Lee "Scratch" Perry RIP

The Upsetter

As others have commented, Lee "Scratch" Perry was so full of life and boundless, crazy genius-level creativity and talent that it seemed like he would be walking this Earth forever. So his death on Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 85 feels like a sucker punch to the head (forgive us for taking you for granted, "Scratch").

His musical legacy as producer, songwriter, dub master, and performer is almost unparalleled in the history of reggae music. And the vast body of work he leaves in his wake--surely a daunting endeavor to consume in its entirety--is a magnificent gift that will keep on giving to anyone exploring or rediscovering his music for eons to come (the 1997 3xCD compilation Arkology, which collects the top cuts he recorded at his Black Ark studio, is an amazing place to start).

I'm certainly not alone in thinking that Perry's greatest productions were The Congos' Heart of the Congos ("Children Crying" is one of the most brilliant reggae cuts ever recorded) and Max Romeo's War Ina Babylon (ditto for the title track). I'm also partial to The Upsetters' Super Ape (1976), Perry's Roast Fish, Collie Weed & Corn Bread (1978), and his collaboration with Adrian Sherwood and the Dub Syndicate Time Boom X De Devil Dead (1987).

I reviewed a fair number of Scratch's recent releases and reissues for this blog, which are linked below. While his output in his later years may not have matched the heights of the Black Ark years, it was still incredibly good and often extraordinary. All of these releases are worth checking out.

Lee "Scratch" Perry: Heavy Rain LP (2020)

Various Artists Black Ark Days: Play On Mr. Music LP (2020)

Max Romeo Revelation Time reissue (2020)

The Upsetters with Vin Gordon Musical Bones reissue (2020)

Lee "Scratch" Perry: Rainford LP (2019)

Lee "Scratch" Perry with Peaking Lights and Ivan Lee Life of the Plants EP (2019)

Lee "Scratch" Perry: "Big Ben Rock" 7" (2019)

Lee "Scratch" Perry: The Black Album LP (2018)

Lee "Scratch" Perry: Game of the Throne EP (2018)

Lee "Scratch" Perry and Subatomic Sound System: Super Ape Returns to Conquer LP (2017)

Various Artists: Sound System Scratch: Lee Perry's Dub Plate Mixes 1973-1979 LP (2010)

If you need a refresher on Perry's life and musical career, make sure to read the excellent Perry obituaries in The Guardian by Peter Mason and New York Times by Jon Pareles.

Play on, Mr. Music!

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Duff Review: The Co-operators & Friends: "Beating the Doldrums"

Waggle Dance Records
Digital, 2020
LP, 2021

(Review by Steve Shafer)

As I sit here typing out my review of The Co-operators & Friends Beating the Doldrums, I worry that I won't do this phenomenal and beautifully crafted album justice. Not only have ace musician/producer Eeyun Purkins and his crew of exceptional collaborating singers and players created a collection of stellar ska and roots reggae songs, they've managed to adroitly articulate all of the injustice, absurdity, violence, oppression, suffering, and dread that many people experience while simply trying to get by in this day and age. The Co-operators & Friends' Beating the Doldrums delivers relatable glimpses into everyday lives that are sharply and unfussily portrayed--and, at times, are almost poetic in their imagery. And the music is highly melodic, always memorable, and absolutely magnificent. 

A common thread in many of these songs is the challenge of trying to survive in the big city. The majestic reggae track "Gentrification" is both celebration of the vibrant multicultural communities that thrive in less-wealthy urban neighborhoods (expressed through the fantastic diversity of food, like Joe Stummer's "Bhindi Bhagee") and staunch defense against greedy real estate developers intent on destroying it all just to line their pockets. (It's so catchy that I woke up this morning with this track running though my head.)

Down on the city’s street
I can hear the distant beat
Of the soundsystem
Rocking the bass and drum

Cramped from the tower blocks
Down to the squats and shops
Buy Ackee caliloo
Bhaji, Dahl and samosa, too

Rich in culture and community
Next door neighbours like family
And I loved it that way
Before the money men came to play

Gentrification (Invasion, invasion)
Gentrification (Invasion invasion)

You talk with scorn uptown
About how things are going down
You talk about our streets in fear
Dangerous 'cos you're not welcome here

You come to take life blood
From the place you call the hood
You're sending in the law
Looking for papers, drugs and more

Joe Yorke's transcendent falsetto on this tracks and others is something to behold and, as I've previously noted in another review, similar in calibre to The Congos and Junior Murvin. 

