This Is Book’s Music

This was sent to me before the end of July, but have been spacing off as of late because of my book project and other non-important things, so I apologize for the delay in getting this on here. King Megatrip has posted his July 2010 installment of his series of mixes, A Year In The Soul Society. This one is focused on the sounds of Jamaica, which is always a plus in my book, so click the link below to find a track listing and link to download.
http://www.bmbx.org/2010/07/a-year-in-the-soul-society-07/

To say that Jimmy Cliff is a music legend is putting it lightly. This reggae ambassador has been creating music and hits for over 40 years, and it’s almost as if he’s never stopped touring. After a recent performance at this year’s Bonnaroo, critics were giving him praise and begging for more. Fans both old and new will be able to witness this man’s power and chemistry as he prepares to go on tour this summer to hit the festival circuit. This is where he’ll be:

06/27/10 Charlottesville, VA @ Charlottesville Pavilion
07/07/10 Winnipeg, MB @ Winnipeg Folk Festival
07/10/10 Lowell, MA @ Lowell Summer Series
07/11/10 New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage
07/14/10 Lansing, MI @ Common Ground Music Fest
07/15/10 Rochester, NY @ Party In The Park
07/16/10 So. Pomfret, VT @ Summer @ Six Concert Series
07/17/10 Quebec City, QC @ Quebec City Int’l Summer Fest. – Pigeouuies
07/18/10 Ottawa, ON @ Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest
07/19/10 Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
07/21/10 Seattle, WA @ Woodland Park Zoo Amphitheater
07/22/10 Jacksonville, OR @ Britt Pavilion
07/23/10 Portland, OR @ Oregon Zoo Amphitheatre
07/24/10 Las Vegas, NV @ Mandalay Bay – Beach Stage
07/25/10 Hollywood, CA @ Hollywood Bowl – KCRW’s World Fest
07/27/10 Park City, UT @ Deer Valley Resort Snow Park
07/31/10 Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Music & Arts Festival
08/01/10 Bridgeport, CT @ Gathering of the Vibes Festival
08/03/10 Columbus, OH @ Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
08/05/10 Detroit, MI @ Chene Park Amphitheater
08/06/10 Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/07/10 Apple Valley, MN @ Minnesota Zoo Amphitheatre
08/08/10 Council Bluffs, IA @ Stir Cove at Harrah’s Casino
08/10/10 Calgary, AB @ Jack Singer Concert Hall
08/11/10 Edmonton, AB @ Winspear Centre For Music
08/13/10 San Francisco, CA @ Mezzanine
08/14/10 Del Mar, CA @ Del Mar Racetrack
08/15/10 Denver, CO @ Mile High Fest

If you’re going to any of these music festivals, be sure to check Cliff out.

New 45 from Record Kicks comes in the form of a cover of Herbie Hancock‘s “Flying High”. It teams up The Crabs Corporation with King Hammond in a way that perhaps nature intended.

The 45 will be released this coming Monday (May 17th), and you can buy it or the MP3′s from Record Kicks directly.

HHB is the name Shane Kahalehau performs his style of Jawaiian music (reggae with a Hawaiian touch) on his album Still Standing (self-released), and after hearing this, what I hear is someone who has the potential to be a greater artist if he wants to be.

He shares his Christian values throughout his music, which may seem at first odd for those who like roots reggae (the general style Jawaiian music takes from), but the market for spiritual reggae that’s not Rastafarian is growing and HHB will definitely make people want to put value in his work. He has a good and healthy voice, and while his spirituality isn’t overwhelming, it is present throughout. It’s a very positive reggae album.

If there’s a downside, it’s that the production is not as powerful as it could be. The vocal tracks sound very spare without much thrill or a punch to it. Add to that Kahalehau’s keyboard work, which I like but I wish he would use more sounds than the ones presented here. The bass work by Makapu Ho’opi’i stands out and I hope Kahalehau and Ho’opi’i will be together on future projects. As for future projects, I think if he is able to find a good amount of musicians and quality producer who can help him become a more powerful artist, he could easily become an influence outside of the islands. Until then, Still Standing has the feel of a nice demo, and I hope he’ll continue with his music and come out with something much stronger on the next effort.

The Black Seeds have released a 7″ single for “Afrophone” b/w “Rotten Apple”. You’ll have to rush on this one, as only 150 copies were pressed. You can buy this one from the Black Seeds merchandise page.

The good people at Muffin Records have released a new mix CD called Dancehall Classics #1, this one mixed by DJ Drez, who is part of Kachafayah Sound in Madrid, Spain. This mix consists of 63 minutes of classics, and you can download it directly from this link.

Ziggy Marley has been around long enough as an artist to present us with compilations. Then again, he is a Marley and anything with the Marley name can turn to gold, and Dancehall Originators (Tuff Gong).

