These days, reggae and dub pioneer Lee “Scratch” Perry is still as bonkers as ever, only he’s less “hands on” about it. The twisted dub and dancehall tracks he’s glossed his croaky voice over lately often come from the minds of trusted collaborators such as Mad Professor or, as was the case of 2008’s Repentance, Andrew W.K. The Upsetter also has a tendency to stack his sleazy new LPs with extremely disparate guests acts, with contributors ranging from David Tibet and Lightning Bolt’s Brian Chippendale to Keith Richards and George Clinton.
For his upcoming record Revelation, due August 10 on Megawave Records, Perry has stuck to the same formula that’s served him so strangely for the past couple of decades. In fact, Richards and Clinton have both hopped back on the Scratch train once again (sadly, no appearance from AWK), the last time being 2008’s derided Scratch Came, Scratch Saw, Scratch Conquered. Recorded at his mountaintop abode in Switzerland (seriously), this time around Perry has enlisted the songwriting assistance of U.K.-based reggae multi-instrumentalist Steve Marshall. The last time these two collaborated resulted in a 2007 Grammy nomination for The End of an American Dream, so here’s hoping they can recapture that same magic that so enthralled the Grammy Reggae Council or whoever decides those types of dumb things.
And if all that record-making weren’t enough (seriously, he releases like four fucking albums a year), here’s a few tourdates just for good measure:
08.17.10 - New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
08.18.10 - Boston, MA - Harper’s Ferry
08.19.10 - Philadelphia, PA - World Café Live
08.20.10 - Stephentown, NY - Bella Terra Festival
08.22.10 - Los Angeles, CA - Sunset Junction Festival
• Lee “Scratch” Perry: http://www.myspace.com/leescratchperry
• Megawave: http://www.spacewavemusic.com