The urgent ska cut "Sleepwalkers" conveys how urban life can be bleak and soul-crushing (and suggests that escaping to the country may be the only salvation); Kitma delicately sings, "Even when the sun shines, it's raining/So we stay here in the cage, and fire, dazing/And the smoke clouds up my face/I'll sleepwalk back to bed/And dream about the right way/I've got to out of this place." In the mournful "Agony," Lintang sings about how she is left despondent and almost paralyzed by how our system of living has failed so many people in myriad ways: "Agony, agony got me front, left, and sideways...everything seems broken." "Concrete, Steel and Stone" (released as a single on Happy People Records--read my review of it) features Perkie's gorgeous vocals (delivered quite gently, as she's bearing bad tidings that we know in our hearts are true), which float over a brisk ska beat and express profound sorrow and regret that we live the way we do--out of synch with nature and the world around us, in a prison of our own making (that may be turning into a tomb): "Cars cross fibres, thread veins, sew layers, vessels of busy brains/We don't always notice our chains/So, we don't make change/We stick to the root we feel most comfortable in/But is this your skin?" Lives are off-kilter or becoming increasingly untenable.

But not all is unbearable. 

The bright Spanish-language "Florecer" (to thrive or flourish) sung by Elio AM sounds like something that could have come off The Clash's Sandinista (which I've been listening to a lot, since it was just the 40th anniversary of its release), and the sprightly ska of "Pocket Change" (are you down on your luck and asking for some or is it all you have to get by on?) features some great guitar and keyboard solos. And there's the righteous reggae cut "The Thief & The Liar," about a reckoning for corrupt politicians, who ignore their responsibility to serving the public good at their own peril. Perkie's delivery is fantastically laid-back and confident--world-weary, but determined to set things right.

We could spend our time waiting for them to save us
It's like wasting your days waiting for the bus
The first one doesn't come, and the second one's too late
So, it's best to walk your own way and seal your own fate...

...Bring another log for the fire
And throw on the Thief and the Liar

Can you feel the flames burning?
Bet you wish you weren't a politician
You call us criminals, but you're the crooks that throw the book for all the liberties that you took
You dig your own grave, hard and dogged Thief
The wolves are hungry, looking for something to eat
And they're coming for you, live or dead
It's all on your own head, you made your own bed...

Joe Yorke sings about the casual violence encountered on nighttime transport after the pubs close down is given--in a gently parodic fashion--Homeric epic poem status in the delightful "War on the Nightbus" (shades of "War ina Babylon"):

It was night then and the moon was low
Im was on the night bus moving so slow
Packed in like sardines, tight we were tight
Somebody tell me please did the city sleep that night?

Down in St Paul’s they were dancing til the morning
But on the top deck they started warring
They a shout and they push and push come to shove
Down the stairs he fell, crashing down from above

War, war, war on the night bus
Ism and schism, they fight and they fuss

He was loud and his mouth ran so fast
He stayed on the bus and I saw it sprint past
But he didn’t stay long, the eviction came firm
After he tumbled down the stairs he landed on the curb
I saw a look of shock glimmer in his eyes
As the fists and the kicks silenced his cries
He had it coming I have to say
But I just can’t take the conflict these days

It's brilliant.

For all the longing to flee the concrete jungle, life in the country is not necessarily idyllic. In the gorgeous "High on the Mountain," Beanie sings about someone who couldn't make the escape with her--the loss she feels even in such an awe-inspiring place: "Oh, I wonder if you ever think of me/Or if time's blown your memory/As I listen to the breeze blow gently through the trees..." In the beautiful, dream-like track "Turnpike Town" with vocals by Joe Yorke, this hidden, semi-mythical spot in the countryside may not be the hoped for Zion: "You might get chased by a pack of dogs/Or you might just be fine, who knows?...You could say that it's a refuge from Babylon's cruel embrace/But we all know liberty lives in a long forgotten place." Perhaps it's best to seek a balance between city and country life?

