Rise Again

On Rise Again, Bill Laswell and Method of Defiance Technologies craft exotic, dub-groove beats and solid, fluid, moving, intelling bass lines set in depth-field micro-worlds born from the reverberations, oscillations and modulations of du du du dubbed out, stretched out, phase shifted, time twisted, pitch bent, frayed, delayed and parlayed sound FX forming the foundation and environment for the crazy-poetic, broadband nursery rhyme chants, mantrums, slogans and idiosyncratic, polypantheistic relativistic, revelatory transmissions of HIMOG Dub Messiah Lee Scratch Perry. At 75 years of age, sounding more God-intoxicated than ever yet also freely copping to his insanity, Perry delivers his vision with astonishing clarity and directness. It seems like he's reached the age where he just wants to cut out all the crap and get to the core of the message. Perry's pallette includes references to martial arts, sanskrit chants, the Ark of the Covenant and other Old Testament stories, Magick, Nietzsche, Little Richard, Reincarnation, Islam, vegetarianism, Astrology, extra-terrestrials, Japanese food, and of course, Rasatafari among other things.

I've been listening to it for awhile, got my copy in Ethiopia appropriately enough, but checked it out with headphones for the first time yesterday. Delighted to discover that the very first sound you hear on Rise Again is an ambient recording I made outside the crypt at the Basilica du Sacre Coeur in Paris, France. It was raining slowly and the church bell was ringing slowly. It has a very strong mood which you can hear in its entirety on the 7th track, Bells of Sacre Couer/ Showtime at Giza, from my cd, All Around the World mentioned a few posts back.

It's interesting that this record starts with a distant bell ringing because that's also how you begin a bardo reading. Bells reputedly open up entry portals to the Invisible World. You ring one at the start of a reading to indicate the intention and vector of your concentrated and directed attention. It helps to establish contact. Bells also see use in magick rituals, in particular Crowley's Mass of the Phoenix. In that ritual Crowley gives us the Thelemic rendition of the Lord's Prayer. Lee Perry gives his Rasta rendition of the Lord's Prayer on this CD.

Eleven tracks on this release. 11 = the number of Magick.

The tracks:

1. Higher Level - after the bell, the beat starts and Perry comes in right away establishing his direction or misdirection with:

Let there be light
Let there be no more parasites
Let there be light
Eating up the peace,
Removing grief
Condemning beef
Condemning meat

( I am not a vegetarian - this is LSP's vision/religion)

Peter Apfelbaum's flute wafts and punctuates like reflected, refracted light dancing through a diamond-like crystal prism.

Later in this song and on subsequent jams Perry's raps remind me of the spirit of 6th century Celtic poet Taliesan in particular the Hanes Taliesan riddle as presented in Robert Graves, The White Goddess.

You see Lee Scratch Perry everywhere
You see Lee Scratch Perry flying through the air

2. Scratch Message starts by quoting an old tune from the 1920's, Keep On Knocking But You Can't Come In that Little Richard made famous in the rock-n-roll era. Slowed down, chilled out and reggaeified it serves as the Greek Chorus to his message.

Then he riffs on the 23rd psalm:

Jamaica is thy shepherd
And I shall not want
I always reap what I sow
I walk through the valley, the valley of life

Chorus:
Death, I conquer Death.
Beth, I conquer Beth
Elizabeth, I conquer Elizabeth
Prince Charles, I conquer Prince Charles ...
I am the power

Showing true ambition, Perry manages to conquer death, the 2nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet (beth), and the Royal Family of England all in one verse.

3. Orthodox introduces the lovely, smooth as silk voice of the incomparable Gigi and the musical atmosphere of the Coptic Orthodox Church in this hymn to Ethiopia/Abyssinia. Haile Selassie, the Ethiopian Emporer considered the Messiah by the Rastafarian religion, makes a lyrical appearance . Most appropriately on this, the third track as his name means Power of the Trinity. Lee proceeds to evoke more of his Taliesan-like characteristics. Also appropos, Taliesan's name means radiant brow as shown in his creation myth:

The baby was found by Elffin, the son of Gwyddno Garanhir, 'Lord of Ceredigion', while fishing for salmon. Surprised at the whiteness of the boy's brow, he exclaimed "dyma Dal Iesin", meaning "this is a radiant brow." Taliesin, thus named, began to recite beautiful poetry, saying:

Fair Elffin, cease your lament!

