So as to not tell you entirely too much of my business, I’ll avoid details for the most part, but I will say that I am a VERY moody individual. So much so that my appreciation of various forms of music can ultimately be tied to how I’m feeling at a given time and it goes to such lengths that even when I’m REALLY vibing to a song, if I suddenly change my mood, I can put it down and walk away from it then and there and it can be from one of my favourite artists as well (yes, I do manage to cut down the Sizzla and the Lutan Fyah occasionally). The only piece of vibes that I listen to which doesn’t fall into this case is Soca (fortunately I’m never too angry or sad to lose my fucking mind), but even there, you can make the case because the dumbest of some of the dumb Soca tunes I like are also subject to my incredible moodiness. And I do have a structure to it also, lets examine: When I’m angry, of course there’s always Bounty Killer. I had unfortunately ‘replaced’ him in that role for quite awhile when Vybz Kartel rose to prominence (and began to reserve space in on my players) and after that and following ‘stints’ relying on Aidonia to serve the function, I’m back to a steady head banging diet of Ms. Ivy’s Last Son, as well as, of course, Mad Cobra when I’m angry and what to think about why and even occasionally still Aidonia (and ‘Nina DJ Mighty Ki La). When I’m happy? Generally I’ll specifically go to Soca when I want to expand on having a great moment and in that respect, you know the first name I’m drawing for is Destra. I’m convinced that if you were to take a bipolar person on an upswing and just BOMBARD their senses with Destra’s music that they would probably spend the rest of their days in some rapturous, blissful hysteria, for better or for worse. Oddly enough, also, despite the fact that I SHAMEFULLY don’t spin him as much as I should, ‘happy happy fun time’ is the most likely chance you’ll find me listening to some Nesta as well, even to some of his more somber tunes, that stuff makes me cry and in a great way. I’ll also listen to some Sizzla, Lutan Fyah, Malika Madremana, DAMIAN MARLEY or Midnite when I want to find some intellectual satisfaction (when I can’t think of anything to write a review of); there’ll be Ras Attitude, Batch (who serves so many functions for me) and lately Lloyd Brown, when I’m trying to get my thoughts together and some Tanya Stephens or Perfect when I don’t even know how in the hell I feel. And it’s not by design, these are just observations that I’ve noticed with myself an unapologetically moody man.
What do I listen to when I’m sad? Hmmm. Well, if I’m dealing with a depression that can’t be remedied by faking an injury at the foot of my wife and seeking some completely disingenuous sympathy (as long as I feel better, I care if it’s true!) or listening to Soca Artist A instruct me to ‘jump, wave and misbehave’, then my pickings are slim. There’s Vaughn Benjamin who, when not brilliant is perplexing to the point where he makes you forget about what was bothering you, in favour of trying to figure out what the in the hell he is talking about and there’s also Prince Malachi whose praising tunes have to be some of the most ‘murky’ I’ve ever heard when not at his beautiful best. And now, there’s Steve Steppa, a Reggae artist from out of California in the States with a very very unusual style. You now how there’s music that really sounds good in your car (like Beres Hammond), or music that is really good to do whatever to (see that big ass first paragraph for further references), if you’re going for a walk, then ostensibly I can’t think of a better artist to listen to. That was my first thought here, when I received his latest album (which isn’t his first and apparently Steppa had a mid-career name change from ’Sayan’, so when you do your research, you may want to look for both), Justice Must Come. Like I said, I really wanted to go for a walk when I heard the music here and I’ve NEVER heard of this artist before despite my rather frequent ’trips’ (musically speaking, of course) to his home state with camps like the Lustre Kings , Itation and others along the way. But then I started REALLY listening to music and I eventually got over the Steppa’s unusual accent (which was very very strange for awhile) and started to get into the music and I found vibes which kind of strung themselves together and in doing so, produced a sound which was so BEAUTIFULLY somber that I don’t know that I’ve ever heard anything like that before. My only bit of reference which even remotely immediately came into my head was the aforementioned Marley’s ‘Natural Mystic’ (which isn’t really a sad tune) and Spragga Benz’ EPICALLY sad ‘Sleep With Angels’ (which became even more so with the passing of his son) and in full, with the exception of Bob Marley, I don’t know of an artist who was able to create such a powerfully unusual sound in that regard and even he didn’t do it as consistently on a single album as is evident here. Even more perplexing, however, is the fact that I’m 99.9% sure Steppa didn’t set out to make an album thinking, ‘this one is going to make someone sad as hell’ and that’s not what I’m trying to say, think of it more as a ‘comforting’ or ‘stabilizing’ type of vibes for the already sad, which is still very unusual to my ear. The album comes via James Lord’s Irie Sounds label (distributed digitally via Zojak Worldwide) and it’s also my first long experience with that imprint (although it’s also the homebase of for one of my new favourites, the rising daughter of Sugar Minot, Fire Pashon) and Lord and Steppa act as producers for the album, which by its end, proves to be one the most beautifully STRANGE albums that I have EVER heard. And definitely there’s something to be said for originality and the album has that to spare.
