New Age Steppers - The New Age Steppers Vol 1
My final On-U post (for now) is the superb debut album by label collective The New Age Steppers ripped from an original UK pressing in 24 bit quality. Misidentified by many over the years as a reggae record when in reality this is a post-punk record with heavy dub leanings. The line up of musicians is impressive - Mark Stewart, Bruce Smith and John Waddington from The Pop Group, Ari-Up and Viv Albertine of The Slits, Sean Oliver from what would become Rip,Rig And Panic, Steve Beresford and On-U main men, Crucial Tony, Ras Levi, Style Scott and Adrian Sherwood.
The album opens with an alternative cut of Ari's sublime Fade Away, and Mark Stewart vents his anger and anxiety on Crazy Dreams and High Ideals. There are three instrumental experimental works - Radial Drill, State Assembly and Abderhamane's Demise before Ari returns with the punk-dub of Animal Space. The seven minutes of Love Forever start off as the sweetest of pop songs before Sherwood piles on the layers of dub and Ari-Up's voice pitches higher and higher. The closing and quite wonderful Private Armies is heavy dark dub-wave driven by a pounding monotone bassline. Enjoy!
Ripped from a vinyl album released on On-U Sound Records (ON-U LP 01) in 1981 to high resolution 24-bit flac audio.
A1 Fade Away
A2 Radial Drill
A3 State Assembly
A4 Crazy Dreams And High Ideals
B1 Abderhamane's Demise
B2 Animal Space
B3 Love Forever
B4 Private Armies
