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WEDNESDAY, ÜBRUAKY 28, 2007
Lee 'Scratch' Perry's Panic in Babylon
By Bobby Moore
Staff Writer
rmoore7@im\westf>ajedu
Lee “Scratch” Perry,
a 71 year old reggae
artist who has had as long
and ecclectic a career as
any of his rock music
counterparts, manages to
reach the high standards
he has set with his latest
solo release, “Panic in
Babylon".
The
album
begins with
“Rastafari”,
which is as
musically
upbeat as
any of Steel
Pulse’s hits.
O n
“Purity
Rock”, Perry
experiments
with modern
production
methods
while singing
lyrics that
would not
sound out of
place on one
of his classic
Black Ark
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Photo courtesy Gustaff.com
71 year old reggae artist Lee “Scratch" Perry’s latest solo
release “Panic in Babylon” solidifies his place among
Reggae's great minds.
releases.
Following two
more solid tracks, the
dub-inspired sounds of
“Voodoo” and “Panic in
Babylon” make them the
best songs on the album.
The title track is
great, from the “I am
The Upsetter” lyrics to
the music itself. It’s the
type of track where a lot
goes on but all of the bells
and whistles seem to fit
together.
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“Perry’s Ballad” has
an old style organ opening
and features some of
Perry’s trademark lyrics.
By that 1 mean he says
some bizarre stuff. “Have
a Perry salad, for this is
Perry ballad,” may not
make sense, but it sounds
great coming from one
of reggae’s legendary
voices.
Follow ing those interesting
words. Perry proclaims
“1 am the Psychiatrist"
during the next track.
Perry is also known
for writing fun lyrics,
and he did just that for
“Inspector Gadget 2004”.
“Are You Coming
Home” is another potential
classic. Perry sings slowly
enough to make it sound
like Black Uhuru meets
Bob Dylan. That may
sound strange, but he
makes it w ork.
The experimental
“Baby Krishna” sounds
like something that might
have come out of Adrian
Sherwood’s On-U Sounds
studio. That, as I often say,
is a good thing coming
from me.
The last track is called
“Devil Dead Live”, and
the crowd sounds sampled
at the end are a fitting way
to end this tremendous
album.
After quite a few
Bob Marley and Sun Ra.
If you buy this release
on CD, it comes with a
bonus disk that features
remixes done by DJ
Spooky and TV on the
Radio’s Dave Sitek.
I’m not going to settle
for saying that this would be
a good purchase. I’m going
to deem this album to be
essential to any respectable
music collection.
RATING: 10 out oflO
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Photo courtesy Cinemastrikeshack .com
Catalina Sandino Moreno and Mos Def in Eric Eason's Journey to the End of the Night.
average
releases.
Perry has
finally
delivered
one last
great album.
When
he as at his
creative
peak. like
he is on
this album,
he’s one of
the greatest
musical
geniuses
of all time.
In fact, I
put him in
the same
category as
Fela Kuti,
languages spoken by the
characters. Though some
audiences may find the dialect
challenging and over the
top. the interaction between
American's and those native
to the land often becomes a
jumbled collection of words
in both languages.
Glenn’s transft umation
in the film from despicable
brother owner to caring
husband and dedicated father
helps the audience come
to care for the character.
Mos Def’s superb portrayal
of a naive, hard working
immigrant drawn into a
situation that is beyond his
control is by far the high
point of the film. Fraser’s
submersion into his role, w hile
being a striking difference
from his previous works, is
believable and tantalizing. The
intricate subplots converge to
grant the film a touch of the
Tarantino-esque quality that
Eason seemed to be reaching
for. There are moments when
the plot seems to be leading
into directions that it simply
does not follow through on,
especially those involving
the police, and Eason would
have done far better had he
narrowed his characters and
subplots, substituting instead
deeper realization of the
remaining characters. Eason
works his magic well behind
the camera, but perhaps
needs to leave the penning to
someone else.
The DVD extras are
minimal, but well crafted.
Ratherthanprov idinganentire
commentary tilled mostly
with time wasting banter,
Eason and his cast simply
speak about the film and the
experience of creating it. The
behind the scenes shots are
interesting and informative,
the cast insightful, if not a bit
over/ealous in their praises
of Eason. Subtitles tire only
available in Spanish. First
Look Home Entertainment
has granted the DVD one
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grand option - rather than
forcing the viewer to sit
through 20 minutes of
previews before reaching the
main menu, the distributor
has thankfully placed all the
previews under the special
features section. While
previews have a purpose, and
can be enjoyable, the option
to skip them is always a plus.
The end result is that
Journey to the End of the
Night is certainly a journey
worth taking. The film is an
innovative thriller blending
action with heart. The
cinematography is nothing
short of ingenious, and the
actors are superb despite the
apparent miscasting. But then
who would have thought Jim
Carrey or Robin Williams
would ever go straight? The
DVD is definitely worth
spending an evening with.
Film Rating: 3.5 stars
DVT) Rating: 3 stars