There are no answers offered in Beating the Doldrums. Yet the emotions and many of the experiences expressed in these songs are shared by everyone--and The Co-operators & Friends' music that expresses all of these hopes, fears, and blues, is in a language that unites us, can be a companion that sustains us in our darkest hours, and has the potential to save us from ourselves. 

The Co-operators & Friends Beating the Doldrums is, hands down, one of the best records I've heard in recent memory.

Duff Guide to Ska Bullet Points: Prince Fatty and Shniece McMenamin, Joe Yorke and The Eastonian Singers

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

• Inspired by a request from a TV/film/game music licenser for a reggae take on a '60 Free Love-era tune (that he didn't have at the time), Prince Fatty took up the idea and decided to cover Grace Slick's classic 1967 psychedelic rock cut recorded with Jefferson Airplane "White Rabbit"--but renamed as "Black Rabbit" (7" vinyl picture sleeve single/digital, Evergreen Recordings, 2020). With lyrics drawn from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and music influenced by Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain and Ravel's Bolero, "White Rabbit" was about "following your curiosity" and expanding one's mind through hallucinogenic drugs--as well as calling out the hypocrisy of parents who willingly read their children stories filled with pretty explicit drug use (like Carroll's), but then condemned their kids' drug experimentation as they approached adulthood. (The opening lyric, "One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small," makes me think of the red pill/blue pill sequence in The Matrix.) The minor-key grandiosity of the original lends itself quite well to Prince Fatty's spaghetti Western reggae-like setting, and Shniece McMenamin's superb, commanding vocals are the perfect guide for a vividly surreal trip like this. I'm not much of a fan of the original--which takes itself far too seriously, actually--but Prince Fatty's version goes down quite well. 

• On Joe Yorke and The Eastonian Singers' sensational roots reggae single "Judgement Tree" (7" vinyl single/digital, Happy People Records, 2020), a Revelation Time of sorts has come and punishment has been meted out. Employing the Biblical symbolism of fruit bearing trees as representations of good and evil (see Matthew 7:16-20: Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."), this track paints a hell on earth that might be dispelled if the righteous singer can vanquish the emblem of evil that has defiled the land (and unfairly condemned him): "When I arise/The black sun shines/No birds sing for me...After all the wrong you've done/Doomsday's here before tomorrow comes/And the branches rot beneath your feet/You run to the rock and it will be melted/You run to the sea, it will be boiling/The tree is so big and broad/Though this axe, it may be small/Well, I'll still cut you down/You will fall...Judgement's cast its shadow over me." Yorke's fantastic falsetto is appropriately otherworldly (and reminiscent of The Congos, Junior Murvin, etc.), and Eeyun Perkins' (Waggle Dance Records) production and dub ("Drayman's Special") are wonderfully executed. "Judgement Tree's" lyrics are haunting and grim--and a positive outcome may not be fated--but the riddim's mighty seductive, indeed. (This cut and Yorke's other Happy People single "Tonight" come from The Co-operator's 2019 album Rhythms from the Kitchen Sink.)

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Duff Review: Lee Perry "Black Ark Days: Play On Mr. Music" (plus Jeremy Marre's "Beats of the Heart: Roots, Rock, Reggae")

