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No. Not *blob* wars. That would be gross. Think more like Othello, with characters from Trapdoor.

A line from CSN’s “Almost Cut My Hair”, yes, but also a call to arms from the beautifully freaky Tranquility Bass… Best known for the singles that aren’t on the album, “Cantamilla” and “They Come In Peace” this is dubbed up chilled out dance music at its… well… freakiest. Ladies and gentlemen, let your freak flag fly…

Under the guise of the Roots Radics and the Soul Syndicate their tougher, sparser, darker and often scarier rhythms were credited with the creation of the dancehall style that swept Jamaica in the early 80s. Later they reappeared as The Arabs with Prince Far I, before coming to the UK and working with Adrian Sherwood as Dub Syndicate. It’s amazing what dross in your record collection is still available, and it’s truly amazing what isn’t… If you like this you should seriously try out murder tone as a compilation of their work at On-U, or Time Boom X De Devil Dead - one of Lee Perry’s finest hours, backed by the Dub Syndicate. Lack of Education.

This one is a rather nifty idea - keep the crows off your scarecrows
Found at Digital Dialecte

You either love them or hate them. Me, I love ‘em. In my opinion there’s nothing like the absolute balls-to-the-wall energy and simplicity of Hawkwind at their best. Of their many varied albums perhaps their best (or at least my favourite) is deleted, unlikely ever to reappear on CD due to contractual difficulties between the band and the owner of the master tapes. So… From Quark Strangeness and Charm… Everybody sing:

Flying through the burning hoop of doom
in my eight wheeled anti-radiation tomb
Thank you Dr. Strangelove for going doolally
and leaving us the heritage of damnation alley

There was also a fine line in psychedelia. Like the Moonflowers. Go on. Smile in the face of evil and dance.

… but this maze is quite hard…

Really nice incarnation of a boggle-like game….

In my incarnation as student journalist (short lived and highly unsuccessful, but there you go) I was lucky enough to interview Dodgy. At the time they’d just been publicising themselves by playing at Speaker’s Corner, as well as doing a national tour of people’s houses… In the process of the interview one of their comments was that their target wasn’t Indie success, but success like Simply Red (Stars was the largest selling album of that year)… They didn’t quite get there, but the combination of jangly guitars and 3 way harmonies changed the pop of the 90s for a few years. Lots of their stuff is still available, but the first album (and arguably the best) is long gone - Grand Old English Oak Tree is a classic example….

Anyone remember the Radical Dance Faction? No. Thought not. The lead singer (or speaker, to be more accurate) was a huge man with 6 foot long white dreads, so if you’d seen them you’d remember. RDF were part of the festie/squat scene of the early 90s that bred the likes of Chumbawumba (before they got shit), Back to the Planet, Poisoned Electric Head and Porcupine Tree. They rocked. Skanking reggae, social lyrics and a damn good beat. Tension Town… Remember the 90s right.