Two seminal tunes from the 1995 Smith and Mighty long player Bass is Maternal (More Rockers) get the heavy repress treatment on the new Bristol imprint, Punchdrunk Unearthed.
Run by Punchdrunk label boss Peverelist, Unearthed's mandate is to re-release key tunes from the foundation of the Bristol sound, re-mastered and cut loud to heavyweight vinyl for the first time. In the words of Peverelist, Unearthed is about 'reviving classic Bristol sound sytem anthems of yester-year'.
The tunes in question are the title track Bass is Maternal and U-Dub. On the A-side (with a vocal hook courtesy of John Lawrence), Ray Mighty and all-round legend and thoroughly nice guy Rob Smith (now RSD) deliver a dub-jungle workout light-years ahead of its time.
Bass is Maternal sounds as fresh and rhythmically blazing as anything currently being released and is comfortably at home in a rootical dubstep set. The flip U-Dub offers an equally engaging but more laid back dub excursion.
While I haven't had a chance to try these out on a system, they're sounding plenty heavy over the monitors at home. An essential purchase for anyone feeling the Bristol vibes.
Intriguingly this release is Unearthed 002, with 001 due in January. I for one am looking forward to seeing what other forgotten gems this label offers up in the near future.
More info:
Bass is Maternal on YouTube
U-Dub on YouTube
Thief (Strictly 138 Crew, Wellington)
Comments
Great to see this tune released on 12. It was a great album when originally released and still sounds fresh today.
def picking this one up in the next few weeks. Essential record.
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