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.
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Monday - August 30, 2021
Lee "Scratch" Perry in Amsterdam, Oct. 9, 1992.
(Frans Schellekens/Redferns/Getty Images)
quote of the day
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, 1936 – 2021
rantnrave://
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
black ark
Wax Poetics
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
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The hip-hop star has gone from beloved to polarizing.
Pollstar
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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.
upsetter records
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.
what we’re into
Music of the day
"Black Panta"
Lee "Scratch" Perry/The Upsetters
From "Upsetters 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle" (1973).
YouTube
Video of the day
"The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee Scratch Perry"
The Upsetter Films
2011 doc directed by Ethan Higbee and Adam Bhala Lough.
YouTube
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