UK dub guru Adrian Sherwood and adventurous percussionist Bonjo I have been releasing their sonic experiments as African Head Charge since the early 1980s. Although their 1986 album Off the Beaten Track (best known through the Great Vintage CD compilations) is an essential item in any progressive dub collection, some of their later works have been less groundbreaking than other projects in the sprawling On U Sound catalogue.
Their latest was released in Japan (where Sherwood is revered by dub and electronica nerds) five years ago; now that it's finally available worldwide, we can see how it expands their youthful vision into a mature collage of deep sounds attempting to gloss the title quote from Bush of Ghosts–era Eno. The many discerning acidheads who have come down to the calming repetitions of the early material should beware: the 21st-century Charge deal mostly in disorientation and trance-disrupting elements.
These are not the precocious, blunted soundtracks of 1981's My Life in a Hole in the Ground. Still, handle with care and you'll enjoy the head trip with two ace shamans as guides.
