Adrian Sherwood

Adrian Sherwood has always been ahead of the times — the mutant bass sound he pioneered in his production and remix work has only in the last few years been picked up by artists such as industrial dancehall producer the Bug and in the dub architecture of his sonic progeny: UK dubstep producers Mala, Youngsta and Plastician. He is what you could call a visionary, a purveyor of sounds that are simultaneously punishing and restorative. That's right: restorative. Oh, you aren't familiar with the healing powers of dub — not the unholy skree of the more contemporary, primarily U.S.-based bass producers, but those who operate in the lower ends of the bass spectrum, who meditate on bass weight? Who knows what it is — perhaps all those low frequencies unclog the system like an audio detox? Well, whatever it is, listening to Recovery Time cured a cold that had repeatedly and stubbornly refused to react to more conventional recovery method. Coincidence? I think not.