As this isn't live music it's snuck into my blog due to the subject matter. Which is the last collaboration the legendary Lee Scratch Perry had which happened to be with a duo of German electronic music makers called Mouse on Mars and which the latter have turned into an album and associated "installation" which is at the Barbican with sounds (I assume the album) and video. Pete's along with me and we meet outside the Barbican's Pit Theatre down in the depths. The venue is a biggish space with a raised platform in the middle of the floor which has bean bags and cushions on it so Pete and I plonk ourselves on a couple of bags. As more come in the bean bags are all used and others sit on sofas around the edge of the venue. There are painted cloths hung around the place seemingly haphazardly. The music starts beginning with an oddish noise without a real beat and The Upsetter's vocals come through but soon a beat kicks in and the rest of the set is a mix of electronic, reggae influenced dub which isn't a big surprise given the collaborators. As Pete and I lay back on the bean bags soaking up the music there's a temptation to drift off but it's worthwhile keeping the eyes peeled as there are a variety of videos, mainly shapes, projected onto the coloured hangings. Over all of this is Lee's distinctive vocals of course. Singing about a variety of topics when there is a theme I caught one about eating pork and chicken. I didn't hear that the queen is a lizard but maybe he didn't sing that when in Germany. Towards the end there's an anarchic sounding brass bit which is reminiscent of a mad band Simon, Bruce and I saw at his local Normandy festival, but that's another blog. As the video projections stop and the music morphs into a spatial sound one of the ushers quietly tells us that that's all folks and Pete and I struggle to our feet and depart to a pub for a drink. It was an interesting hour and as Pete says it's reminiscent of when you were young and bought an album (remember the smell?) and played it all through with no distractions and you just focussed totally on the music. An enjoyable event and lovely to hear the rasping voice of The Upsetter from beyond the grave. Which shouldn't be surprising seeing as he was convinced that duppies or spirits assisted with his music.
There should be a video here but Blogger doesn't seem to like MOV files and I can't be arsed to convert it.
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