Up to Scratch (LSP x On-U x 2)

Lee "Scratch" Perry – Makumba Rock (2019, 10" vinyl)

Adrian Sherwood X Lee "Scratch" Perry – Time Boom X The Upsetter Dub Sessions (2019, CD)

Lee Perry stayed very active in his later years, but plenty of music industry attention was always spent playing up the wild image he had built. Not making light of it at all, but at times it could leave the impression of his antics walking the line between mental health crisis and marketing scheme. In a lot of ways, many Lee Perry albums starting at some point in the 80s were selling "Scratch" the character as much as anything he necessarily contributed to the music. The result was more than a few CDs released under his name and featuring his vocal ramblings over music produced entirely by others that were far from essential (and far from the heights of Perry's most inspiring, innovative or beautiful work from earlier days).

(Confession: That "Lee Perry meets Andrew W.K." album? I admit to buying that one. I honestly just couldn't quite get my head around the idea that a guy I went to high school with was hosting children's gameshows that my kids were watching and producing records for reggae icons. Weird enough that he was also some kind of concept art rocker and a pop star in Japan or whatever... And somehow he's still up to this weird ish. But back to our regular program.)

The consistent exception for quality Lee Perry records through these years were his occasional collaborations with Adrian Sherwood and his On-U Sound operation. Starting with 1987's Time Boom X De Devil Dead credited to Lee "Scratch" Perry and Dub Syndicate, Sherwood managed to capture some of the magic buried in the madness of one of his lifelong musical heroes and influences. Over the next 35 years, several more albums, a few full length collections of dubs and remix versions, and a clutch of singles and other appearances followed credited to both the Upsetter and On-U Sound. Some were more successful than others, but they're all worth your time.

Before Perry passed last year, we were thankfully treated to one more round of Scratch/On-U collaborations. 2019's Rainford (Perry's given first name) and it's companion dub album Heavy Rain were real gems. Scratch is in rare form on them, Sherwood's productions are creative, fun and pay some lovely tributes to Perry's long history, and contributions come in from brilliant musicians from across the On-U universe and beyond (Brian Eno? JA trombone legend Vin Gordon?). Rainford was easily Lee Perry's best record in a few decades, with the Upsetter at his most charismatic and most personal. You should go get both those albums, but in the meantime here are two harder to find, related releases to whet your appetite.

Lee "Scratch" Perry – Makumba Rock

On-U Sound – DP62

On-U Sound 10" Disco Plate

Vinyl, 10", 45 RPM, Limited Edition, UK, Jul 10, 2019

info

Makumba Rock was pulled from Rainford and given an extended remix for a 10" single as part of On-U Sound's long running Disco Plate series. (The throwback sleeve design was a nice touch made even better by the great Kishi Yamamoto photo on the cover.) The track features (Tackhead/Living Colour/everyone ever) bass hero Doug Wimbish, Style Scott (from Roots Radics and Dub Syndicate) on drums, and backing vocals from Skip "Little Axe" McDonald and French-Tunisian singer Samia Farah. Perry calls for his mommy and daddy and chants a "Black magic rock" attack over a great horn melody and a Sherwood mix that builds the relentlessly throbbing rhythm into something brutal by the end. B side Heaven & Hell is a non-album track from the same sessions with a reggae funk rhythm driven by echoing horns behind the Upsetter's raps about the evils of finance and the world.

A noisy modern vinyl pressing can't get in the way of the bass. This is the kind of single that keeps me buying vinyl every time I think I might be almost done. 

Tracklist

A1 Makumba Rock (Extended Discoplate Version)     6:14

AA1 Heaven & Hell                                                     5:24

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Adrian Sherwood X Lee "Scratch" Perry – Time Boom X The Upsetter Dub Sessions

On-U Sound – ONUCD146

CDr, Limited Edition, Mixed, UK, Dec 6, 2019

info

Along with the 10" above, Sherwood also put on some Scratch themed DJ sets to promote the Rainford and Heavy Rain albums. He spun tracks from the records they had cut together over the previous 30 odd years, but also featured dubplates and new mixes pulled from the On-U Sound Upsetter archives. As a promo for these gigs, On-U Sound put out a limited release of this mix CD with a half hour long, Sherwood mixed set. Fun stuff with Sherwood occasionally chatting over the top to introduce the records. Plenty of cuts that Lee Perry and On-U Sound fans will recognize, new dubs and remixes that you won't, and appearances from other greats including Dub Syndicate, Bim Sherman, Max Romeo and more.

The disc came in a simple brown cardboard sleeve, but one nice touch for the record nerd set is the back cover tribute to a hip-hop DJ classic, Afrika Bambaataa's Death Mix single...

Tracklist

1 D.J. Adrian Sherwood Dubplate Mix live!!!        31:31

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I hope you enjoy both of these!

Say hello, this is a mental zodiac in FLAC (download zip file):

Makumba Rock 10" - https://mega.nz/file/EWgXzChY#2_Jy9sEB_jmPCB20vYcq3DXV3C4O56WguYlsRlEjolo

Time Boom mix CD - https://mega.nz/file/IGhzgQSL#hKGg-dpjydiriXksUpefflGaLP8XW5HMT-ZNssEFA-c

Are you ready for your black magic in MP3 (stream or download):

[EDIT: Someone sent a message that they got an error message when they tried to stream the MP3 versions below. I've checked a couple times and they *seem* like they're working right, but please let me know if it gives you any trouble. I'll try reuploading and posting a new link if anyone can't get at the music. Thanks!]

Makumba Rock 10" - https://mega.nz/folder/FPpzkSYI#_4JoPnUYLaMWe31fMNXrXQ

Time Boom mix CD - https://mega.nz/folder/lLwjmCZZ#I7tpbE8BIVpUsfPY1jG6IA