RSD album on Punch Drunk

The first CD release on Bristol’s Punch Drunk will be Good Energy, a 13-track singles collection from RSD, AKA Rob Smith.

Smith has been at the very heart of Bristol’s vibrant, proudly mongrel musical culture since the early 80s. After a stint playing in roots reggae band Restriction, in 1987 he formed the production/DJ duo Smith & Mighty with his friend Ray Mighty. Smith & Mighty quickly became a chart-bothering global concern but not before their early releases on the Three Stripe label had influenced a whole new generation of Bristol musicians, from trip-hoppers to junglists. Make no mistake: without Rob Smith, there would be no Massive Attack or Full Cycle.

In the mid-90s Smith went back to his underground roots, continuing to release Smith & Mighty material as well as reggae-infused jungle with Peter D. Rose on their More Rockers label, and in 2001 he produced Henry & Louis’s classic Time Will Tell LP. It would be six years before Smith released his first productions as RSD.

RSD is Smith’s outlet for rolling, sub-heavy dubstep, but there’s real pedigree to his chest-thumping basslines, a sense of continuity with his old work. In a sense, Rob Smith has always been making dubstep, or at least music which shares dubstep’s aesthetic. RSD’s crisply arranged tracks are immediately recognisable, packing immense bass-weight and usually sprinkled liberally with old reggae samples. Punch Drunk, the label run by Peverelist, has been the main outlet for RSD releases over the last couple of years, but the Good Energy singles collection also feature tracks signed to Tectonic, Earwax, Angel’s Egg and Dub Related.

Good Energy will be released on CD on September 21, heralded by the 12" single ‘Good Energy’/’Green Hill’.

Tracklisting:

1. Forward Youth

2. Green Hill

3. Firewall (ft. Wilks)

4. Good Energy

5. Pretty Bright Light

6. Love of Jah Light

7. Koto

8. Corner Dub (Blue & Red mix)

9. Speeka Box

10. Kingfisher