Country of origin UK Founder Adrian Sherwood | Location London Date founded 1979 | |
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Genre Dub, reggae, experimental, electronica Albums Survival & Resistance, Learning to Cope with Cowardice, Hard Grind, If You Want Loyalty Buy a Dog, Trippy Notes for Bass Artists Adrian Sherwood, Dub Syndicate, Singers & Players, New Age Steppers, Mark Stewart Profiles | ||
On-U Sound Records is an English record label known for releasing its own unique flavour of dub music since the 1980s. The label was founded by Adrian Sherwood in 1979/1980 and is home to acts such as Tackhead, Dub Syndicate, African Head Charge, The London Underground, Little Annie, Creation Rebel, Mark Stewart, Gary Clail, New Age Steppers, Audio Active, Asian Dub Foundation, and the dub collective Singers & Players.
During the 1980s the sleeves and labels of On-U releases often featured a release date that was ten years in advance of the record’s actual release date. For example, the sleeve notes on African Head Charge’s Environmental Studies LP, released in 1982, claimed it was ‘another 1992 On-U production’. The conceit suggested the label’s esoteric reggae fusion was at least a decade ahead of its time.