CULTCHA Clash Outer National Record Review:

New Age Doom & Lee "Scratch" Perry - Lee "Scratch" Perry's Guide To The Universe

(We Are Busy Bodies - WABB 099, 2021)

Reviewed by Jon "Selecta J-Cut" Soldanels

New Age Doom & Lee "Scratch" Perry - Lee "Scratch" Perry's Guide To The Universe (We Are Busy Bodies)

Described as Perry's first "Drone Jazz" album, this was probably one of the last projects of his time of physical existence. The repeated message throughout this project is "Life is an experiment."

The legendary, iconic and anomalous artist never shied from experimentation in his seven decades of creating songs, albums, artists, labels and even genres... virtually every type of modern music owes some credit to the Upsetter's innovations to Reggae production, Dub in particular.

New Age Doom are an experimental / drone project from Vancouver, B.C. whose previous offerings include 2020's Himalayan Dream Techno. They captured Perry's vocals for this LP at his home in Switzerland in 2020. The group's two core members, drummer / producer Eric J. Breitenbach, and multi-instrumentalist / producer Greg Valou are joined by Daniel Rosenboom on trumpet, Donny McCaslin on sax, Ryan Dahle and Tim Lefebvre on bass and synths, Dahm Majuri Cipolla on drums, synths by Cola Wars and The Passenger, and a Lady Nigel Butterfly providing whispers.

"Lee 'Scratch' Perry's Guide To The Universe"

"Be faithful. Be pure. Be clean. And listen to your dreams. Listen to your dreams!" the highly conceptualized album acts as a vehicle for the mystic to channel, despite the cryptic nature of much of his past lyrical content, this one is is pretty straight-forward.

"Step In Space"

Musically, a prevalent stark, spacey, ambiance compliments the lyrical obeah. Slow-motion, minimalist rhythms lurk about amidst hypnotic vibrations with sparse elements of brass and percussion creating an intriguing endeavor, through and through. The songs are movements of one cohesive piece that give us the sense that 'Scratch' still has something to share with the world and not even death can hold back the message.