What this 12-track CD does is make an attempt to go back to how dancehall music as we know it was created, at a time when reggae was king, but some felt a modern touch was needed to bring into the 1980′s. You have tracks like “Look Work” by Josey Wales, “Big, Bad & Bold” by Chaka Demus, and “Mr. Bad Mind” by Buju Banton that show how much the music had changed in such a short time to where it has become the dominant sound from Jamaica. The album ends with a nice retrospective megamix by DJ Roy, and this will also be a way for new fans to be introduced to what some call the glory days of dancehall.

This is the first CD in Tuff Gong’s Let’s Go Back… Way Back series, and I highly look forward to what comes next.

As someone who is not only a fan but a collector of Sizzla Kalonji’s music, I have no idea how this man finds the time to relax. My collection consists of about 500 45 rpm Sizzla singles, many of which are not on his proper albums. Crucial Times is a continuation of the outpouring of Sizzla music, his first album in this new decade showing that he shows no signs of ever slowing down.

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To read the full review, head over to Okayplayer.com.

One look at the cover and I loved it. The guys in Jahmaka are sitting on stairs, on the side of a food bus (!!!) called Kiawe Q. Hui, I was hungry already. But that’s when my appetite lessened a bit.

Jahmaka are a Jawaiian band who want to share their love of reggae, and a few of these songs are decent, but I’d love to hear more than just the default sounds of a keyboard. They got the chops, the harmonies, but I wish for some of these bands to dig deeper and get gritty with how they play. Give it a true Jamaican dig, punch it with a hint of a New Orleans flavor. Yes, I do realize that this is all about keeping it “island style” but when you’re already making reggae your own music, why not perfect it into something that may be enjoyed outside of your core audience?

Now, if I don’t allow myself to get too deep, these songs are decent for parties and baby showers. In “Let’s Dance”, vocalist Stephen Lau tries to enhance his lady friend with talk that’s very tame, he wants to play the gentleman role and he simply ends up asking her to dance. Nothing more, nothing less.

One song that could crossover into the pop or R&B charts if given a new treatment is “Sweet Love”. Not to be confused with the Rufus song of the same name, this could work at a number of jamband and rock festivals if it had a real horn section instead of Lance Motogawa playing it with his keyboards. Also, a helpful tip: please lay off the auto-tune. It’s used sparingly, so no need to breathe for air as you’re overwhelmed by vocal manipulation, but there’s no need for that here, or anywhere.

While the recording is nice, it sounds a bit flat to my ears, or at least every instrument and vocal sounds the same without much added to make each song sound different from the other. It was mixed and mastered by Wendell Ching, who did decently on the album by The Green, so it’s hard to say if he is at fault or if it’s due to the production of Lau and Bill Mousser. Some of the songs also suffer from sounding too routine and mundane. Maybe if you’re dancing at the park or at a concert venue it doesn’t matter, but even non-conscious reggae music had a bit of substance. The songs on this CD do not have enough.

The name Jahmaka sounds great, but I want to hear songs that equal the power of their name. With a title like Appetite For Love, it is known that we Hawaiians are a passionate people. The album sounds like the act of spooning, but I like to entice, tickle, and tease. I hope these guys play around with the emotion of their music a bit more, because they could be something if they push that part of their muse to the forefront.

It’s hard to say if Jawaiian music has run its course or people back home are just bored. Regardless of how good or bad these albums are, a good amount of Jawaiian music still reminds me of home, but with with every other release, it seems that bands are somewhat stuck in their holes.

Case in point: The Green. They play roots reggae so that’s always a good thing, but this would have been perfect in 1980. I love old school reggae, and most Jawaiian music gets inspiration from Bob Marley and little else. Even when they try to geev’em, the songs on this CD (SheeHandsomeDevil) about love and relationships still sound like intermediate school scribbles, which sadly has been something Hawaiian artists have struggled with when trying to create pop music. It’s as if all I’m hearing is one variation of another of the Donny & Marie method. A song like “Dearest Sylvia” is about one man’s love for his lady, and I would have liked it if it went deeper than the surface. I’m not speaking of being explicit, not at all, but it’s as if they’re running around in circles and aren’t sure what to write. How to compensate? Speak in a Jamaican patois? Stop already.

What was good about this album is the musicianship from the band (Ikaika Antone on keyboards and guitars, Zion Thompson on guitar and percussion, JF Kennedy on guitar and bass), and vocalist Caleb Keolanui does a decent job at what he does. Bring in Kimie Miner, who sings lead on “How Does It Feel”, and it adds a great element to their developing sound.

To sum it up: decent singing, nice instrumentation, all-too-ordinary songs. To their credit, not a lot of people write this way anymore so even if it feels like innocent “puppy love” songs, it’s something that is not raw or nasty. But one doesn’t have to get raw or nasty to write decent songs today. Perhaps they can develop better songwriting ideas and concepts for their next album, or bring in a songwriter who can write or help them with new material. What is a plus is the production from Wendall Ching, and the artwork by Kamea Hadar is sure to get him a lot of work, I look forward to seeing what else he does. As for The Green, this CD sounds a very polished demo, and I hope they’ll be able to make a few adjustments in the lyrical department.