adorned with an image of the burning Lloyds Bank on Ashley Road whilst the rear features a burned out police panda car. Perhaps it’s no surprise “Riot” was banned by the BBC!

The B side “Re-Arrange (Version)” didn’t appear on the LP and has not previously been reissued. It presents a complete contrast to “Riot”, a sparse dub obviously inspired by late period Black Ark recordings with the snippets of vocal harmonies dropping in and out of the mix. A real grower that you find yourself drawn back to again and again wishing that there was a proper vocal version to accompany it.

The single will be released on Monday 11^th July housed in an updated version of the original picture sleeve and with perfect attention to detail, we have even used the same colour for the labels as used on the original.

ARTIST: 3-D Production

TITLE: ‘Riot / Re-Arrange (Version)’

FORMAT: Limited Edition 7” Vinyl Single

LABEL: Bristol Archive Records

DISTRIBUTION: Exclusive to www.bristolarchiverecords.com

CAT NO: ARC185V

RELEASE DATE: 11^thJuly  2011

WEBSITE: www.bristolarchiverecords.com

CONTACT: Mike Darby, E: [email protected]  T: 07885 498 402

I had a bit of a problem when I first half-heard the title track on the recent Bristol Reggae Explosion collection – I thought it was about the horrors of living in Dulwich. Rather than being a paean to one of the posher bits of South London, it was about living in the Dole Age of the early eighties. All becomes clear when they call Thatcher a criminal and old folks like me can feel at home with the message and the medium. The Eighties was a golden age for reggae in the UK – bands combined political, religious and cultural statements with big rumbling beats and sweet sounding choruses. The Roots movement was peaking and biblical-sounding lines would work their way into lyrics, lending a sense of depth that perhaps wasn’t deserved. Bands like Steel Pulse, Aswad (before they went all pop), the other Bristol band – Black Roots, and, of course, the transcendental Misty In Roots set a new high water mark for solidity of purpose and danceability. Let’s please not factor in the contemporaneous UB40, who started out well-meaning but dull before developing into twee, popular,irrelevant and dull……..

Talisman’s second track, Free Speech, is another hardship song and a sweetie too. It wasn’t all hard times for the reggae musician and plenty of songs are about the tribulations of love or the lack of it. Wicked Dem is the last of the four tracks from their 2 singles and condemns iniquity. There is some very nice guitar work illustrating throughout and sax for colouration. It makes a heady sound and one simultaneously cool and accessible to nearly anyone with a pulse. The four studio tracks make up less than twenty minutes and are fleshed out with nearly an hour of live songs – not one of them a repeat. The live tracks show the band had the chops for real and the bass is deeper yet. All the songs take their time and last a minimum of six minutes a piece, some as long as quarter of an hour. Horns, echo and dubby touches send me into raptures. Songs like Nothing Change, Calamity and Ah Wha U Seh take you back to a time when politics was real and personal, while others, like Shine On, give some hope and uplift. The set is a smooth fusion of steady dance music and sloganeering that will make you wonder how this band is not better remembered. They went on to record a couple of albums in the next few years before fading away.

If you have any time at all for Steel Pulse or Aswad, you will REALLY like this.

Irie.