Rock A Shacka
CD/LP
2020

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

Lee Perry's Black Ark Days: Play On Mr. Music is a stellar collection of mid-1970s rarities produced by Perry at his legendary Black Ark studio (where he, of course, created some of his most brilliant productions, including The Congos' masterpiece, Heart of the Congos). Play on Mr. Music is most notable for its title track, the recording of which was captured in Jeremy Marre's excellent 1977 documentary Beats of the Heart: Roots, Rock, Reggae (he also directed the superb Reggae Brittania, broadcast on the BBC in 2011). The song "Play On Mr. Music" features the stellar core of acts Perry was working with at the time--The Heptones, The Congos, and Junior Murvin--credited as The Upsetter Review. Apparently, this cut was quickly written just before Marre's cameras showed up, which makes it all the more extraordinary (and may explain why it sounds like it could have been off Heart of the Congos--they were likely recording it around this period). Other highlights on an album full of them are The Silvertones' alternate take of "Rejoice Jah Jah Children (Dub Plate Mix)," Jimmy Riley's soulful "Give Me A Love," Perry's own fantastic offbeat showpiece "Soul Fire" (which was the lead track on Perry's 1978 album Roast Fish, Collie Weed, and Corn Bread), Sam Carty's otherworldly sounding "Milte Hi Akhen aka Bird in Hand (Full Vocal Version)" (which is a cover of a Hindi movie theme; a dub version of this track appears on Perry's Return of the Super Ape), Mystic I's incredible and hard to find adaptation of the traditional gospel hymn "One More River to Cross," and Junior Murvin's wonderful take on Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" (and there are dubs of many of these tracks by The Upsetters). Play On Mr. Music also includes liner notes by reggae expert David Katz that provide helpful context while you listen.

If you've never seen Marre's Beats of the Heart: Roots, Rock, Reggae, you should carve out the hour in your schedule to watch it, as it's an extraordinary document of the JA roots reggae scene in 1976. There are interviews and/or performances by Jimmy Cliff, Lee Perry, The Congos, The Heptones, and Junior Murvin, Joe Higgs, The Gladiators, The Mighty Diamonds, Bob Marley, Ras Michael, The Abbyssians, U Brown, U Roy, Inner Circle--who were wildly popular in JA at the time--and others. Jack Ruby (who produced Burning Spear's essential Marcus Garvey and Garvey's Ghost, and was father of The Toasters' deejay/singer Jack Ruby, Jr.) is captured auditioning aspiring singers, and we see singles being pressed in Joe Gibb's pressing plant. Rastafarianism is explained in a fairly clear-eyed manner. The pernicious legacy of British colonialism is addressed (and to some degree US political and business interests)--and lots of shots of people living in extreme poverty in Trenchtown's shantytowns are shown as proof--and Prime Minister Michael Manley comments on the intertwined relationship between reggae and Jamaican politics (Perry states, "Rhythm from the ghetto, lyrics from the streets"), as well as his county's embrace of democratic socialism as a means to alleviate the dire economic inequality experienced by most Jamaicans. The only odd bit is when the narrator suggests that rocksteady preceded ska. Otherwise, it doesn't get much better than this.

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Duff Review: Lee "Scratch" Perry "The Black Album"

Upsetter Records
CD/Double LP
2018

(Review by Steve Shafer)

On The Black Album, Lee "Scratch" Perry collaborates again with co-producer Daniel Boyle (who also recently worked with Max Romeo on his fantastic Horror Zone in Boyle's Black Ark-modeled Rolling Lion studio), since their initial foray--2014's Back on the Controls--garnered a Grammy nomination and great notices. As with that release, Boyle's and Perry's mission on The Black Album is to capture the sound and spirit of Perry's spectacular 1970's analog Black Ark productions (Upsetter keyboardist Robbie Lyn plays on many cuts here), which were exceptionally warm, organic, and had a vibrant immediacy, and featured otherworldly percussive and aural effects resulting from Perry's masterful, spur-of-moment inventive, and wildly unorthodox approach to music and studio production. And it will come as no surprise that they've accomplished all this again here on a terrific new set of roots reggae cuts and their excellent track-for-track dub versions.

According to the liner notes, during the recording of this album Perry referred to the sound as "black," which then needed "space, light, and darkness" to help give it form and definition--all of which implies that there's a necessary ying and yang type of harmony/balance for everything in creation (including the diversity of people). This point is perhaps best illustrated on the wonderful and most perfectly realized track on the album, "Your Shadow Is Black" (and accompanying dub!). It's a bright, mid-tempo reggae cut with flute, melodica, harmonizing back-up singers, and Perry singing/saying stream-of-consciousness lyrics (he even makes kissing sounds at an appropriate spot): "Whirlwind and fire/Dark shadow in the room/Love your shadow/Your shadow is black/Your shadow is mud/Your shadow is God..." The Old Testament reference to Sodom and Gomorrow (Gomorrah) and mention of an ominous dark shadow on the moon suggests that evil is amongst us always (as a contrast with the good and righteous), but also infers that there will be divine punishment for wicked doers (the Lot reference in "Your Shadow Is Black" made me look up Perry's work on The Congos' magnificent "Sodom and Gomorrow" to compare their productions and they're incredibly similar in sound and vision!).

