Lee Scratch Perry - Crucial Cuts From The Heart Of The Ark (1973-1978) (2025) Vinyl

Lee "Scratch" Perry's monumental career spanned more than six decades and several eras of Jamaican music, but much of his best-known and most groundbreaking music was produced at his fabled Black Ark studio during the 1970s. Crucial Cuts from the Heart of the Ark (1973-1978) gathers several standouts from this period, from all-time classics to more-obscure dub versions. By this point in time, Perry had mastered the art of using the recording studio as an instrument, and nearly everything he touched love songs and political anthems alike was filtered through trippy echo and phasing effects, making even his most accessible productions sound hallucinatory. Opening cut "Vibrate On," a collaboration with Augustus Pablo, sounds truly ahead of its time, with sweet melodica and psychadelic fuzz guitar splashed with snaking filters and harsh, Godzilla-like roars. The title tracks from two of Perry's most famed productions, Max Romeo's War Ina Babylon and Junior Murvin's Police & Thieves, are present, as are a tune from rocksteady group the Heptones' rootsy Party Time and a dub version of the Congos' haunting "Fisherman," originally from the masterpiece Heart of the Congos. Junior Byles' cover of "Fever" isn't as doused in effects as other tracks here, but it has one of the collection's heaviest rhythms. Zap Pow's "River" is an aptly titled stream of fluid grooves, and Upsetters tracks like "Traveling in Dub" and "Dreader Dub" tap into darker emotions. There are several other Perry collections, most notably the definitive box set Arkology, that dig much deeper into the vaults of the Black Ark, which Perry infamously claimed to have burned to the ground in a fit of rage. If you're looking for a quick summary of why Perry's best music is so unique and powerful, Crucial Cuts will do nicely.