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Originally released in 2008 Scratch Came Scratch Saw Scratch Conquered, was one of the later albums from respected and influential reggae producer/ composer Lee "Scratch" Perry. It’s a thirteen-track affair that sees Mr Perry collaborating with the likes of funk legend George Clinton, and Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.

Here from Megawave is a recent CD reissue of the album. The disc comes presented in a four-panel colour digipak, featuring pictures of the pink-dyed beard & chunky ringed Perry. Inside is a ten-panel fold-out inlay- with more pictures & album credits.

As Perry albums go this is a largely mellow/ bright affair- with nothing getting too dense or pacy in its attack. All of the tracks are off course topped with Perry’s sing-song/ chanted vocals- yes, you can hear his age- but he still has passion, and that quirky playful spirit- so while it doesn’t stand as one of his more inventive/ ground break albums, it’s damn entertaining, toe-tapping, hip swing, & wholly engaging release.

We open with “Having A Party” with its sassy/ lightly jaunting melody which shifts between the horn and strutting guitar- with Perry coming up with lines like ‘drink your drink, and wink your wink’ and  ‘let your spliffs jump in the air’. Moving on we have  “Jealousy” with its lashing & sharping knife percussion, tight jiving organ, and light funk groove.

Moving into the second half of the album we have “Headz Going To Roll” which sees Perry collaborating with George Clinton. With its lightly strutting funk bass line, turntable straching elements, and of course a blend of Clinton’s more throaty/ wavering vocals, with Perry’s more rapid delivery. And we have “ Sinful  Fuckers” with its steady synth ‘n’ bass groove, tip-tapping percussion line, and Perry listing all manner of sinful folk. 

So, Scratch Came Scratch Saw Scratch Conquered is a decent latter-day Perry. With that playful spirit and flare still alive, and a selection of decent/ fairly tracks. Certainly, not a starting point into this great man's work for that  I’d advise classic 60’s /70’s albums like Return of Django(1966) or Roast Fish Collie Weed & Corn Bread (1978), but this is pretty great late album.