What A Beautiful Tune 5!

Yeah! Okay so, I know what you're thinking - Achis didn't feel like writing today - Yep. That's the truth, I was supposed to do a Check It today, but I'm going to delay it untillllll. . . I don't know, Wednesday or Thursday yeah. So, as always, I have a steady stream of tunes coming in and I thought that I'd keep it on this format from here forth with 3-4 tunes, 2-3 of YOURS and one of mine. So definitely keep them coming, AchisReggae@hotmail.com. Remember, try and make it kind of obscure and even if I think the song isn't very good, as long as I can see how SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE might like it, I'll probably try to get it in yeah. So let's see what you're listening to this week.

Okay, first is Lady Passion's 'Never Change My Mind' from reader Nicky from out of Virginia. Love this tune of course, you can find it on the Talkin' Roots Vol. 2 compilation and on Lady Passion's debut album Rain On Me which we were so fortunate to get last year. So excellent choice Nicky.

Okay, next is a nice example of what I meant by my 'condition'. I'm not a fan of Taj Weekes'. I'm just not, but I can definitely see how many people are, so I have no hesitation posting it up when we get a suggestion from Dutchie reader Michiel. This tune 'Since Cain' can be found on Weekes' & Adowa's second album Deidem. See, you couldn't have a blog like this and not like this tune, I'm not a fan of the group's, but yeah, this thing is GORGEOUS.

Okay and this last piece comes from Bredz! My Wife's brother, going to give him big respect about 15 feet away from him yeah. 'Stronger' was a nice hit for D'Angel, little while back and apparently Bredz still hearing the tune on certain big levels. Still waiting on an album (officially) from her and as much as I do most certainly LOVE to look at her, gotta admit, this tune is still pretty nice yeah.

And my own personal choice this week comes from an artist who find myself bashing a little these days, but I'm definitely going to give him credit here because when Norris Man dropped 'Conquering Lion' [aka 'HIM Neva Fail'], he DESTROYED senses! Love this tune yeah (and you can get it right now from Henfield Productions and Zojak Worldwide on the Babatunde Riddim album yeah) and you should too.

Junior Reid In Hawaii

And just to further drive home the point I was trying to make in my last review - Junior Reid is performing in Maui, Hawaii at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on Friday April 16. I have seen Junior Reid live before (I have not seen him live in Hawaii, however) and he definitely gives a great show (or at least he did at that time). The show is being presented/promoted by Hawaii Pacific Entertainment, so blame them if it gets cancelled, not me!

So definitely all of my Hawaii readers (and I have two or three who I consistently hear from, which makes me think there're certainly more of you) and everyone who'll be in Hawaii on the 16th of April, definitely go and see Junior Kelly live at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center yeah.

BALANCE

RasAchis

{note: I probably won't be doing this very much, so if you have a show to promote, unless it lines up like this in terms of being EXTREMELY timely, I probably won't be able to give it this type of attention yeah}

The Vault Reviews: Change by Sahra Indio

With such a wonderfully established foundation in the area, I cannot even tell you how many times I sit down to write these things and find that my literary ‘travels’ take me to the west coast of the US, particularly California. It has become a rather nice and anticipated stop and even homebase for many of the artists (and perhaps more importantly, the labels) about which I write and definitely find myself enjoying more times than not. The area has shown quite the interest in this wonderful music called Reggae and I taking that interest, it definitely has managed to put in and create just as much on its own also. And when you take that into consideration in looking at perhaps other Reggae hotbeds and communities in the States, CONSISTENTLY you probably put California at the top. However, it by no means is alone. Of course there’s New York, which traditionally has far more of an interest in Dancehall to my knowledge and there’re places like Boston, Miami, Florida, Virginia and even Atlanta. Still, as usual, a seemingly increasingly VERY interesting and crucial area for Reggae music in the US, remains quite forgotten - Hawaii. I don’t know very much about the historical relevance of Reggae in Hawaii and I may not even be too well up on the situation at this very moment (even after having done research for the sake of this review), but do know is the remarkable number of times I’ve received emails from promoters (I literally just got one right now) who’re holding shows in Hawaii with big named artists. Also, on my own, I’ve noticed quite a few big named artists on tour who seem to make sure to make a random stop in Hawaii and are sure to do so (even though it may be completely out of the way), which to me means that definitely the vibes are high in that area. I had it in my mind already before writing this review that names like Rob Symeonn and Rankin’ Scroo had nice followings in the ‘Aloha State’ (and apparently Symeonn has even recorded an album and upon further viewing I see more and more (very fittingly) artists from out of the Virgin Islands also holding court in Hawaii also. And just today I received a notice that Junior Reid soon had a show approaching in Maui and he follows artists like Kymani Marley that I’ve noticed being promoted for performances there also. Now, with all of that being said, of course what remains is to take a look at an actual artist from Hawaii who has big vibes and I think that I may have found just the appropriate individual.

