The climax of the 1980 cult film Babylon — a searing documentation of sound system culture, racism, and state oppression in Thatcher-era south London — oozes with tension. In a cavernous, low-lit venue where off-beat keys bounce and crash against the walls, legendary UK sound system pioneer Jah Shaka performs live in a sound clash against the Ital Lions, toasting whilst swaying from side to side.
Occasionally, we cut to shots of protagonist Blue (played by Aswad's Brinsley Forde) speeding south on a packed Victoria Line train to Brixton, just moments after a violent altercation with a white man who racially abused him. His head is spinning, and the music that accompanies his journey deepens the feeling: rising above a fat bassline and a stripped-back dub rhythm, there's a cacophonous flurry of swirling, futuristic effects, space echoes that bring to mind a sound clash taking place on the moon.
