lost dif juz/lee "scratch" perry live recording

[edward]

I read that Robin recorded and produced a live Dif Juz collaboration with Lee "Scratch" Perry but it lies locked in the 4AD vaults. That sounds like it could be really great, so I have 3 questions:
1. Is this true?
2. If so, why was it never released?
3. Is there any chance it will ever see the light of day?

[andylama]

It ain't April 1st, so...REALLY?!

That sounds fucking insane.

That is to say, Lee Perry is fucking insane, and thereby anything he's involved with must sound totally crazy.

I'd love to hear that.

Robin, please chime in and clear this up!

Until then, I confess to being skeptical. That's just too weird.

[edward]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dif_Juz
The link is for Dif Juz wiki. upon re-reading it I guess it was a studio album. There's never anything wrong on wikipedia, right?

[andylama]

I must hear this album.

[Adam]

Dif Juz may not have been the most successful band on the 4AD roster, but their music typified the label's quixotic approach. They were an all-instrumental quartet whose evocative compositions - sometimes ambient, sometimes angular - were invariably quietly mesmerising. They made a great deal of sense in the context of the so-called 'post-rock' music which emerged some 15 years after the group disbanded.

At the heart of the band were brothers Dave and Alan Curtis, guitarists both, who were joined by bassist Gary Bromley and Richie Thomas, who played drums and also contributed some marvellously evocative saxophone parts. Dif Juz recorded two EPs in 1981, Huremics and Vibrating Air, before leaving for the Red Flame label, where they released a further EP in 1983.

The band returned to 4AD to make a full-length album, 1985's Extractions, which was produced by Robin Guthrie and featured guest a vocal by fellow Cocteau Twin Liz Fraser (on the song "Love Insane").

Shortly after this, Dif Juz were introduced to Jamaican dub innovator Lee 'Scratch' Perry. They served as his backing band for a series of shows, before eventually attempting to make a record together. The five tracks that made it onto tape (including a nine-minute version of "The Mighty Quinn") never quite gelled, despite Robin Guthrie's attempts to mix them, and the collaboration remains unreleased.

Instead, 1986 saw Dif Juz issue a typically quirky mini-album which bundled all of the tracks from the Huremics EP with a re-recorded, re-mixed version of "Vibrating Air". The disc was titled Out Of The Trees and proved to be their final release.

Source: 4AD

[randomrob]

thanks for the info.

[robin guthrie]

Originally Posted by edward

I read that Robin recorded and produced a live Dif Juz collaboration with Lee "Scratch" Perry but it lies locked in the 4AD vaults. That sounds like it could be really great, so I have 3 questions:
1. Is this true?
2. If so, why was it never released?
3. Is there any chance it will ever see the light of day?

1. Yes, with the slight correction that it wasn't a live recording it was a studio recording.
2. I don't think anyone at 4AD liked it or thought it appropriate.
3. Well, I'd love to hear it at least although the release of it would have nothing to do with me. 4AD decide unilaterally about these things as I've found out from my experience. I don't have a copy but can remember well the occasion of working with Lee Perry, something one would find hard to forget. There was a cover version of 'the mighty quinn' called 'the mighty scratch' and a song called 'million dollar bill'. There were probably at least two more. It was a long time ago, don't you know.

[Thackeray]

So do we have some volunteers to make the 'away espionage' team break into the 4ad vaults and let this baby see light?

[andylama]

Robin! Thanks for the info.

I don't think anyone at 4AD liked it or thought it appropriate.

Ironic, since it would very likely sell well, considering the clout of all parties involved, and the novelty of the unlikely collaboration. Of course, they've waited long enough for the relevance to fade somewhat. I guess for 4AD, it's par for the course.

So tell me...is Lee Perry as whacked as his reputation? I've been reading about that guy for decades, and he always seemed loosely hinged...a raving lunatic with a keen instinct for innovative dub reggae production.

[edward]

Thanks for clearing that up, Robin. It's driving me crazy now, wanting to hear it!