| Music
has always played an important part in the life and longevity
of Arc Design Partnership. Since being at college way back
in the early eighties, we have shared a very similar taste
in music and in all our working environments,since setting
up Arc, there has been a sound system togive rhythm to our
work.
| Cody
Chesnutt | Serve This Royalty | 12" | Hefty Records |
| The stand-out track
from 12" sampler – 'Dublab summer selections'which
also features Burnt Friedman and Prefuse 73. A strong
soulful vocal over a chunky RnB rhythm. A very pleasant
surprise.Cody Chestnutt LP now available listen |
| |
| Jah
Stitch | Ragga Muffin Style| 12" | Select
Cuts |
| Go
straight to the B side for a storming re-work of the Horace
Andy classic 'Money Money'. Smith and Mighty take the
original Tubby dub and rinse it out in fine style - a
stunner. listen |
| |
| Horace
Andy | Fight Fight | 10" | Channel One |
| A
repress for a great Horace track from the '70s. This is
coupled with the Gladiators 'Can't Sto Righteousness',
Don Carlos' 'Fight Fight' and Barry Browns' 'So Jah Jah
Say'listen |
| |
| Horace
Andy / Al Moodie | Money Money | 12" | Wackies |
| The Basic
Channel boys are re-issueing much of the Wackies back
catalogue on vinyl. This 12" is a Horace Andy classic
backed with a loping Al Moodie half speed vocal / travalogue
of Jamaica – from Bull Bay to Rockfort to Harbour
View – essential. listen |
| |
| Rhythm
& Sound | with the Artists| CD | Burial Mix |
| A CD release
for a series of classic 10" vinyl killers. This compilation
plays like a dream with the atmospheric dubs of Rhythm
and Sound underpinning classic vocals from a variety of
old time vocalists including Cornell Campbell, Jennifer
Lara and Bullwackie himself. listen |
| |
| Deadbeat
| Wild Life Documentaries | CD | Scape |
| Another
Canadian masterwork - deep and dubby rhythms all overlayed
with hissing atmospherics, all beautifully sequenced on
the CD [not on the double vinyl]. This has proved an Arc
Sound System favourite and sounds astonishing over a big
soundsystem [respect to DJ Earthpipe]. listen |
| |
| Pole
| Pole | LP | Mute |
| Stefan
Betke takes the next step by introducing Hip Hop shadings
to his dubbed out Electronica. With the help of Fat John
on vocals this album is a really interesting progression
from a musician who refuses to repeat himself. listen |
| |
| Tomas
Jirku | Entropy | CD | Intr.Version |
| Great CD
of dubbed out Electronica in fact best so far this year.
Developing soundscapes with deep bass lines and improves
with repeated listening. Collectable sleeve [sewn together]
- highly recommended. listen |
| |
| The
Bug | Pressure | LP | Rephlex |
| We
are late comers to this one. The Bug takes a fearsome
hard noise/ sonic attack to Ragga tunes with a variety
of Jamaican vocalists. Also on this suprisingly varied
album are a couple of mellow tracks with vocals by Paul
St. Hilaire (AKA Tikiman). listen |
| |
| Various
Artists | Electronische musik - Interkontinental 2 | CD
| Traum |
| A collection
of international electronica of very high quality, tracks
from as far a field as Japan, Mexico and Poland. Includes
another track from Tomas Jirku [Hooray!] and a neat video.
listen |
| |
Playlist
A brief explanation
Music has always played an important part in
the life and longevity of Arc Design Partnership. Since being
at college way back in the early eighties, we have shared
a very similar taste in music and in all our working environments,since
setting up Arc, there has been a sound system to give rhythm
to our work.
Our first love is reggae and especially dub
reggae from the early eighties, Horace Andy's 'Dance Hall
Style' on the Wackies label being our all time favourite (now
available on CD!). This area of interest has broadened considerably,
but still retains an element of strong but slow rhythms.Bands
such as the Bristol based Massive Attack, Portishead and Smith
& Mighty who have synthesised reggae rhythms with hip
hop and soulful vocals are a good example of our style of
choice.
Over the years we have shared workspace with
Adrian Mitchell (a furniture designer- be good to hear from
you Adrian!) who introduced us to African music and jazz,
and Elizabeth Darling who suffered our selections with good
humour (mostly!). Also instrumental in our musical development
were, and still are, the staff of Jumbo records - respect
to Lornette & Hunter and Ed and Simon Scott of Tandoori
Space/Tribe. Simon introduced us to many wonderous records,
especially Kruder & Dorfmeister, Thievery Corporation
and a great selection of contemporary dub.
So we thought a taster of what we listen to
might be of interest - we update this selection regularly,
any comments and especially suggestions for future listening
very welcome.
Recently things have been a bit more active
on the music front. Tom and I DJ under the name Arc Sound.
We also promote a night at the WY Playhouse called Ukiyo-e
where we indulge our passion for experimental Dub and Electronica.Why
not come along and check it out - its even free!. We also
play at SubDub -Leeds' best reggae night. In November the
Ultrasound electronic music festival in Huddersfield invited
Ukiyo-e to play the opening night of the event. www.ukiyo-e.org.uk
Paul
back to top |
