Rating: NNN
After a decade of non-stop reissues and vault scraping, the Lee Perry well seems to have run dry. Baffling Smoke Signal is culled from the archives of Perry’s own Black Ark label and features tunes by the Congos, Leroy Sibbles, Junior Murvin and Dr. Alimantado, and while there are a couple of unreleased tracks and mixes, none of the material here can be even charitably called essential. Perry’s at his typically mad best behind the mixing desk, chopping up the rhythm and filling the cuts with eerie whooshes and screams, but to little effect. The version of the Congos’ shuddering Ark Of The Covenant pales in comparison to the classic original, and ceaselessly releasing half-assed alternate versions of Brent Dowe and Upsetters tracks ultimately only serves to harm Perry’s reputation, not further it.