Of course you’ll have to excuse what I just said when it pertains to the intro and first track of Steve Steppa’s Justice Must Come, ‘House Of The Rising Lion’. The piece is a take on -you know what- and it’s nice and it definitely opens the door on the angle that I’ve based this review on. It also opens the door for the very first full tune on the album, the title track, which was probably the first one that I listened to here and was the one which kind of struck me as far as Steppa’s accent goes and it you probably won’t even notice it (he doesn’t sound that odd) (and I'm not one to talk lol), but you should notice the nature of the tune itself. It’s quite moody itself actually, with Steppa popping up every now to go at that SPARKLINGLY melancholy riddim in a spoken word style on an echo. This tune, sound wise, is pretty good, but I more appreciate it simply for the way that it’s arraged. Again, it’s very different and even though I had to listen to it several times ‘Justice Must Come’ is definitely one of my favourite. So is the tune which follows it and probably even to a higher degree, the curiously titled ‘Stop Playing God’ (which I’ve grown to affectionately call ‘Littleman!’, listen it and you’ll know why). This one is just POWERFUL, with the tune’s punch line being it’s tangible highlight, “stop playing God little man, Jah Jah won’t spare the rod, little man” (just ruined the secret didn’t I) and one of the entire album, for that matter. And you’ll also check ‘Everyday Struggle’ a tune which I think sounds better than it actually is (that backing is MADNESS). It’s not one of my favourites here, but I can see it growing on me. For that matter, the start of this album, full on, is very strong and should you skim it, it won’t pull you in AT ALL, so particularly with this lot, spend a little more time on it.
The album’s best tune, ‘Live On’ is a wonderful and colourful example of what I mean when I talk about Just Must Come’s prevailing somber nature. The tune, lyrically (and at times, in terms of its sound also) is one of an inspirational vibe, but it doesn’t sound like any inspiration that I’ve heard! Still, it’s a big song and just barely the best tune that I hear on the album altogether. My second favourite (if it isn’t Stop Playing God) is the nearly eight minute long ‘King’s Music’ which is lovely and is a song on which Steve Steppa (correctly) declares his music (Reggae music in general), the music of The King, “music from the ancestors, riddim straight from the heart”. I can’t argue at all, and neither can you. King’s Music is actually a continuation of Steppa’s love affair with the music he sings, one which starts on the album a few tunes earlier at the nearly sublime ‘Reggae Groovin’. Steppa has a style he uses when he just kind of ‘talks’ without any real type of musical enhancement and I don’t particularly like it much, but it works the few times it appears on this tune, because the tune itself is and should be very simple, talking about such a thing being very natural. Natural! Speaking of nature, Steve Steppa also goes on with a trio of lover’s tunes also, two of which, in my opinion, do really score quite nicely. The first, ‘Emotional Abuse’ is my least favourite of the three because it’s a very difficult subject to broach and you can see that CLEARLY very evident and it probably requires a bit more specificity than it’s given here, but it does sound so nice (more on that in a second. A step up there is definitely the BEAUTIFUL and very relatable ‘Man In Love’:
“When a man falls in love
He will do anything
He’ll leave his family and friends
He’ll give her everything
He’ll walk through the fire
Cut off his right ear
Mail it to her with a letter say -
‘For you, my dear”
As a man who has done BILLIONS of ridiculous things in the name of love, SHAMELESSLY, I fully give my stamp of approval to Man In Love (and Junior Kelly does too). An arguably even better is ‘Without You’, which is not to be missed as Steppa combines the tangible and the spiritual seamlessly and lovely. Running simultaneously to the love songs are three very nice conscious selections as well, ‘A Nation Of Many’, ‘Give Thanks’ and ‘Truth’. The most resonant of the trio, for me, is The Truth which doesn’t ascend to the heights of the album in terms of its sound, but does so in terms of its message which WONDERFULLY, Steppa presents in a way which destroys the ostensibly clichéd way in which it is presented (with the chorus being ”only the truth can set us free”), as he purposely goes against ‘defining’ the truth and allows it to define itself, which is what the truth REALLY does ALL THE FUCKING TIME. You’ll definitely have to spend quite awhile on that one, but when you do, I’m sure you’ll get the same thing I got out of it. Winding down, we also get a nice dubbed out version of the title track, ‘Dub Must Come’. It doesn’t sound as much like a dub, as it does like the clean riddim, but whatever it is, it’s very nice. And then there’s the closer which is essentially part two of the opener and I’m still trying to put things together.
Overall, I should mention the fact that the music on Steve Steppa’s Justice Must Come album is TOP NOTCH throughout. There’s a collective hardcore and heavy Roots heads who kind of enjoy that ‘throwback’ sound who literally salivate all over this album were it offered as an instrumental and I might even be one of them. But to make my point, it’s that same music which I feel helps to create that very nice somber sound you hear here. I won’t broadly recommend the album because I think it will eventually (as I alluded to) sit better with fans who have more old school tastes and also, if you should just want something to help you get from point A to point B in a pretty bad moment in your life. I’m certainly not calling it the best thing that I’ve ever heard, but points all around to Steve Steppa and Irie Sounds for making one INTERESTING album which should (and probably already has) found a very welcome home in the minds of a healthy group of fans and you can count me as one of them.
Rated 3.75/5
Irie Sounds/Zojak Worldwide
2008
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