Sunday 6 March 2011

Oily Num Nums

Another side of dub music in the nineteen-nineties was an addition to the rather limited genre that could only have emerged from Britain.
A Special Brew; a heady mix; ever so, ever so crusty; full of the monotony of ritualistic mantra, while brimming with energy and aural satisfaction.

Skronk, someone coined it (sounds like a Nick Kent word, but I'm not sure of its derivation as it doesn't appear in the OED. Surprisingly); dub is what it is.
But filthy dub. Full of mud, blood and sweat dub.
The boom makes my windows vibrate and my fillings tingle; and if I shut my eyes I smell canvas and am hit with wafts of weed. Then some pissed dude stands on my foot and I spill my drink all down my trousers....

Less manic than their magnum opus King of all Spaceheads, but still very dark; and those strange interjections placed between the monster dub work outs are really quite disturbing - just why Dame Clara Butt turns up in the middle of things performing a turn is beyond me; maybe it's a Finnegans Wake type thing... Discuss....

Terminal Cheesecake - Gateau D'Espace (1993)

Please Be Seated
Oily Bud
Mexical
Herbal Alien Flavour
Extra Oily
Dame Clara Butt
Blatant Drug Reference

As my vinyl copy can only be considered a remix due to just too many clicks and pops I have upped the CD version.
For your delectation: CD rip to mp3s.
Grab a slice of space cake here

9 comments:

. said...

Lissen, Roy. I pulled in a cross-section of Thai peasantry from the street to audition this, and as a man they rose to their horny old feet with hoarse cries of THIS SKRONK! YOU SAID DUB, FARANG! YOU LIE!

They were only assuaged by me thumbing through the virtual crates here at th' Brokedown Palace to find some Keith Hudson ...

roy rocket said...

My. You and your little Star Trek-type buddies are OL' SKOOL.
Expand, my friend: EXPAND....

Anonymous said...

i LOVE all the TC releases(and their bud alzir dub project)& have seen them play many times in the late 80s/90s, my fave gig was under the influence of white microdots... and i can report back that it was a very delicious sonic experience... xx

OLDNIK said...

Mucho grassy-arse!
I too hade/have this on vinyl, and like yours, has been much abused, either from dodgy decks at chill-out room sessions, or other rolling abuses! I always loved mixing in a bit of TC for the brown acid brigade to see who would go from wobble to wibble!
Personally though my fave has got to be Pearlesque Kings of the Jewmost, if you do have that I'd appreciate a post as my CD copy has worn out from 20 years of use!
I actually bought King of all Spaceheads from one of the members of TC who had a CD stall down Spitalfields market in the late 90's early 00's!

roy rocket said...

'Kings of the Jewmost' on its way.
Glad there's still an audience for this most evocative of sonic attack.
Enjoy, roy

OLDNIK said...

Cheers Roy,
Yes indeed, we may be a small and dwindling brigade of "'Cakers" but it is very much appreciated, especially as PKOTJ is as rare as rocking horse shit thesedays, and twice as expensive to purchase!

roy rocket said...

Keep 'em peeled.
Up after the next.

. said...

Right. I'll just get me coat ...

It's a good listen. But calling it dub is like calling dub reggae. I also played it for my dogs, and only one pawed twice (for "yes") when asked if this was dub. As the only Ted Nugent fan on the farm, though, I tend to disregard his musical opinion.

Good to see this post has pulled some crusties out of the woodwork for you!

roy rocket said...

Dub's a large paradigm (removing and placing your coat back on the hook), but as with all genres moves and changes (arbitarily), often relying on hybridization to evolve.
Yeah, labels, like dub, can become lazily used. But skronk's just pants!

I'm with the dog, I love Ted Nugent; but only the crusty cave man version - we all have our own ol' skool preferences, right ;)