Becoming A Cliché

Adrian Sherwood

Released 13 November 2006

  1. Animal Magic
  2. Two Versions Of The Future
  3. A Piece Of The Earth
  4. Monastery Of Sound
  5. Dennis Bovine Part 1 (Tribute To Blackbeard)
  6. J'ai Changé
  7. You Wonder Why
  8. The House Of Games
  9. Nu Rizla
  10. St Peter's Gate
  11. Home Sweet Home
  12. Forgive Yourself
  13. All Hands On Desk
  14. Stop The Bloodshed

Liner notes

Where the first ‘solo’ album was mainly instrumental, Becoming A Cliche features an ever-impressive range of vocal guests: the late, great Bim Sherman, reggae multi-instrumentalist Dennis Bovell, Little Roy, Lee ‘LSK’ Kenny, Tunisian-French singer Samia Farah, Italian rapper Raiz, and Mark Stewart. Keeping it in the family, Adrian’s two daughters Denise and Emily sing on the opening track, Animal Magic, with the legendary Lee “Scratch” Perry.

Lee ‘LSK’ Kenny features on two tracks, You Wonder Why and St Peter’s Gate – the latter in a ‘sing-jay’ style (a combination of singing and dee-jaying, known in Jamaica as ‘toasting’). “I first worked with Lee when he was called Bedlam a go go,” Sherwood explains. “He has the ability to write thought-provoking lyrics in no time at all, and recently worked with Faithless and long-term collaborators Nightmares On Wax.”

Sherwood met Raiz over a decade ago when mixing an album for his band, Alma Magretta. The rapper has since become a regular contributor at Adrian’s On-U Sound System live shows in Italy, and contributed a vocal track on the last Massive Attack album.

“During my career I’ve been very lucky,” says Sherwood. “I’ve worked with nearly all my early musical heros. On this record are reggae giants Lee Perry, Little Roy, and Dennis Bovell, as well as a sampled Bim Sherman vocal I recorded a number of years ago. The record also features “new” artists like the multi-talented singer/songwriter Samia Farah, whose paintings and design provide the artwork for ‘Cliche’. I have big respect for her work.”

The last lead vocal contributor to mention is old friend Mark Stewart, whose relationship with Sherwood goes back to 1980 and who Adrian cites as one of his greatest influences.

Beats are again provided by the excellent young producer/programmer Jazzwad, and long-standing engineer Nick Coplowe. Jazzwad lives between Jamaica, England and Canada and has worked with Bounty Killer and some of Jamaica’s finest talent.

“This is my second solo album. It’s personal, it’s good and I’m very proud of it,” concludes Sherwood.

Listen

Further Listening

  • Never Trust A Hippy

    Adrian Sherwood

    Released 24 February 2003

    Never Trust A Hippy is Adrian Sherwood's eclectic, compelling, and lovingly crafted solo debut. "It's a logical marriage," Sherwood says. "I was thinking about myself in conjunction with the bulk of what Real World has done. It's my own version of a kind of world music-sci-fi-dub-dancehall record, made contemporary by using such great people as Sly and Robbie, Lenky, Jazzwad and Bubblers."
  • Bought For A Dollar, Sold For A Dime

    Little Axe

    Released 31 May 2010

    A melting pot of addictive rhythms, soulful vocals, pinches of dub and funk, reggae and gospel and oh-so-subtle samples and innovative electronics. ‘Bought For A Dollar Sold For A Dime’ is underpinned by Skip McDonald's shimmering blues guitar licks, conjuring a space where the dirt roads of the Deep South meet the shiny lanes of the Information Superhighway.

Further reading

Les Amazones d’Afrique assert women’s freedom of expression with new single ‘Kuma Fo’

The track features on their forthcoming Jacknife Lee-produced album Musow Danse.

Mari Kalkun nominated for 3 Estonian Music Awards

The award nominations are in recognition of her album Stories of Stonia, released Summer 2023.

10 years of resistance: Les Amazones d’Afrique’s fight continues on Musow Danse

Righteous anger has never felt so warm and convincing. Or so goddam danceable.

Sheila Chandra: The pursuit of radical vocal expression

Sheila's trilogy of albums for Real World is being re-issued on CD, and on vinyl for the first time.