LEE PERRY Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Here we have a welcome reissue of the Lee Perry-produced Conscious Man from The Jolly Brothers. Recorded in the late 70s but only released as an album in 1992, it shares its name with the standout title track, which became a massive hit when released as a single in 1977. The music still hits with that unmistakable Black Ark magic. Perry's production is loose, heady and live i tape hiss, endless reverb trails and all. The Jolly Brothers' harmonies are rough-edged but full of heart, delivering roots messages with an unmistakable mellow. 'Conscious Man' rightfully pulls focus, with its soulful vocals, phasing guitars and gorgeously lo-fi feel. It's dubby even in its vocal form. But there's plenty more to enjoy here, with a dusty optimism running through the whole record. As spiritually inclined as it is streetwise, it presents soul and roots in equal measure.

Review: Is there a more celebrated combination in all of reggae than Lee Perry & The Upsetters? The master producer and his iconic backing band laid down many of the genre's most vital sounds and helped subtly evolve it across the seventies and beyond. This single 'Jungle Lion' came right in the midst of that in 1974. An original 7" will cost you upwards of 500 quid, and that's if you can find one. Here it gets reissued on the young but already well-formed Skank & Groove label and is backed with a version by The Upsetters named 'Freak Out Skank' that gets even more warm, cavernous and dubby.

Review: Stop us if you've heard this one before. Lee "Scratch" Perry walks into a Quasi Dub Development recording session somewhere in New York. He begins to freestyle in that surrealist, escapist, hallucinogenic kind of way we still love him for, and the results eventually make their way onto 2014's record, Little Twister. The rest, as they say, is history. Or maybe not quite. Four years after the world lost Perry's enigmatic poetry and pioneering contributions to dub, Pingipung, the label that carried that aforementioned LP, unearths the tape of one track from the collection the bosses clearly feel deserves more attention. 'Let's Communicate' is as intoxicating now as it was back then. Then contemporary UK dub don Elijah Minnelli steps up to deliver an alternative version that stands up on its own. No mean feat.