Mark Stewart – "As The Veneer Of Democracy Starts To Fade" (Mute – STUMM 24) 1985

Them Sugar Hill Gang bangers got everywhere in the 80's didn't they? Here replacing Grandmaster Flash with erstwhile lead screecher from The Pop Group, Mark Stewart. No subtlety here from absent lovers rock producer Dennis Bovell, who dubbed up The Pop Group's debut LP "Y" six years earlier, not with Adrian Sherwood at the controls there ain't. It's all there,distorted max feedback tape echo, Keith LeBlanc's thudding and crashing electro-industrial style drum samples, William S. Burroughs croaking his  control data parables, and Mark himself spouting his sixth-form Politics of paranoia. An alternative left-field classic spouting some forgivable soap-boxing, and various things of the Pissed-Off variety.

There was even a time that I would even suggest that this was my favourite album!?...but tech fatigue, and a strong miners strike allergy, forced me to look elsewhere for my mashed up dance rhythms.....but... HEY!....don't let that put you off. Nowadays this stands out like a shiny beacon of joy in these post-music days. Everything produced since the turd of the century is at best pointless, and at worst, totally human free, shat out by robots for a blank generation breast fed on very similar sounding short meaningless bursts for (south)Korean-a-like clones with zero rated attention spans dancing to their own AI chosen algorithms. 

Mark Stewart would explain it all for you, but he's Dead. The best I can do is post this LP as the veneer of Democracy fades to shit to the sound of the Auto-tuner.

Tracklisting:

1 Passivecation Program
2 Bastards
3 The Resistance Of The Cell
4 Untitled
5 As The Veneer Of Democracy Starts To Fade
6 Pay It All Back
7 Hypnotised
8 Slave Of Love
9 The Waiting Room

10 Hypnotised (remix)

11 Dreamers

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Keith LeBlanc – "Major Malfunction" (World Records – WR 005) 1986

Keith LeBlanc was the only white boy in the Sugar Hill Gang Village, hence the name. So to win the respect of the majority Black members of America's premier Hip-Hop collective Keith had to show off his technologically enhanced and Electro-influenced Drum style.

Just as Robin Hood and Little John fought each other in a sickening display of male machismo flailing staffs over what i can only imagine was the 12th century River Trent?

Like two medieval rappers free-styling their way towards a state of mutual appreciation ....sickening I know, but thats what they do innit.

Naturally LeBlanc gained their respect, and he, Doug Winbush, Skip MacDonald from the Furious Five,and Tackhead,ran off to the UK and joined up with pasty-faced mad Dub Professor Adrian Sherwood, and together took all that Electro hip-hop and turned it into something altogether more dark and Industrial to lure more pasty-faced White kids in long overcoats towards something they could at last tap their German army dead stock para-boots to.

This release being, allegedly, a Keith LeBlanc solo album.

Whose beats are heavy, dubbed up and distorted,and included a few tunes that appear elsewhere over many of those Tackhead Sound system records. It all sounds so dated these days, with W.S. Burroughs analogue samples,jousting with all the kinda stuff you expected from "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts"

or a Holgar Czukay solo album around that time.

Funnily enough The Eno/Byrne/Czukay stuff has dated far better than the On-U-Sound stable,mainly because of LeBlanc's drums I hesitate to suggest.

However it does have a certain Industrial charm about it all,as no-one makes music like this anymore,.....except for a laugh.

Tracklist:

1 Get This

2 Major Malfunction
3 Heaven On Earth
4 Object-Subject (Breakdown's Not Enough)
5 I'll Come Up With Something
6 Move
7 Technology Works Dub
8 You Drummers Listen Good

9 Einstein Mad Dub

DOWNLOAD to function HERE!