The great, eerie album opener "Mr. Brown In Town" makes direct lyrical reference to the Glen Adams-penned Bob Marley and the Wailers song "Mr. Brown" (which versioned Jackie Mittoo's "Pennie Wallie" and was based on a rumor about a ghost "upsetting" everyone by riding around Kingston in a three-wheeled coffin with three crows riding on top asking for a Mr. Brown; Perry also sang about "Mr. Brown" on his 1998  "Dr. Lee PhD" collaboration with The Beastie Boys). Essentially, "Mr. Brown In Town" declares that Perry is back "on the street again," "I'm still alive/refuse to die," and asserts that rebels/devils in the poor, violent Back-o-Wall slum don't fear Mr. Brown (and at one point--message to the Resistance--when exhorting Mr. Brown the clown to get out of town, he inserts "Trump!" instead of Brown).

Other standout tracks include the (expected and) knowingly boastful/self-aggrandizing "Trendsetter" ("Lee Scratch Perry/Upsetting the universe") and "Captain Perry" ("...of the mothership/Captain Perry/Don't miss a trick")--and perhaps Scratch isn't a big fan of some forms of reggae (see: "Killing Dancehall Softly"). Perry mounts a more-than-credible defense of being a vegetarian on "Dead Meat": "666/Me no eat meat...I'm so crazy because I don't eat dead flesh...No cannibals/You gotta to believe in animals." (Just the other day, I saw a video of Perry singing to cows in a field...) I'm not completely sure of the message being conveyed on the amazingly upbeat "Solid State Communication" (Perry as the instrument of God's word?): "Genesis/Revelation/I'm the Bible/I'm black Jesus...I am the God of Creation/I am the Lord of the Lords/Solid as a rock/King of Kings/And Lord of Lords/Conquering Lion of Judah/Solid state logic communication/The Upsetter...I'm a computer!" Of course, few but Scratch can pull off something like this so spectacularly well.

At 83--in his sixth decade of continually making and producing groundbreaking music--Scratch continues to move forward, always creating and amazing all with the results. (May everyone be so fortunate in their own lives...) Needless to say, fans of Perry and roots reggae will be more than pleased with The Black Album.

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Duff Review: Lee "Scratch" Perry and Subatomic Sound System "Super Ape Returns to Conquer"

Subatomic Sound
CD/LP/digital
2017

(Review by Steve Shafer)

In Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton's "Reggae: The Rough Guide," they declare that Perry's 1976 dub album Super Ape was "one of the most progressive and imaginative sets of its time...Those who dismissed it for being over-produced missed the point entirely" (they also included it in their "Reggae: 100 Essential CDs," noting that "Super Ape, which together with the Congos' Heart of the Congos represents the fullest single album realization of the producer's unique vision"); and reggae reviewer/historian/selector David Katz called it "a veritable tour-de-force of Upsetter wizardry." In other words, Super Ape is one of Scratch's masterpieces (created at his legendary Black Ark studio, along with extraordinary roots classics like Heart the Congos, Max Romeo's War Ina Babylon, The Heptones’ Party Time, and Junior Murvin’s Police and Thieves)--which begs the question, why re-record it (and risk creating something inferior)? When the Jamaica Gleaner recently posed this question to Perry, he answered: "Well, my music comes from God. Me nah copy no man. Me listen to nature and the sounds of nature are God's music. So, my music is God's music and it will never get old and it will never die." (Ah...got it.)