....Though I am weak and small,

On the wave crest of the surging sea,

I shall be better for you

Than three hundred shares of salmon.

Elffin of noble generosity,

Do not sorrow at your catch.

Though I am weak on the floor of my basket,

There are wonders on my tongue....''

Amazed, Elffin asked how a baby could talk. Again Taliesin replied with poetry:

"Floating like a boat in its waters,

I was thrown into a dark bag,

and on an endless sea, I was set adrift.

Just as I was suffocating, I had a happy omen,

and the master of the Heavens brought me to liberty."

4. Wake the Dead:
O father who art in Heaven heaven
. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . heaven
. . . . . . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .............. . heaven
.................................................................................................heaven
........................................................................................................................................... .......heaven
..................................................................................................................................................................heaven ...
Allah, Allah be Thy name
.............................................Thy name
.................................................................................Thy name
...................................................................................................................Thy name
............................................................................................................................Thy name ...

Chorus:

Come to wake the dead
Come to wake the dead
Me come to wakes the dead
Me come to wake up the dead
Wake up the dead
To shake up their heads

Phased drum fill on shake up their heads introduces a horn section leading to Doctor Israel methodically, defiantly announcing FIRE .... FIRE ...

LSP calls forth the Ark of the Covenant to wipe out evil government

Chorus

Parasite get down and go down
Six foot six parasite
I am the light
Six foot six vampire
I am the light
You know that Jesus Christ is super black Rastafari

Chorus

5. Rise Again - The title track begins, once again, with distant Church bells chiming. Mellow, hypnotic, trance dub frames Lee's celebration of transcendence/rebirth/victory. B section chant starts out Aum Tat Sat. a sanskrit mantra. It means the Truth of Absolutely Reality.

6. African Revolution - notice how the titles of tracks 5 and6 have the same initials but reversed. 5 = 6 in that regard. From the joyfulness of the song I'd guess it advocates a non-violent revolution. Sounds like Hawk sings on this one.

7. Dancehall Kung Fu ode to martial arts, Geminis and Supermen?

With a Gemini mind
And a Gemini hand
Playing Gemini bass
With a Gemini feel ...

A litany to all things "Super" occurs later on

8. E.T.

Off-planet soundcapes conjure alien environments.

Transmission report: RED ALERT

Love the enemies
like you love yourself

Thou shall not hate
I don't debate
If you want to be reincarnate
Don't hate
If you wish to be reincarnated
Don't hate your enemies

Lee summons the Space Brothers to make a new race. This is the song where he admits his insanity, if you can believe him.

Love your enemies
People preach
Love your enemies
Parasites
Love your enemies
Bloodsuckers
Love your enemies
Blood drinkers ...

Look at the Sun
Throw away the gun

9. House of God - starts with the sound of an emergency vehicle siren.

Explict dub hymn to Scratch's vision of the Singularity. Sounds like my friend Jahdan Blakkamoore raps on this one. Jahdan was part of the KSK artist contingent performing in Mali one year.

Quotes a line I first heard from Robert Anton Wilson:

Me: What is the ultimate purpose of human life on Earth?
RAW: To be the eyes and ears of God.

10. Butterfly

Transformation is achieved, mission accomplished.

God bless my daughter
And my daughter is water
God bless my starter
And my starter is fire.

Good info in this song for further research re Instant Karma

11. Inakaya (Japanese Food)

Japanese dude
Japanese dude
I am a lover of the Japanese food

Japanese food give you good mood
Japanese food give you good mood

Perhaps the most profound track on the record. Ecstatic religious visions are great but everyone has to eat! The record ends with:

I am in a fire
Rastafari - all dubbed out

It might be easy to write off Lee Scratch Perry as a naive eccentric who maybe smoked a little too much ganga in his time but you need to remember this is the person who brought reggae music into the world. Hooking up with Bill Laswell (like Herbie Hancock, Iggy Pop, and William Burroughs before him) rates as genius in my book. It's good to hear Lee's voice strong as ever. Another aesthetic transmission communication from Method of Defiance.

Lee Scratch Perry

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