| In plain words, I am the music himself. So I have music forever, I have words forever. I did not inherit silver and gold and diamonds and pearl. I inherit words, songs and power. That's my inheritance. My inheritance is greater than money. It continue. | | | | |  | Lee "Scratch" Perry in Amsterdam, Oct. 9, 1992.
(Frans Schellekens/Redferns/Getty Images) | | | | | "In plain words, I am the music himself. So I have music forever, I have words forever. I did not inherit silver and gold and diamonds and pearl. I inherit words, songs and power. That's my inheritance. My inheritance is greater than money. It continue." | | | | Heart of the Studio
LEE "SCRATCH" PERRY was a natural mystic from rural Jamaica who quite possibly invented reggae; almost certainly invented dub; most definitely produced some of his country's most enduring singles and albums for the likes of the WAILERS, the CONGOS, MAX ROMEO and the HEPTONES; literally turned studio mixing boards into instruments (which he played like a grandmaster on acid); without any doubt provided some of the basic materials that others used to invent hip-hop and remake electronic music; is the subject of a 300-page book that does little more than list everything he recorded through the early 2000s; lived and worked for another couple decades after that; and, though this can't be scientifically proved, might have invented thunder and echo. Or maybe he just improved on nature's original designs for those last two phenomena. Is the thunder from a storm any match for the impossibly deep bass of Perry's classic dub sides? Has anyone in the world's largest canyon or deepest cave ever heard an echo like Perry achieved with his collection of reverbs? He was a madman, some people said. He did not disagree. "Sometimes," he said, "it takes a madman."
What we lost Sunday with the death, at age 85, of Lee Perry, aka Scratch, aka the Upsetter, is one of the 20th century's great explorers, shapers and innovators of sound, and one of the founders, therefore, of modern popular music. (No, DIDDY, you did not invent the remix.) He had a shamanic presence (he was prone to answer questions about his process by saying things like "I am a mystic. I am a fish. I am a chicken") that belied his clear vision and (mostly) unwavering work ethic. He was earth and fire and love and revolution and everyone from BOB MARLEY to PAUL MCCARTNEY to the CLASH to the BEASTIE BOYS to MAD PROFESSOR wanted to, and did, work with him. He wasn't stable in the conventional sense of stable. Later in life, long after he had burned down his legendary BLACK ARK studio to drive away evil spirits and re-started his career from scratch, he lived in Switzerland, where, according to his wife, he sometimes rebelled against her desire for a clean house by defecating in champagne glasses and leaving them around said house. "I guess," MIREILLE RUEGG PERRY told Rolling Stone in 2010, "sometimes he just takes his belief in the natural too far." He took everything too far, really. It was how he lived, and it was a piece of his genius.
He leaves behind "the best roots reggae album ever recorded," HEART OF THE CONGOS, and 299 other pages of often massive achievements in a discography you could spend the rest of your lifetime trying to absorb. RIP.
Rest in Peace Also
Afghan folk singer FAWAD ANDARABI, whose family said he was murdered by the Taliban on Friday... Iron Butterfly drummer RON BUSHY, who played the classic three-minute drum solo in the middle of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" and was the only member of the band to play on all of its studio albums... '90s R&B singer SAM SALTER... British DJ and remixer ALAN COULTHARD... Renowned Italian record collector (and ice cream maker) CARLO PISTACCHI.
| | | | Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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| | RETRO MUST READ: City Too Hot: The Apex and Sudden Fall of Lee "Scratch" Perry's Black Ark | | by David Katz | | In this excerpt from "People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee 'Scratch' Perry," David Katz describes the apex and fall of Lee Perry's iconic Black Ark studio. | |  | | Billboard |
| | Roblox's Music Play: 'Hundreds' of Daily Concerts, Building a Digital Vegas & NMPA Lawsuit | | by Tatiana Cirisano | | "It's our responsibility to have a place where if you are a music fan, you should have all different types of experiences that fit your interests," says Roblox head of music Jon Vlassopulo. "There should be hundreds of shows every day." | |  | | Slate |
| | Why the Internet Soured on Chance the Rapper | | by Nitish Pahwa | | The hip-hop star has gone from beloved to polarizing. | |  | | Pollstar |
| | Live Nation And AEG Unite Around Vaccines, Moving Industry Forward | | by Andy Gensler | | With summer's rise of the Delta variant and the health and safety of fans, artists, crews and staff at stake along with the very survival of this industry itself, a consensus on safety protocols and vaccines has emerged and it emanates from the highest echelons of the business. | |  | | Red Bull Music Academy |
| | RETRO MUST READ: The Ultimate Lee 'Scratch' Perry Guide | | by David Katz | | The recorded output of the reggae shaman forms something of a bottomless pit. | |  | | SPIN |
| | 30 Artists Reflect on 30 Years of Pearl Jam's 'Ten' | | by Daniel Kohn | | In honor of "Ten" turning 30, we spoke with 30 musicians who reflected on Pearl Jam and the album's lasting influence. | |  | | NPR Music |
| | Being A Teenager In The 1950s Was Hard. The Everly Brothers Understood | | by Ann Powers | | From the opening of their first hit, "Bye Bye Love," the Everly Brothers spoke directly to the deepest longings and anxieties of the generation that would come to define the rock and soul era. | |  | | The FADER |
| | Turnstile on how isolation inspired their wild and wonderful new album 'GLOW ON' | | by Alex Robert Ross and Turnstile | | In the latest episode of The Fader Interview podcast, Alex Robert Ross talks to Turnstile's Brendan Yates about the making of new album "Glow On." | |  | | The Quietus |
| | Inside Zohra, Afghanistan's First All-Female Orchestra | | by Nilgin Yusuf | | Musician turned filmmaker Dan Blackwell shines a light on Zohra, Afghanistan's first female-led orchestra, in new film Sisters. Nilgin Yusuf meets the director. | |  | | The Guardian |
| | Writers' notes: the record labels remixing novels into music | | by George Bass | | Fiction has been adapted into popular films and TV for years - but now there is growing interest in bespoke scores for novels. | | |  | | Vulture |
| | R. Kelly's Dastardly World Is on Trial | | by Victoria Bekiempis | | Testimony from his alleged enablers illustrated a dark pattern that dates back to Aaliyah. | |  | | Variety |
| | Kanye West Claims Label Released 'Donda' Without His Approval | | by Ellise Shafer | | In an Instagram post just hours after the long-anticipated "Donda" was released around 8 a.m. Sunday, West wrote: "UNIVERSAL PUT MY ALBUM OUT WITHOUT MY APPROVAL AND THEY BLOCKED JAIL 2 FROM BEING ON THE ALBUM." Sources at Universal called the allegation "preposterous."" | |  | | Dazed Digital |
| | Holly Herndon on vocal deep fakes and launching her digital twin Holly+ | | by Günseli Yalcinkaya | | The experimental artist and her partner Matt Dryhurst discuss their plans for Holly+, the future of vocal deep fakes, and their podcast Interdependence. | |  | | Los Angeles Times |
| | Drumming prodigy Nandi Bushell finally joins Foo Fighters onstage at the Forum | | by Christi Carras | | After challenging Dave Grohl to an epic drum battle, 11-year-old percussionist Nandi Bushell performed live with the Foo Fighters in Inglewood. | | | | The Guardian |
| | Lee 'Scratch' Perry: a limitless genius who took Jamaica into the future | | by Lloyd Bradley | | By deeply connecting with the people and idyllic landscape of his county, the late producer channelled a stream of imaginative ideas into mindblowing music. | |  | | The Undefeated |
| | What the Smithsonian missed in its hip-hop anthology | | by David Dennis Jr. and Justin Tinsley | | The excellent 'Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap' covers official releases, but leaves out the freestyles and live performances that also made history.. | | | | The Guardian |
| | 'It was the happiest time': The Beach Boys on their strange second coming | | by Dave Simpson | | They helped define the 60s, but were hopelessly uncool as the 70s began - and Brian Wilson was unravelling. The band discuss the masterpieces they made against the odds. | |  | | Loud And Quiet |
| | As they return for 2021, here's how End of the Road festival survived 15 years and one disastrous pandemic | | by Joe Goggins | | The story of End of the Road since its foundation, particularly the traumatic past year and a half - and what to expect at its 2021 return | |  | | KCRW |
| | Questlove on 'Summer of Soul,' Black erasure, and driving two hours to meet Prince in the middle of the night | | by Andrea Domanick and Novena Carmel | | Amir "Questlove" Thompson joins Morning Becomes Eclectic co-host Novena Carmel to discuss how he discovered the footage of the Harlem Cultural Festival, Black cultural erasure, and his "made it" moment with Prince. | |  | | FLOOD Magazine |
| | RETRO READ: A Different Drum: Charlie Watts Interview by Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley | | by Steve Shelley | | Remembering the Rolling Stones legend with an interview by Sonic Youth's drummer originally published in the September 1996 issue of RayGun Magazine. | | | |  | | | Music of the day | | "Black Panta" | | Lee "Scratch" Perry/The Upsetters | | From "Upsetters 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle" (1973). |  | | YouTube |
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From "Upsetters 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle" (1973). | 2011 doc directed by Ethan Higbee and Adam Bhala Lough. | | | Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech | | "REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in
everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask 'why?'" | | |  | | | Jason Hirschhorn | | CEO & Chief Curator | | |  |
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