'Right on Time': A Review of "Cornerstone" by Lloyd Brown

Very few things outside of certain concerts and festivals seem to run on any type of locked and solid schedule when it comes to Reggae music. Often, whether accurately or inaccurately in some cases, characterized by this clichéd intoxicatingly laid back and tropical sound by the mainstream, it frequently seems as if the music, itself, just doesn’t seem to find a reason really to hurry almost anything along and as someone who has grown up becoming accustomed to that bit of phenomenon - I have absolutely no problem with it - Whatever the music ‘sets out’ to achieve, it usually does, but very much on its own time. If Reggae Music were a person she’d (yes, of course, it would be a Woman) instantly make you fall in love with her on your first date together and give you the single greatest night of your entire life . . . After making you wait about two hours passed time. So, with that being said, one of the ways in which you see the very nonchalant manner in which the Reggae ‘industry’ seems concerned with being punctual is through album releases. I don’t pay very much attention to many other genres of music outside of Reggae (and Soca and Zouk), but what I can say is that when there happens to be an album ‘delayed’ in Reggae, the word “delayed” time and again seems to be more like ‘canceled’ or ‘delayed indefinitely’. You shouldn’t need me to point out downright DIRTY examples of people such as Lady Saw and Capleton who, despite not only being at a very advanced stage of their careers but, also being genuine STARS of Reggae and Dancehall music both had stretches in their careers which saw them active but without official album for more than half a decade. For a current case, one need not look any further than legendary Dancehall DJ Bounty Killer, currently headed on NINE years without an official studio album, despite now six (or seven) years worth of rumours of such a release ‘coming soon’. There’s also the case of someone like Sasha who will probably never have an album after so much publicity stating otherwise (seven years ago) and famously Dancehall superstar of superstars Shabba Ranking who may never have another album again, but once said in response to being asked when it might be released, “When it’s finished”. And I could go on and on with smaller cases, like Etana right now and dozens of others really, but I mention all of that to make the point even greater when we happen to stumble upon someone who OBVIOUSLY keeps his appointments.

Mr. Lloyd Brown. Come rain or shine, each and every year now for the past five, sweet singing UK veteran of veterans, Lloyd Brown has managed to push an album out. You never really hear much about delays, and even if you did . . . The album still comes and comes pretty much in November. Well, if you haven’t been paying attention (AT ALL!) it is November, at least for a few more hours, and that means that it’s time for a new Lloyd Brown album and he doesn’t disappoint - Offering up his latest LP (“album #14”), ”Cornerstone”. Out of all the very interesting things surrounding the actual releasing of the album, probably the most interesting is that it is the very first (at least to my knowledge) that comes over through Lloyd Brown’s very own Riddimworks Productions imprint. Previously, all of the Brown’s most recent four albums, including last year’s ”For Your Consideration”, came via the once mighty, now apparently vanquished Cousins Records from out the UK. He has also worked, in the past, with both VP Records and JetStar, but now, in conjunction with something called JMG Inc (hey Denise!) and the most wonderful people at Zojak Worldwide, the singer is venturing out on his own - See! Even if the man has to take matters into his own hands, he’s doing an album! The move isn’t exactly shocking. As for Cousins, despite having some VERY strong years in the mid 2000’s (which included releases from the likes of Jamaican stars Lutan Fyah, Luciano, Natural Black and Chezidek and big time UK acts Peter Spence and Peter Hunnigale, alongside Brown), the label has slowed down to a virtual halt to my knowledge, with their 2010 output only consisting of a few most scant digital releases. On top of that, Riddimworks is a label which I think is housed under Riddimworks Entertainment, which not only deals with the production of Lloyd Brown’s albums, but also produces for other artists (more on that in a minute) (eleven times) and has done Lloyd Brown direction and produced VIDEOS for Brown and others as well. So, when you add that to Brown’s longevity in the Reggae business, if there was ever any artist who was READY to take on the responsibility of producing, releasing and then promoting his own album, definitely he would qualify. Of course, besides only taking that step in the business sense, Brown is still a very big artist and fans like you and me aren’t going to cut him any room or grant him a ‘throwaway’ of an album, it well has to deliver a quality befitting such an artist and of course it does. It’s pretty hard to not attempt to ‘rank’ this one in terms of in comparison to his most recent work, but I promised myself that I wouldn’t. Instead, what I will say is that, as I’ve heard is the ultimate goal of so many artists over the years (particularly in the Soca arena as they too almost always have a year-to-year approach), ”Cornerstone” is certainly DIFFERENT and REFRESHING from what we’ve gotten in recent times from Lloyd Brown. And, with that being said, I don’t want to give the impression that this album turns out to be one which is going to get people like me drawing for words such as “experimental” or “victory lap” (that was ”Brownie Points”). ”Cornerstone” proves to be an album which, while it won’t shock too many longtime fans, it’ll more than impress . . . Besides, it’s the least it could do with all that damn help he has.

