Week 14 - Super Ape - Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and the Upsetters - Intro to Dub

One of my favourite albums, straight from one of the Godfathers of Dub, Lee Perry’s Upsetters produce an addictive, bass heavy sound that resonates and reverberates through your whole body. Thick, heavy bass you feel in your bones, mids and hi’s that drop off abruptly, this album is bouncy and so quintessentially dub. The horns, the vocals, all sounds that aren’t the drums or the bassline are simply dressing, all things aimed at accenting the pounding rhythm. The album pops and crackles like its overplayed vinyl, happy accidents which only add to the sound, without taking anything away from it

Wonderfully laid back and relaxed, the Upsetters do a fantastic job compelling you to bob along with them.

Dub originated in Jamaica, when MC’s like King Tubby began stripping the vocals from songs, pushing the basslines and the drums forwards and using effects to create their own versions of the song. Perry uses Rastafari spirituality, pot and music to explore his ideas on redemption and protest on this album This is a perfect album for anyone wishing to get into the world of reggae and dub. It’s not too experimental so as to alienate new listeners, allowing you to ease yourself into the worlds of massive bass and psychedelic warbles.

Off the album, my picks are

1. Croaking Lizard - Sampling the Max Romeo and Upsetters track ‘ Chase the Devil’, the track is wobbly and dense. The flow of the lyrics seem disconnected from the instruments, both seem to meander at their own pace, getting to where they need to be eventually. The heavy echo and reverb is expansive, creating space between your ears, you didn’t know existed.
   

2. Underground - One of the more instrumentally bare tracks on the album, the bassline and the drums act as the epicenter for his sonic earthquake.
   

3. Three in One - The lighter sound track of the album, the song feels a faster paced than the rest on the album, and yet is just as laid back. It feels oxymoronic to try to express but when you feel your head invariably bob along, you’ll probably understand.

The thing with this album is that to understand the ideas of spirituality, protest and redemption, one must also understand the political and religious backdrop against which reggae emerged in the 70’s. Upon understanding that, the ideas of rastafari and the power of Jah, the album takes on a meditative quality like very few other albums can