Of course, before reviewing Super Ape Returns to Conquer, I pulled out my copy of The Upsetters' Super Ape to refresh my memory of the original tracks and compare them to the new takes on this material. What was truly revolutionary in the evolution of dub in 1976 still sounds brilliant and unearthly in 2017, yet also a bit tamer than expected, since both Perry and dub have progressed in all sorts of incredible ways in the 40 years since. After listening to both albums, it's clear that Super Ape Returns to Conquer is in no way an attempt at a note-for note/effect-for-effect recreation of the original (even the running order is jumbled)--it's simply a fresh and inspired interpretation of these tracks from this vantage point in time, experience, and technology.

Partially recorded at Perry's New Ark in JA and co-produced by Subatomic Sound System's Emch (who also played melodica, guitar, bass, keys, beats, and effects), the album features Subatomic Sound System members (who have backed Perry live since 2010) Larry McDonald (congas, percussions, vocals), Screechy Dan (vocals), Jahdan Blakkamoore (vocals), Omar Little (trumpet, cornet), Tory Shaka Simms (sax), and, of course, Perry on vocals and at the controls--these shimmering new recordings bring a clarity, expansiveness, depth, and sheer amped-up power to the often mesmerizing versions of these familiar songs, while maintaining the organic warmth and sonic inventiveness one expects of Scratch ("So It Conquer," a short new song apparently recorded live in concert, has the sound of ocean waves in the mix!). Everything sounds terrific--"Zion's Blood" (which still uses The Heptones' vocal track), "Chase the Devil," "War Ina Babylon" (Max Romeo appears on tape here, too, methinks), "Super Ape," "Underground Roots" (with Ari Up of The Slits in what must be one of her last recordings), "Dub Along," and "Three in One" all absolutely shine in their new iterations (and the album includes dubs of some of the vocal tracks--"Croaking Lizard," "Black Vest," and "Dread Lion" in particular are incredible).

So, while Super Ape Returns to Conquer may not be as historic or groundbreaking as its source, it comes mighty close to being its equal and is definitely a vital new entry in Perry's astounding body of work.

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Confirmed US and UK Record Store Day 2017 Ska and Reggae Releases

This year's Record Store Day is right around the corner (4/22/17), so the powers that be have finally revealed the official list of releases that will see light of day and, in some cases, may work their way into your record collection (and your hearts?).

Below, please find the official list of RSD 2017 ska and reggae releases for the US and UK that may be of interest to Duff Guide to Ska readers.

Happy hunting next week!

US Releases

Creation Rebel: Starship Africa 12" (On-U Sounds)
Ken Boothe, Dillinger, Leroy Smart, Delroy Wilson: White Man in Hammersmith Palais 7" -- Features one hit from each artist named-checked in The Clash's song of the same title. (Greensleeves)
Mad Professor: Mad Professor Meets Jah9  LP (Greensleeves)
Peter Tosh: Legalize It LP -- Pressed on red, yellow, green striped vinyl with scratch and sniff inner sleeve. (Brookvale Records)
U-Roy: Dread In A Babylon LP (Get on Down)
Various Artists: House of Joy 15 x 7" box set (Studio One)
Various Artists: Recutting The Crap LP (Crooked Beat Records)
Various Artists: Studio One in Hi Fi 5 x 7" box set (Soul Jazz)

UK Releases

The Congos: Heart of the Congos LP -- This version features the original mix. (VP Records)
Creation Rebel: Starship Africa 12" (On-U Sounds)
Georgie Fame: R and B at the Ricky Tick 65 LP (1960s Records)
Joe Higgs: "Invitation to Jamaica" 7" (Pressure Sounds)
Hopeton Lewis/Vin Gordon and The Supersonics: "There She Goes" b/w "Reggae Trombone" 7" -- Both tracks are unreleased. (Trojan)
Ken Boothe, Dillinger, Leroy Smart, Delroy Wilson: "White Man in Hammersmith Palais" 7" --Features one hit from each artist named-checked in The Clash's song of the same title.
(Greensleeves)
Madness: "Drip Fed Fred" b/w "Johnny the Horse" 7" (Salvo Music)
Mungo's Hi Fi featuring Johnny Clarke: "Rain Keeps Falling" 7" (Scotch Bonnet)
Revolutionaries: Green Bay Dub LP (Burning Sound)
Various Artists: House of Joy 15 x 7" box set (Studio One)
Various Artists: Tighten Up, Volume 2 Picture disc LP (Trojan Records)
Yabby You: Songs of Love and Unity 5 x 7" box set (Pressure Sounds)

