Rhythm Shower
is one of producer
Lee "Scratch" Perry
's more obscure efforts; it was originally released in a limited pressing in Jamaica and in an even more limited edition in England. Despite its obscurity,
is a pivotal album in
Perry
's career as a producer and bandleader; it finds him beginning to experiment with
dub
and developing the distinctive studio sound that would come to full maturation in subsequent years. Whereas earlier albums had offered plenty of instrumental versions, on
,
really starts making use of the studio tricks that characterized what was then the emerging art form of
-- dropping voices in and out of the mix (as on
" Uncle Charlie"
and a
cut of the
George Faith
classic
"To Be a Lover"
) and doing the same with individual instruments (as he does with
Augustus Pablo
's melodica on
"Kuchy Skank"
) to create a trippy, hypnotic effect. There are a couple of fine DJ turns from the great
Dillinger
, but the main attraction is the mighty
Upsetters
themselves, whose rock-solid rhythms give
all the room he needs to maneuver. This is classic
Scratch
. ~ Rick Anderson