Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Pura Vida - The Super Ape Strikes Again (Lost Ark Music)

We've never been big fans of Scratch's vocal abilities though, so you'll understand that we approached this release with the necessary caution. Uncalled for as it turned out because Puraman made sure Scratch's contributions never become overbearing and even admitted to having filtered out Perry's most X-rated utterings. In addition, in his studio even more so than on the stage, Bregt succeeds in creating that vintage Black Ark-like sound, giving his records a certain magical touch. It was of course never the initial intention of this project, but with Perry once again burning down his studio, 'The Super Ape Strikes Again' also gets some charitable value. The tracks on 'The Super Ape Strikes Again' really form an organic whole, but pressed to choose favorites, we would opt for opener 'Heaven Gate', highlighting horn section Pieter De Naegel and Mathieu Vilain, 'Mystic Morning', in which Addis Pablo's melodica can be heard, and finally the delicious 'Treat Me Right', featuring a Puraman succeeding singlehandedly in sounding like the complete Congos line up! The icing on the cake is the cover design of the album, again a joint project of Lee and Bregt. Pura Vida once again pushes the limits of Belgian reggae!