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Junior Murvin, RIP

Junior Murvin (photo by Adrian Boot)

According to the Jamaica Observer, Junior Murvin (AKA Murvin Junior Smith) died today at the age of 67 at the Port Antonio Hospital in Portland, Jamaica. While no cause of death has been determined as of yet, according to his son Kevin Smith, Murvin had entered the hospital last week seeking treatment for both diabetes and hypertension.

Punk fans worldwide were introduced to Murvin's music through The Clash's punky reggae cover of his "Police and Thieves," which was featured on their debut album in 1977. But many in the UK had first heard "Police and Thieves"--with Murvin's incredible, other-worldly falsetto, on par with anything The Congo's did on their perfect Heart of the Congos--in 1976, as the single had been a minor hit in England (and was associated with that year's rioting at the Notting Hill Festival , since the lyrics concern police violence, corruption, and oppression--"All the peacemaker, turn war officer"). Murvin's excellent debut album of the same title, released in 1977, was co-written and produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry at his legendary Black Ark studio--and is considered by many to be amongst Perry's finest productions and an essential roots reggae album.

While Murvin continued to write and record music throughout the 1980s and 1990s and released gems like "Cool Out Son" (using the Soul Vendors' "Real Rock" riddim, which was appropriated for Willie Williams' "Armagideon Time"--also covered incredibly well by The Clash), he never quite reached the creative peak--and absolute perfection--of "Police and Thieves."

There are two good, comprehensive Junior Murvin bios to check out at Reggae Vibes and All Music; and his discography can be perused at Discogs.

Our deepest condolences go out to Junior Murvin's family and friends.

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Duff Review: The Frightnrs EP

Digital 6-track EP
Available via Bandcamp
2012

(Review by Steve Shafer)

The Frightnrs have got such an authentic reggae/rub-a-dub vibe going that by the time I finished listening to their remarkable new self-titled EP (which sports a rich and warm sound thanks to Victor "Ticklah" Axelrod and Agent Jay), I was unsure if what I had heard were mostly originals or covers of obscure tunes learned from well-worn 45s unearthed from the depths of the best used record store I've never yet had the pleasure to find. For the record--and I double checked with Frightnrs ace keyboardist Chuck Patel about all this--the only track they version is Jackie Mittoo's sublime "Ram Jam" on "Walkin'." But check out a track like "Zombieland"--with its frustratingly familiar keyboard riff (for about a day it drove me crazy that I couldn't figure out what it sounded like, but finally had the revelation that it mimics the vocal line from The Congos' "La La Bam Bam"--but then again, it also reminded me of Desmond Dekker's "Pretty Africa")--or anything else on this stellar six-track EP and you'll be stunned by how much this band understands, live in, and loves rocksteady, 70s reggae, and early dancehall.

With its killer vintage Jackie Mittoo/Harry J organ lines, the bubbly yet edgy "& I Wouldn't Tell You This" ("...if I didn't really care") corners you to bestow some wisdom on you via half a dozen proverbs and maxims--and even hilariously re-defines some of them ("It don't mean you're weak/if you turn the other cheek/As long as you come back around/and smack their face"). Knowledge is power, right? "Evening Time" is an answer record to Maddie Ruthless' track of the same name off her new album (about a couple only having the nighttime to share together, since the rest of their time is devoted to eking out a living); this one's from the boys' point of view ("The only time I feel alive/in the evening time/The only place I feel alright/with your hand in mine/So meet me at the familiar spot/that's where I'll be/'Cause I've been there a million times/waiting patiently/in the evening time"). If there's a way to translate the lonely beauty and shrouded mystery of nighttime and the feelings of anxiety, anticipation, and gonzo ecstasy when you're crazy in love into music, this is how it would sound--it's that perfect.