Two things, one of which is incredibly obvious, the other not so much (and I‘ll tell you about that near the end of this atrociously long review), struck me as being most interesting, musically, on Lloyd Brown’s brand new album ”Cornerstone”. The first, if you haven’t noticed (shame on you), is the fact that the album features eighteen tracks in full and TEN of them are combination tracks. If my math is correct (and there is absolutely no chance that it is), there’re eleven guest artists in full. Let’s examine!

The first visitor Lloyd Brown has on the album is definitely one of the most interesting - It’s ‘Da Grynch’ - Curtis Lynch Jr. of Necessary Mayhem, who chimes in on the title track/Intro. This has kind of become a signature for Brown on his albums and this one is pretty good to my opinion. To my own nerdy ways there is some further significance of linking Lynch and Brown together with both indirectly representing different eras of UK Reggae music (and should Lynch like to include a Lloyd Brown tune on his next riddim (or one of his older ones), I won’t be complaining too much. From an artistic point of view, the next combination track on the album was the one which most impressed me because I wasn’t too sure what to expect and it strikes in very strongly. The funky Gospel infused ‘Reasons [Amen]’ features a UK Dancehall DJ by the name of Babyboom, who I haven’t heard a great deal of but the man has SKILL! Sounded a little like Baby Cham (coincidence???), Babyboom locks it off on the tune which finds a minute early on simply give thanks, before we continue and it does so with one of the album’s biggest moments. I’ll skip the next one for now and head a few tracks on to a song called ‘Hit The Ground Running’, which features Krytykal: Tha’ Problem, a Hip-Hopper from out of the States. The tune actually comes in two different forms, one of which is labeled the *Hip-Hop Mix* and the other is *LB’s Reggae Remix*. Guess which one I like more - Of course it’s the latter which stands out to me instead of it’s slightly ‘electric’ sounding sibling, but although I’m clearly not the biggest fan of Hip-Hop music, the first (which, to my ears, sounds slightly Zouk-ish) the former is pretty good as well. For his part, Krytykal is pretty aggressive and it’s not my favourite part of the album, but like I said, it is refreshing. And speaking of Rap, a couple of rappers from out of the UK, Rodney P (who I have heard of) and Hunt (who I have not) {note to Hunt: It’s almost 2011 and you REALLY need to get more Google-able handle my friend}. Hunt features on the serene ‘Every Kind of People’ and while he makes his contribution very early on in the tune and is absent thereafter, he does manage to impress. Rodney P, on the other hand, is just clearly talented and his spot on ‘If Only’ is downright dynamic and he impresses full on and this isn’t the first time I’ve been so high on his work either. Also be sure to give copious spins to a song by the name of ‘In Every Way You Can’, which features UK singer, Miss Kjah. She has a very ‘BRIGHT’ sounding voice and it works quite well alongside Lloyd Brown’s smooth tones. The tune is a kind of freshly vibed song of praise and it well goes back to me referring to the album as ‘refreshing’, but not ‘experimental’. With Kjah on board, it doesn’t sound like much we may’ve heard from Brown in the past, but it’s also very very far from just being strange.

There is a tune by the name of ‘No Thank You’ which is sure to grab most of the attention from the hardcore Reggae heads because it just so happens to feature FOUR big UK based artists alongside Brown. St. Lucian born WICKED singer Nereus Joseph (he of the incredible ”Real Rebels Can’t Die” from last year), joins veterans General Levy, Top Cat and the legendary chatter Macka B on the flooded tune. The risk here, for me, was that the song would end up sounding messy with all of the different voices (and styles) packed into five minutes. But all of these artists are well experienced and the prospect of the tune potentially becoming ‘overwhelmed’ dissipates very early on and although I’m not blown away, it is one of the best tunes you’ll find here. Better than ‘No Thank You’, is the song ‘Look Lively’, which features Top Cat, who Lloyd Brown apparently locked in the studio for another tune and the risk of being charged with kidnapping (of a grown man) was well worth it because the song is EXCELLENT!

“This is just another extraordinary collaboration
Reuniting distant relatives like Nas & Damian
‘Fore I deal with the subject matter let me clear my throat
Ehhh, ehhh ehmm”

The tune plays off the vibes of Nesta’s ‘Lively Up Yourself’ (and I would have paid extra to hear Lloyd Brown say one time, “cuz I said so”) (and by “extra” I mean more than the FREE that I paid to get this album) (hey Denise!) (again) (I digress) and the King himself would have been pleased with this usage of his work because it is STRONG. And finally is another tune which I was really looking forward to hearing, ‘Songbird’ which features the recently debuting Adele Harley. This one REALLY slows things down and is not at all the type of song I was expecting to hear from the two together. It’s very ‘airily’ vibed and although it is a love song, it’s that kind of traditional UK Lover’s Rock which I assumed it to be. However, after about four listens or so, I started to really like the song and if the two wanted to link up again (and they probably will), I wouldn’t mind it.

