Skipping Stones, the latest edition of Your Heart Out which can be downloaded here for free, starts with a confession about getting the London reggae outfits, Akabu and Abakush confused. I suspect I am not the only one who is not an expert on these great collectives. Akabu started out as African Woman Abroad, recording a great LP with the Mad Professor in the early '80s featuring tracks such as the fantastic Same Situation. They would then make a pioneering electro record, Watch Yourself, with Adrian Sherwood and Steve Beresford, edited by Double Dee and Steinski, and released on Body Rock, an off-shoot of Tommy Boy. This was the start of an enduring working relationship with the On-U Sound set-up. Abakush (or Abacush) were from the other side of London, who also had a couple of tracks on a compilation for Misty's People Unite label, including the great Batta Dem. Over the years there would be a series of releases from the Abakush collective, including the gloriously poppy Sunshine Island, and they would be a driving force behind the Sista organisation which features prominently in this edition of YHO, along with Akabu who are featured here in some rare footage from 1990.
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