They say you should never meet your heroes, but for Mike Hodgson of Pitch Black, meeting the legendary Adrian Sherwood has been a transformative experience, leading to creative collaborations that have benefited both of them. Nearly 30 years after first being mesmerized by OnU Sound's releases, a cheeky bit of radio ripping serendipitously led to Mike helping Pats Dokter, the label's official archivist, with his work restoring master tapes, and eventually to him creating visual content for Adrian's live shows. A while after this collaboration began, Adrian offered to remix some of Mike's music, either by his solo project Misled Convoy or his work with Paddy Free as Pitch Black, and it's four cuts by the latter that grace this heavyweight platter. From the dreamy dub of Transient Transmission to the rolling rhythms of A Doubtful Sound, Pitch Black's originals have been re-arranged and dubbed to $%># in Adrian's signature style, with fluid melodies, pounding basslines and vocal samples awash in a wall of effects. Trumpets by David Ital Horns Fullwood bookend the release, haunting in the first track and celebratory in the last, while Doug Wimbish (Tackhead) added an extra bassline to the heaving version of 1000 Mile Drift, which also features the voice of the iconic Lee Scratch Perry. Reflecting on the collaboration, Mike Hodgson says, the whole experience has been slightly unreal, from working on Adrian's videos to being in the OnU studio and watching him dub-mixing the tracks I've made with Paddy, something I could never have imagined happening! The cover of Echoes of the Night is based upon an original artwork by long-time Pitch Black collaborator (and fellow OnU afficianado) Hamish Macaulay, while the vinyl has been pressed using a 100% recycled compound known as eco-mix, making each record totally unique as the colours change across the pressing run (most appear to be green-ish).