The urgent, minor-key, and damn catchy "Ties Been Severed" captures the singer stunned in the wake of a break-up, but not remotely ready to give up on his lady ("Now, the ties you have to sever/I'll stop loving you--never!/Not as I'm grieving/'Cause no matter what you do/I'll spend my whole life loving you/Still believing, oh yeah.") The sax and keyboard trade some great riffs here. "Walkin'" is another exceptionally smooth 'n' romantic pitch (via the aforementioned "Ram Jam" rhythm) to a special lady: "Walkin'/baby, I walk to you/and you know that it's true, yeah/Talking/baby, I talk with you/Hope/that you'll come back to me/Longing/baby, I long for you/and you know that it's true, yeah..."

Exhorting the listener to "think for yourself and trust your instincts," "Zombieland" decries how we're all "living a zombieland...you no see dem there...zombie dem all around" (shades of They Live!). The threat to humanity here isn't from zombifying infection or attack from the zombie hordes (see 28 Days Later or World War Z)--it's from people not using their own brains on a daily basis and opening themselves up to being manipulated/exploited by more powerful forces in pursuit of their own pernicious agendas. (Pretty much sums up the current Citizens United state of affairs in the USA right now, doesn't it?)

I have to say that The Frightnrs EP is one the most compelling new releases I've heard in a while--and it absolutely is on The Duff Guide to Ska's list of "best ska/reggae releases of 2012."

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For a limited time, The Frightnrs EP may be downloaded for free from Bandcamp (but please consider paying something for it...this music has great value to it and the band obviously worked overtime to make something this incredibly good).

Sound System Scratch: Lee Perry’s Dub Plate Mixes 1973-1979

Pressure Sounds
CD and LP (also two vinyl singles)
2010

One probably cannot overstate how brilliant and creative Lee “Scratch” Perry was as a musician, performer, and producer during the height of his mind-blowing powers at his Black Ark studio in the 1970s. Completely unfettered by convention (and the assumed limits of his relatively simple recording equipment) and eager to experiment in directions that others had not dared to dream, Perry’s prolific output at Black Ark far exceeds that of most of his then-rivals (now-classic productions from this studio include Max Romeo’s War ina Babylon, Junior Murvin’s Police & Thieves, his own Super Ape, and his masterpiece, The Congos’ Heart of the Congos).

If you’ll forgive the extremely crude and poor analogy (no disrespect meant here), trying to stay on top of Lee “Scratch” Perry’s extraordinary body of work is a bit like attempting to map out the family tree of roaches inhabiting an apartment—you walk into the kitchen one night, flick on the light, and discover that there is a whole new batch of critters crawling out from under the floorboards that you never knew existed (check out Scratch's maddeningly deep and sometimes confounding discography here, here, and here)! Indeed, the rare dub mixes on Sound System Scratch came to Pressure Sounds from a private stash (accumulated over the years) of one-off, exclusive dub plates—thin aluminum discs covered in lacquer—and tapes that Perry had conjured up and sold to various sound system DJs during the 1970s for some extra cash (his bold experiments were sometimes too far ahead of the curve for the record execs and the public, so money was sometimes an issue). Most of these mixes have not been heard since they were last blasted through a sound system’s speakers, well over three decades ago.

Some tracks on Sound System Scratch may be immediately familiar, though they are deconstructed and re-built in many wild and wonderful ways (Junior Murvin’s “Roots Train Number One” is re-versioned as “Roots Train Number Two,” “Dub Organizer” aka “Cloak a Dagger” off Blackboard Jungle Dub is “The Rightful Organizer,” and the essential Scratch rhythm “Bucky Skank” begets “Jucky Skank”). Others will compel you to root through your collection to try and figure out the source material (angels may fear to tread here). But there are many, many genuine gems to be discovered—I was particularly struck by the rhythmically stark and seductive “Chim Cherie" (listen to a version of it here), as well as “Groove Rider,” “Groovy Dub” and “Living Dub," among others. This CD also includes insightful liner notes by Jeremy Collingwood that provide some crucial context regarding the creation of these mixes.

Sound System Scratch is an unexpected treasure trove for Lee Perry fans and another winner from the peerless Pressure Sounds label.

Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A