The Upsetter Shop, V. 2; 1969 to 1973
Lee "Scratch" Perry's career is certainly not lacking for documentation, what with theArkologybox set and multiple single-CD collections. But this collection of 21 tracks catches Perry prior to his Black Ark years, the time when he went tripping in the play field of spacious, often fractured dub excursions. Recorded from 1968 to 1973, these songs barely, in fact, hint at Perry's mad scientist genius, except for the eccentric coughs and echoes on the Mellotones' "Uncle Charlie" and such oddities as Pat Satchmo's unreleased knockoff of David Isaacs's knockoff of Ben E. King's "Can't Take It Anymore" (follow all those knockoffs?). While this is a set best aimed at already-converted Perry fans, the CD gets lots of high-quality honorable mentions. Glen Adams and the Upsetters' version of "X-Ray Vision" is funky and weird, with minimal keyboard blips framing the melodies, and there are two odd Dillinger tunes (the first a version of "Uncle Charlie" and the second "Tighten Up Skank," where his voice is beginning to gel on its own). Perry would depart the Upsetter Shop space to move pretty quickly and unmistakably up the quality ladder in the years following the cuts represented here, but this is nonetheless a nice glimpse of some of his earlier cognitions.--Andrew Bartlett