Sunday Dub

Dub is perfect for Sunday morning. This is Cloak And Dagger by Lee Perry, The Upsetters and Tommy McCook, from the album of the same name. I seem to remember reading somewhere that some people didn't rate or like this record but I can't see why. It's got all the elements of great Lee Perry dub, and is both deeply odd and very chilled.

Cloak And Dagger

Beastly Brothers

Posting the Beastie Boys' Egg Man the other day led me to dig out Hello Nasty, the follow up to their crossover Ill Communication album. Hello Nasty has got plenty of the 'three men shouting funny stuff over a funky break with a clever sample' thing that they do so well (Super Disco Breakin', Intergalactic) but it also shows them spreading their wings- there's some loungecore, the beautiful ballad I Don't Know, the spooky and minimal Instant Death and this track- Dr. Lee PhD. Recorded with Lee 'Scratch' Perry it's a lo-fi, low key, shuffly, dubby, reggae tune- just a drumbeat, some organ, some funny noises and a load of Lee Perry's profound nonsense lyrics, which finish with 'it's the beastly brothers, and the beastly boys, with their beastly toys'. It's a groovy, addictive little track. I also realised that this record was released in July 1998, the long summer before the birth of our first child and listening to it, the album seemed like a glimpse into a former life.

21 Dr. Lee, PhD.mp3#2#2

Rasta Train

Mystery train, sixteen coaches long, freedom train, long black train, there's a train a-coming you don't need a ticket you just get on board, train in vain, the train from Kansas City, take me to the station and put me on the train, driver 8, night train, midnight train to Georgia, trainspotting, modern life is rubbish. Rasta Train by Lee and Jimmy, produced by Lee Perry, deep 70s dub.

Lee Scratch Perry_16_Rasta Train.mp3

Some Dub For Sunday

Some dub for Sunday to warm the cockles, especially as it's hovering around zero outside. This is Lee Perry's dub version of Zap Pow's River, which I posted a couple of weeks ago. River is a hazy, semi-psychedelic reggae tune, and this dub version is equally good. In true dub style Bagging Area recommends you play them back to back. If you didn't download River it's still there, alive on the internet all the way from the mid 1970s.

Lee Scratch Perry_06_River Stone.mp3#1#1

Some More Dub For Friday

It seems remiss of me to have posted various bits of dub without anything from Lee 'Scratch' Perry, whose legend goes before him and surely requires no explanation from me. This track, River, is stunning. It's from an album that came out in the 90s called Voodooism, a collection of 1970s rarities from Perry's Black Ark Studio, which he himself burnt down convinced it was haunted. The original artists here are Zap Pow, and River is a dreamy, hazy, almost psychedelic piece of dub reggae, chock full of Perry's trademark phasing. Most of the songs on the compilation are present in original form and their dub version, although the original vinyl version I've got didn't include some of these. There's a dub of this track- River Stone- which is equally good, as are any number of tracks on the record. You can get the whole 20 track set from emusic. I've done it, mainly for the extras, but the whole thing is a laid back but out-there joy. Go on- it could improve your weekend.

Lee Scratch Perry_05_River.mp3