Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System - Tackhead Tape Time

On this album, the Dancehall Demagogue meets the kings of cut-and-paste funk pastiche. By the time this album was released, Gary Clail's stern political imprecations had become an integral part of Tackhead's live shows; he would sit at the mixing desk and intone radical exhortations while the band ripped things up onstage. With Tackhead Tape Time they take it to the studio, and the result is taut, tough, and funky. Clail isn't much of a singer (though he makes an admirable attempt on "Reality"), and the content of some of his pronouncements can be a bit eye-rolling, but he and Tackhead certainly seem to bring the best out in each other -- the samples of Margaret Thatcher, military officers, and news reporters (as well as the occasional snippet of reggae toaster Prince Far I and someone who sounds suspiciously like Andy Fairley) combine perfectly with Tackhead's robotic and yet strangely passionate electro-funk to create something eerie, exciting, and booty-moving. Read More