Dub charts

Review: In 1985, Lee 'Scratch' Perry returned to Trojan Records for a new album, Battle Of Armageidon, in which he laid freshly-trodden musical ground at the label's feet. Taking after then increasingly-popular dub and reggae artists at the time, such as Scientist, Perry's music was becoming increasingly grandiose and psychedelic, having teamed up with rhythm guitarist and synth player Mark Downie in forming his new band. Long regarded as among Perry's most wild and unpredictable projects, this reissue brings the album to CD for the first time, and isn't for the faint of heart or uncurious of soul.

Review: Two and a half years on from his death, Lee 'Scratch' Perry's "final album" - for the avoidance of doubt, it's the last one he recorded - arrives. Given his history of sonic innovation, it's striking that King Perry sees he late dub titan applying his dub aesthetic (with a little help from producer Daniel Boyle and a string of guest vocalists) to a wide variety of contemporary styles. Elements of synthwave, drum & bass, big beat and electronica are thrown into the mix, with his ten-ton basslines, dub effects, reggae riffs and freewheeling vocals rooting it in his extensive musical history. Highlights include breakbeat-driven Greentea Peng collaboration '100 Llbs of Summer', the Meat Beat Manifesto-ish 'Green Banana' (where Shaun Ryder does a typically distinctive turn on lead vocals) and closer 'Goodbye', which features Perry's last recorded vocal performance.