The return of one of my favourite tunes of all time and one of the many gems that was originally introduced to me by the late great Andrew Weatherall.
It's one of those tunes that just stops you in your tracks the first time you hear it leaving you scrambling in desperation for a track id and has gone one to become a permanent fixture in my record bag and a regular play at HOLY.
Written and produced by John Collins who went on to produce The Specials “Ghost Town” (check the similarly ghostly synth intros to both tracks...) it falls broadly within the post-punk/dub crossover that swept across the UK in the late 70’s and early 80’s whilst still managing to sound distinctly different from many of its contemporaries.
Maybe it’s the epic almost ambient slowly building intro or the eerily swirling synths that give it a slightly off kilter psychedelic edge or that irresistibly funky snaking bassline that eventually emerges from the fog to ensure its status as a leftfield dancefloor bomb.
Whatever it is there’s some serious musical alchemy at work here resulting in a very magical tune and it’s great to see it reappear here on this inspired double header 10" from London's Roots Mythology label paired with my second favourite Detonators track on the flip - 1979's much underrated and under the radar "Robber Dub."
Essential!
Tracklist:
A: Lift Off
B: Robber Dub