Lee "Scratch" Perry - Repentance
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Lee “Scratch” Perry :: Repentance Narnack Reviewed on Friday, August 22, 2008 by Ryan E. Rodriguez (Narnack) As titles of “icon” and “pioneer” are distributed like latex in California’s high schools, beneath the thicket is Lee “Scratch” Perry, the mad scientist of Reggae and Dub lore. A legend deserving of such status, whose rep was not solidified post-mortem, whose fame not diluted by countless greatest hits collections. The Miyagi to Bob Marley’s Macchio, Perry’s one foot in heaven, one in the asylum persona has made him the odd man even among the kookiest eccentrics. Not one to go quietly into the night, at 72, “The Upsetter’s” still keeping it fresh in his 54th album, Repentance. Jah’s divine intervention guided Perry’s chance meeting with Andrew W.K in ‘06, and this strange union has spawned his most innovative work since the creations of Black Ark, the backyard studio he’s claimed to have incinerated himself. Though living icons often struggle with their newer music, Perry remains in cutting-edge form following 2006’s Panic in Babylon.
In Repentance, contemporary influences mesh with trademark Reggae and impulse lyrics like “Jesus Christ, Give Me More [Pum Pum]” on the single “Pum-Pum” (Jamaican for the ‘nani). Soon, you realize this is not the “Scratch” of olde, but “Scratch” 2.0, complete with electronic additions that marinate, not merely season. The D&B riddim is often a lighter electronic loop, rather than live play, and keys/synths evolve in their play from his traditional reggae/dub projects. Trippy vocal distortions, rock guitar, and the either enlightening or...
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