Voodooism

back in stock! this compilation features some of those ticked rarities from the black ark dating from the mid-seventies, the most recent being laid down in 1977. it was during this period that lee perry produced much of what is now regarded as his finest work, creating astonishing sounds and rhythms behind wicked and righteous tunes, all engineered fast-hand style on mix-and-match studio kit most of which was considered archaic even at the time. many of the tunes were never released outside of jamaica and buying the originals now would cost a small fortune. we kick-off with "psalms twenty", a truly serious piece of vinyl mayhem from one james booms a.k.a. james brown (his "stop the war in a babylon" did actually surface in the u.k.) on top of a rhythm from the legendary "super ape" sessions. the dub is awesome, a true marvel of reconstruction - baffle your bass bins to avoid cracking plaster! next is a rare 45 with an early '77 feel, "better future" by errol walker, it may have been bootlegged but has never appeared on any known auction list let alone re-release. with its swirling psychedelic sound "river" by zap pow has long been a favourite perry rarity, floating on a raft of sound not unlike the productions achieved with the heptones' "crying over you" and junior murvin's "tedious". further along is "freedom", a tune by earl 16, currently active in the u.k. with an outfit called drumhead, and then "africa" by the hombres originally issued on orchid - a label to search out for perry fans. the wondrous "voodooism" by leo graham gives this collection its title, this singular vocalist was first heard by reggae buffs on the truly remarkable "perilous time" which he cut for joe gibbs, and of course the version-rich "pampas judas" which he cut for perry earlier in the decade.