War&Peace The Farewell Russian Album by L$P feat. Boris Grebenschikov
The task was to create a cover design for the Farewell Russian Album by Lee Scratch Perry.
I was commissioned as the cover designer for the "Farewell Russian Album" by Lee Scratch Perry, a posthumous album with a unique blend of reggae, dub, and Russian cultural elements. The album, produced by Lefty Rudeboy, reflects a blend of radical "Russian-ness" and spiritual messages conveyed through Lee Scratch Perry's music and voice. The project was both a tribute to the legendary dub musician and a creative exploration of cultural fusion, paying homage to Lee Scratch Perry's innovative spirit.
I was commissioned as the cover designer for the "Farewell Russian Album" by Lee Scratch Perry, a posthumous album with a unique blend of reggae, dub, and Russian cultural elements. The album, produced by Lefty Rudeboy, reflects a blend of radical "Russian-ness" and spiritual messages conveyed through Lee Scratch Perry's music and voice. The project was both a tribute to the legendary dub musician and a creative exploration of cultural fusion, paying homage to Lee Scratch Perry's innovative spirit.
Role: Art director, Graphic Designer
Client: Wyrgorod Publishing House
So Lefty Rudeboy, the album's producer has described this event:
At the end of last summer, our Grandfather left us.
By arrangement, Lee Scratch Perry was supposed to be the headliner of Boris Grebenshchikov's "Parts of the World '21" festival.
In addition to the festival, we planned to make an audio and video recording of Grandfather right on Red Square.
But life had other plans...
At first, I was downcast...
But a few days later, the spirit of the Troublemaker came to me and said:
"Hey, you Russian...
If you want to be sad, go ahead and be sad. I won't bother you anymore. But if you want to have some fun, let's make some Dub together."
For a few days, I stayed in the village, eating apples and making Dub.
And it was so captivating...
All this time, it felt like I wasn’t alone...
Following the old man's advice, I discovered that half of his tracks recorded in Jamaica in 2020 were not included in "Åkvarium in Dub" because of their somewhat "radical Russian-ness."
In them, Grandfather suggests making him the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Empire, threatens America, goes to the studio in a tank, and threatens to open a Marijuana Academy at the North Pole.
These voices didn’t quite fit into the world of "Åkvarium in Dub," whose essence is pure joy.
A good example of this is the song "Russian Jesus" (which turned out to be Lee's last song recorded in his lifetime). It didn’t make it into the album despite its brilliance.
Lee composed it on the fly after the second listening to the Ivan & Danilo Riddim.
We recorded quite a few of such antics during this time, but releasing them under the name Åkvarium would have been wrong. So, they lay in a crystal tomb, waiting for their time.
And it seems that time has come...
Around New Year, we were invited to a concert in Saratov, and we finally met in person with the head of the Russian headquarters of Lee Scratch Perry (and at the same time, the director of the Khvalynsk Local History Museum) - Nikolai Zaichenko. After the warm meeting, I received a surprise from our shared Grandfather, who, as you know, was quite a prankster.
The surprise was a flash drive with a recording of the Psalms of David performed by Lee Scratch Perry. It was actually meant for Lee, but with no addressee available, it came to me...
When a person dies, it is customary to read the Psalms for the first 40 days so that Jah may take the deceased's soul to Heaven. But after Lee's passing, Nikolai did not read the Psalms. He listened to them. This is the very Psalter that Lee recommended for daily listening for all Russian Orthodox.
To add a Russian quintessence, I decided to mix into Lee Scratch Perry's psalms the first Ethiopian orchestra granted to Emperor Menelik by Nicholas II and the sounds of BG’s "Russian Album."
To which I received permission from Boris Borisovich:
"I have no idea what will come of this.
So, I agree."
At the end of last summer, our Grandfather left us.
By arrangement, Lee Scratch Perry was supposed to be the headliner of Boris Grebenshchikov's "Parts of the World '21" festival.
In addition to the festival, we planned to make an audio and video recording of Grandfather right on Red Square.
But life had other plans...
At first, I was downcast...
But a few days later, the spirit of the Troublemaker came to me and said:
"Hey, you Russian...
If you want to be sad, go ahead and be sad. I won't bother you anymore. But if you want to have some fun, let's make some Dub together."
For a few days, I stayed in the village, eating apples and making Dub.
And it was so captivating...
All this time, it felt like I wasn’t alone...
Following the old man's advice, I discovered that half of his tracks recorded in Jamaica in 2020 were not included in "Åkvarium in Dub" because of their somewhat "radical Russian-ness."
