Blackbeard's Orchestra

4th Street Orchestra - Yuh Learn! (1977)

The Grunwick Affair
Forever Missing You

Dennis Bovell is the man. He formed one of the first major UK reggae groups, Matumbi, in the mid-70's, produced The Pop Group's Y and the Slits Cut- two of the best albums from the post-punk era- in addition to producing all of Linton Kwesi Johnson's classic albums among other timeless reggae titles. His own dub albums are also worth checking out. One overlooked part of his catalog is his 4th Street Orchestra project that released some great dub in the late '70s. Check out these instrumentals from the album Yuh Learn! from '77 that feature some tight horn arrangements.

This album was reissued last year by EMI with the follow up album from '78, Scientific Higher Ranking Dubwise. Check it out here. "The Grunwick Affair" and other 4th Street Orchestra tunes also appeared on the excellent Bovell collection titled "Decibel" released on Pressure Sounds a few years ago.

Revolutionary Sounds

Agrovators Meets The Revolutioners At Channel 1 Studios (1977)
The Revolutionaries - The Conqueror
The Aggrovators - Special Brew

Revolutionary Sounds (1976)
Sudden Attack

On this day in 1777, militiamen from New Hampshire and Massachusetts fought and defeated British forces at the Battle of Bennington (thanks "On this Day in History" widget...). To honor this important date of the American Revolution we offer some Revolutionary sounds from Channel One; Agrovators Meets The Revolutioners At Channel One Studios, recorded 200 years after the Battle, and Revolutionary Sounds from the year before, complete with album art featuring Che Guevara... Ok, so this may be completely absurd and irrelevant to that historical fact, but whatever, listen to some classic instrumentals that will make you happy you're not getting shot at right now.

Alternate dub versions of a few tracks from these albums were collected on crucial sets on the Pressure Sounds label- "Maxfield Avenue Breakdown," an amzing collection of Channel One tracks from '74-'79 released in 2000, and the recently released “Drum Sound - More Gems From The Channel One Dub Room 1974-1980,” possibly the best compilation of the year. Buy them immediately from your local indie store.