Pecqre aka Pecker aka percussionist Hashida Masahito took a trip to Kingston in 1980, where he laid down rhythms at Tuff Gong and Channel One. Working with house-bands led by The Wailers and Sly & Robbie, respectively. Overdubs were made in Tokyo with some serious musicians, including the celebrated singer Minako Yoshida and her husband Aki “Vitamin Dread” Ikuta. The results are the stuff of legend, and before their rediscovery and subsequent represses they were a bit of a holy grail for collectors / spinners of leftfield downtempo.* A new 10” from Miss You now reproduces the essential 3-tracker, Rasta Instantané Avec L’Effroyable Pecqre. 

Dub Jam Rock features members of The Wailers: Al Anderson, Tyrone Downie, brothers Carlton and Aston “Family Man” Barrett, with Anicia Banks and the I Threes’ Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt. Warm, authentic roots reggae, it mixes dub keys with female harmonies and Akira Sakata’s free-jazz alto-clarinet. Sly & Robbie, along with Mikey “Mao” Chung, Earl “Wire” Lindo, and Scully Sims, add their Taxi Gang touch to Beggar Suite, which is funkier and more electronic, rocking synths, and syn-drum popping. The song segueing into a stripped back, bass-ier Part 2, and playfully MC-ed Part 3. Kylyn, a very groovy cover of the Kazumi Watanabe / Ryuichi Sakamoto Japanese jazz / fusion favourite, carries a kinda tribal B-line, clipped rhythm guitar, and brass blasts, in this case, from Shigeharu Mukai’s trombone. A tumbling percussive section ensures that this’ll cross over to all discerning open-minded disco dancefloors. Somewhere in there  melodica maestro Augustus Pablo plays piano. 

*The Pecker track, Mystical Electro Harikiri, was an Andrew Weatherall spin. 

You can find out more about this release on the Sound Metaphors website.