In them, Grandfather suggests making him the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Empire, threatens America, goes to the studio in a tank, and threatens to open a Marijuana Academy at the North Pole.
These voices didn’t quite fit into the world of "Åkvarium in Dub," whose essence is pure joy.
A good example of this is the song "Russian Jesus" (which turned out to be Lee's last song recorded in his lifetime). It didn’t make it into the album despite its brilliance.
Lee composed it on the fly after the second listening to the Ivan & Danilo Riddim.
We recorded quite a few of such antics during this time, but releasing them under the name Åkvarium would have been wrong. So, they lay in a crystal tomb, waiting for their time.
And it seems that time has come...
Around New Year, we were invited to a concert in Saratov, and we finally met in person with the head of the Russian headquarters of Lee Scratch Perry (and at the same time, the director of the Khvalynsk Local History Museum) - Nikolai Zaichenko. After the warm meeting, I received a surprise from our shared Grandfather, who, as you know, was quite a prankster.
The surprise was a flash drive with a recording of the Psalms of David performed by Lee Scratch Perry. It was actually meant for Lee, but with no addressee available, it came to me...
When a person dies, it is customary to read the Psalms for the first 40 days so that Jah may take the deceased's soul to Heaven. But after Lee's passing, Nikolai did not read the Psalms. He listened to them. This is the very Psalter that Lee recommended for daily listening for all Russian Orthodox.
To add a Russian quintessence, I decided to mix into Lee Scratch Perry's psalms the first Ethiopian orchestra granted to Emperor Menelik by Nicholas II and the sounds of BG’s "Russian Album."
To which I received permission from Boris Borisovich:
"I have no idea what will come of this.
So, I agree."
The work on the album was conducted in quite a strange mode. Since the moment the producers, BG, and Lee Scratch Perry decided to release the outtakes left after the 2020 release of "Åkvarium in Dub," a lot of absurd events have occurred in Russia and around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and finally, the passing of the project's main participant, Lee Scratch Perry, who "crossed the rainbow" on August 29, 2021, created numerous obstacles to the release of the future record.
Due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, it was initially decided to change the album's name to "War and Peace." However, the label that released the album in Russia flatly refused to publish it under that title to avoid causing tension with the KGB heirs who had usurped power in modern Russia. In essence, they carried out a covert military coup in 2020, forcing the country's population to vote for major changes to the Constitution. In 2022, after the treacherous invasion of Ukraine, they effectively shut down all the remaining, meager sources of dissent and freedom of speech within the country, while simultaneously driving out the opposition and imprisoning all its key figures for long sentences.
Be that as it may, the album was released by the Moscow label **Vyrgorod** under the title "The Russian Album (Part One) - Farewell Album of Lee Scratch Perry." At the time of the album's release, Boris Grebenshchikov was abroad and had been declared a "Foreign Agent" by the illegitimate Russian government; he no longer even considered claiming any copyright.
As a result of all the above, the album has two versions of the title and cover: the internal version, "The Russian Album," and the external version, "War and Peace."
Thera are te samples of the Russian Album released at Wyrgorod Publishing House in Moscow on June 2024
During the process of working on the cover, after the album's producers realized that the album would be released under different titles inside and outside of Russia, it was decided to create an alternative cover design for the export version, titled "War and Peace." However, this decision was later reconsidered, and the export version of the cover ended up differing from the internal version only by the title "War and Peace."
During the process of working on the cover, after the album's producers realized that the album would be released under different titles inside and outside of Russia, it was decided to create an alternative cover design for the export version, titled "War and Peace." However, this decision was later reconsidered, and the export version of the cover ended up differing from the internal version only by the title "War and Peace."
There are the samples of the "inner" version of album's layout named The Russian Album by Lee Scratch Perry feat. Boris Grebenschicov
The original and final versions of the alternative export album cover.
There are the samples of the "export" version of album's layout named War&Peace The Farewell Russian Album by Lee Scratch Perry feat. Boris Grebenschicov
While working on the cover design, I was also involved in promoting the PR and future sales of the album on social media, where I was quite successful. My responsibilities included managing social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram, Patreon, and Boosty; engaging in negotiations with fans and buyers of the vinyl and merchandise; and actually creating the merchandise for the album.
There are the samples of the Album's merch
As part of the album premiere preparations, at the request of the album's producer, Lefty Rudeboy, I collaborated with the incredibly talented illustrator from Moscow, Marina Bartosh, to create an animated music video for one of the songs from the album. More details about this project can be found here.