Lee “Scratch” Perry Must Be Free Review by Gary Hill
This is certainly progressive music. Is it progressive rock? No. It has some hints of electronic prog built into it, though. The mix of trippy, spacey electronic sounds with reggae and much more is very classy. This clearly isn't for everyone one, but it's an entertaining set.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2016 Volume 6 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Psycho Dread
Electronic textures serve as the background for the reggae inspired rap styled vocals. This gets pretty trippy in some of the later sections. It's like electronic prog reggae. There is a weird little vocalization at the end.
Rat Race The same basic musical concept is the driving factor here. This has more of a rocking kind of edge to it, though. The mix of sounds here is intriguing for sure.
House of Sin This is very trippy and strange. It has some classic reggae in the mix along with soul music, electronic prog and more.
Isabel I dig the trippy groove of this song.
Jungle Tongue Speaking of groove, this has such a cool soulful one.
No Evil I love the flow of the vocals on this. The cut has some cool percussive elements and intriguing musical ones.
No Sorrow There are a lot of jazzy elements at play here. This is energized and solid.
On Nigeria I dig the beat and energy of this cut.
Strip Off The rhythmic and electronic elements of this cut are pretty trippy. This is one of the stranger pieces here, but it's not one of my favorites.
Too Much Is Too Much The percussion is particularly busy here. I really like the jazzy parts of this later.
Therapist This is a trippy kind of piece. It's one of the weirder numbers here. It has some pretty effective grooves, though.
Must Be Free Dreamy, mellower vibes start this. It grows out to more of an edgy electronic jam.
Bonus Track
House of Sin (Remix) This remix is pretty classy stuff.
