Search - Lee Perry :: Dubstrumentals

* Three 70s Scratch LPs On 2 CDs *

Jasper | New England | 10/28/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"*KUNG-FU MEETS THE DRAGON

*RETURN OF WAX

*MUSICAL BONES (with Vin Gordon)



More than any other Lee Perry LPs, these scream "1970s!" Funky wah guitar, Kung-Fu yelps, and all manner of groovy rhythms and sound effects are spread across these tracks. Many of these recordings are quite sparse, particularly the more straight-ahead dubs. Some observations on the individual LPs:



KUNG FU MEETS THE DRAGON:



One thing that makes this a treasure for me are the six tunes featuring the great Augustus Pablo on melodica. Four of these can be counted as straight-up Augustus Pablo instrumentals, and they are ALL good. A couple of these Pablo numbers are actually exquisite, and Pablo fans will surely want them. For instance, "Scorching Iron" mixes a jangly, skittering funk beat with a gorgeous, wistful melodica melody from Pablo to fantastic effect. On "Theme From Hong Kong" Pablo plays an irresistibly uplifting melodica solo over a hoppy, quirky little rhythm. "Black Belt Jones" is an oozing, funky 70s beat with some fine minor chord melodica tooting from our man.



After hearing these, one can be forgiven for wondering why Pablo wasn't given free-reign over ALL of the more sparse beats on Kung Fu Meets The Dragon. I dare say this could have been a one-of-a-kind masterpiece, had this been the case. In the end, however, this LP is loaded with creative, idiosyncratic Scratch funkiness, and the beats are superb. This is a good album, though I feel that if a little more instrumentation was done over-top, by the likes of Tommy McCook, Pablo, Bobby Ellis or Vin Gordon, it could have been a masterpiece.



RETURN OF THE WAX:



This LP may be the least of the three, but it does hold some niceness for those who listen. "Big Boss," for instance, is is a strutting slow groove with a fat, woozy trombone solo spread all over it like melting butter. "Fists Of Vengeance" is a cool ultra-70s funk groove, with wah-wah guitar, tweeting keys, and a slow pimping rhythm. "Final Weapon" is a sprightly mid-temp skanker. "Samurai Swordsman" is another slow grooving amble...sounding a little a bit like the "Curly Locks" rhythm, it features some light xylophone which could have been courtesy of Augustus Pablo. Sparse dub with these sorts of odd rhythms would largely disappear not long after this record. Roots reggae assumed its final mighty form, the style becoming more codified, as did the dub style, rendering these earlier ventures largely anachronistic.



MUSICAL BONES:



This is a Vin Gordon album. Vin Gordon (AKA Don Drummond Jr.) is one of the top brass players to come out Jamaica, and easily the next best Trombonist after Don Drummond (hence the "Jr." nickname). This album features Gordon soloing over a number of instrumental and dub tracks, and his Trombone playing is mighty, with a juicy rich tone and great command. Apparently Vin Gordon complained that Scratch sent these tracks away to England before they were finished, and while a few of the underlying rhythms ARE a little sparse, they still sound pretty damn good. "Coca Macca" is an extremely funky and satisfying take on the classic "Green Island." "Labbrish" is a woozy tropical slow-jam. "Raw -Chaw" is a rousing take on the Skatalites "Addis Ababa," which melds into a tantalizing coda of "Eastern Standard Time" at the end. All in all, "Musical Bones" is a deeply jazzy, skanky, groovy LP and anyone who enjoys instrumental JA music of the 60s or 70s will probably dig it quite a bit.



EXTRAS:



*"Rasta Train" (not the Lee & Jimmy version) features a dread sing-speaking over an appealing funky horn-laced rhythm like some sort of rasta Lou Reed or Bob Dylan.



*"Ark Of The Rising Sun" is a nice, skanky Upsetters instrumental take on the ancient "House Of The Rising Sun."



So, I think dubstrumentals is worth hearing if you are a Scratch fan, especially considering that you are basically getting three albums worth of music for the price of one. While some of the tracks are a quite sparse, there are definitely some good moments here, and a big helping of funky 70s style."

Dubmendous

Nottwo | Australia | 06/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Another great value threesome from the "Scratch" archives.

The first album on the package, Kung Fu Meets the Dragon, has some wonderfully cheesy seventies sound effects lodged into the tracks; such as when Perry announces "Flames of the dragon" in a smooth and sinister way and an outburst of yelps and screams follows. Some of the Synthesiser effects are very unique and add a great subtle bite of Lo-Fi Sci-Fi. Of course this is over the top of the trademark raw, tight and joyous dub that Lee made in the early to mid seventies. It is music with a sense of humour, a twinkle in its glassy eyes and a relaxed smile on its face. The next album, Return of the Wax, is slightly less impressionable, probably because it is squeezed in between the end of disc one and the beginning of two, and one may only be inclined to listen to one disc, thus cutting the album in half. Return of the Wax is a little more sparse than the other two chapters, though still fab; no complaint from me. In fact there is a track on "Return..." that begins with a beat so reminiscent of modern Hip-Hop/Trip-Hop that it could be credited with being responsible for a massive influence on the scene; if it wasn't so obscure! The final album "Musical Bones" is breathtaking. The Trumpet work from Vin Gordon over the top of The Upsetters banging, twanging and plucking away is so complimentary and full of feeling that it seems a whole new type of Jazz is being created before our ears.

Nuff sed. Bless."