Now, if you’re one of my regular readers, or just a very observant newbie, you’ve probably noticed that throughout all of that, I didn’t actually declare one of those ten tunes to be THE best tune on ”Cornerstone” and that’s because, and I’m happy to say this, the album’s finest moment just happens to find Lloyd Brown flying solo. You may have to forgive me for being bias (because every time she hears the riddim my young Daughter begins to dance uncontrollably), but CLEARLY the best tune on this album is the only song I was certain was going to be present before we got the album, Lloyd Brown’s cut of Rootdown’s sweepingly Ska vibed Kokoo Riddim, ‘She Nuh Easy’. Ostensibly there’re better tunes here (I’m about to tell you about one and have already told you about three or four), but just Achis Reggae favourite, Smiley, with his tune ‘Lively Road’ and Jaqee with the hit ‘Kokoo Girl’, Brown MELDS himself to that riddim and sucks out everything in it that is head rockingly beautiful and it is a captivating track and one which I like more and more each time I hear it. With that being said, however, if you don’t happen to have a delightful child bouncing about each and every time ‘She Nuh Easy’ drops in, then you might very well call the big old school vibed social commentary ‘More of That’ to be the best tune on this album.

“Togetherness, togetherness, yes it is the key
Unity, consideration, solidarity
So stop to all denial plus the negativity
We no waan no more of that
Caan tek no more of that”

“Togetherness, togetherness, yes it is the way
The teachings of Mosiah is the order of the day
Self reliance, distribution of the wealth
We need much more of that
We need much more of that”

Lyrically the tune just may be the best effort here and it also isn’t exactly boring . . . If my Daughter wasn’t so wonderful in absolutely every way, this would be my favourite song on ”Cornerstone”. Yes, it’s that good.

As the album winds down Lloyd Brown gives us three winners consecutively, with the bluesy ‘Come On Home’ and two old school sets, ‘Wanna Let You Know’ and ‘Another Sunday’. The first two are expressing sentiments captured from various stages of a ‘depleted’ relationship. ‘Wanna Let You Know’ is nearly exceptional to my ears and it sounds very familiar as well. Speaking of familiar, the final of the three tunes comes across an old riddim from Treasure Isle, the link made courtesy of the fine people at Joe Fraser Records and, probably just like the Kokoo today, anything at least half decent on that riddim is going to thrill and this very jovial and good time enthused lick is no different. And finally, Lloyd Brown obviously tries to make his listeners CRY near the end of the album - Placing both ‘Miss You Nights’ and ‘There’s A Reward For Me’ (!) in succession. The latter is going to get me someday, just like the original, it will probably get you as well, so be careful and the former as well. And always the gentleman, Brown is sure to say ‘Goodbye’ in a BIG way for the album’s closer. I guess you might be able to refer to this one as a ‘love’ song, but it really isn’t it’s just a well wishing song as you join me in waiting the next eleven months or so for the next Lloyd Brown release.

As I alluded a looooooooong time ago, there’re two things on the album which struck me as being very interesting, musically. The first was the decision to have more than half of the album as combinations and the second is one which will probably please (but do so greatly) only the most observant of listeners. So many songs on ”Cornerstone” seem to have extended portions without lyrics, where the music just plays uninterrupted and without lyrics. Most notably, check *LB’s Remix* of ’Hit The Ground Running’ (which you’ll notice is almost ninety seconds longer than the other version of the tune), but you can hear it on other songs such as ‘Goodbye’, ‘definitely ‘Songbird’ and ‘Every Kind Of Way’. I don’t know if it was intentional on the whole (surely it would be in each specific instance), but to me this is just a WONDERFUL idea and one which, either through this method, or through actually placing dubs on the album, is gaining steam throughout Reggae music and I hope to see it continue.

Overall, as I said, I’m not going to say if ”Cornerstone” is better than ”For Your Consideration” or some of the others (I will tell you that the STILL increasingly brilliant ”Silver” remains my favourite Lloyd Brown album to date), but what I will say is that after all of that material and looking back at this one, I am more and more comfortable saying that all of the combinations, whether you like them all or not, was a pretty good idea actually. Historically, I’m not a fan of such things and if you’re asking my opinion (and you are because you’re reading this), I would say that on an eighteen track album, maybe five guests at most would be optimal, but eleven looks just fine in retrospect for ”Cornerstone”. Now you stop and think of another artist who would go through allllllll of that in a year’s time. I was really looking forward to this album (having done not 1, but 2 previews for it) and I’m not disappointed. So, if you happen to be a Reggae artist/producer/whatever and you have a project which isn’t quite reaching the deadlines and you’re thinking about ‘delaying’ it for a little while - Stop and ask yourself, ‘What would Lloyd Brown do?’ See you next year.

Rated: 3.85/5
Riddimworks Productions/JMG Inc/Zojak Worldwide
2010
CD + Digital




Lloyd Brown @ Myspace