Of course Sahra Indio’s name wouldn’t be the first, but definitely to my fault, her music is the first from a Hawaiian based artist that I’ve scrutinized to the point of writing a review for (after. . . I don’t know maybe nearly 800 reviews at this point altogether). I’ve certainly been aware of artists like the very strong Ooklah The Moc, The Lambsbread (who have some of the most passionate fans on the internet out of ANYONE), and definitely most recently, potential superstar (and CUTIE) Irie Love from out of the Morgan Heritage camp, but I’ve never managed to review any of their work, but I’m quite glad that I’ve started with Sahra Indio for various reasons. First of all, there’s Indio herself. She has a VERY interesting and SOOTHING style and I hate to fall into allegiance with almost hilarious stereotypes and clichés, but when I first heard her, I said to myself that she sounded like a Reggae version of international superstar musician Sade (and of course the subsequent research that I found on her had that name IMMEDIATELY present in it). It is certainly fitting because she has this wonderful ‘soulfully airy’ tone to her voice which just reaches the listener in places that most artists don’t. Indio also has this very nice way of presenting her music which I think is due to her excellent writing and as I tend to say, it’s always so nice when every song is actually ABOUT SOMETHING, which is what seems to occur in the vast majority (I.e. all) of Sahra Indio’s music to my experience. Now I wasn’t able (yet) to catch Good’s Gonna Happen, her debut album back from 2002, but in 2007, she released her sophomore born set, Change and did so through the most wonderfully familiar of channels. The album comes via a producer who I (fortunately) seem to be ‘running into’ quite a bit these days, the famed VI Reggae musical wizard, Tuff Lion. Perhaps it is even more a testament to the strength of the Hawaiian scene that this link even managed to take place (and I’m going to assume that it was through the Lion’s traveling to the area to play that the connection between he and Sahra Indio was made) and fortunately, although most certainly well in demand at that point, Tuff Lion saw something so worth it in vibing with Indio that Change became the result of said link. Now, if all you know about Sahra Indio’s music is what I’ve told you thus far, you should be well equipped to determine that, at least on paper, Tuff Lion working with such an artist is a potentially WONDERFUL thing (you just think about that - Sade produced by Tuff Lion and imagine the potential and possibilities) and significant as well, given the specificity of the actual album. Unsurprisingly, despite my dearth of knowledge about and experience with Sahra Indio and her music, the union proves quite successful from a musical standpoint although apparently it wasn’t very successful in the commercial sense and while I do remember seeing the cover for this album being quite prevalent a year or two back, I don’t think that many people had very much of a reaction to it, but I’m going to assume (strictly based on the quality of the project) that it MUST’VE been a pretty big deal on the Hawaiian scene when it dropped. And hopefully that’s the case, because as it unfolds, Change DEFINITELY proves to be one of the most interesting releases I’ve come across in a long time.

Sahra Indio was actually born in Philadelphia (another pretty nice place for Reggae I believe) and born into a very musical family at that. So, you can well imagine that she sounds even more ‘comfortable’ than the levels provided by her voice and delivery. The first example of her comfort levels evident on Sahra Indio’s vibrant sophomore effort Change is also one of the album’s finest efforts to my opinion, ‘Remedy’. This tune is about as vast and ‘tempting’ as it gets for me in terms of discussing - Indio finds herself examining many different aspects of society and just how terrible they’ve grown to be and in looking for an alternative to the madness, she offers Reggae and culture themselves! It’s a very powerful tune to say the least (and I definitely agree with her findings) and on top of that, it’s also an excellent way to open an album. Big tune! The next selection here, ‘Precious’, is also quite vast, but it’s not one of my favourites here. The tune is somewhat mechanical and ‘rigid’ (and I think it’s actually by design), but it’s also one of the most lyrically powerful tunes on the album also (“our constitution isn’t on a piece of paper, it’s in our blood, it’s in our DNA”). So, if you don’t find yourself completely captivated by what you’re hearing, definitely don’t just skip through the tune, because the point Indio goes on to make is surely the main attraction to this one. The next tune may not have the lyrical substance of ‘Precious’ (then again, it just may), but it definitely doesn’t come through as mechanical or rigid. Instead, ‘Reggae On The Farm’ is sonically downright delightful and charming at times having the kind of ‘hula Reggae’ one might associate with Hawaii and although I did find better tunes on Change (including the opener and the tune which immediately follows ‘Reggae On The Farm’), I couldn’t find one which was more pleasing to the ears. The tune also apparently pleased more than my ears as it won Indio some sort of American Hemp award in 2007 (and the physical album comes complete with a sticker on the cover representing just that) and I do so love hearing Tuff Lion in the backing adding wonderful various things (you literally have to hear them to understand) as well as adding to the well vibrant chorus for the tune. All in all, a very nice opening for an album which subsequently does not let down on it.

I had such an interesting (fitting) time trying to figure out what my absolute favourite tune on Change was before ultimately deciding on the MASSIVE ‘Jah Fire’. The first time I heard this song, I don’t know if I was going through an emotional moment or what, but I literally teared up a bit and I’m not quite sure why. Having listened to it several (dozen) times since, I’ve been unable to reacquire that particular feeling (which is so nice because perhaps that meant that Sahra Indio’s wish that “Jah fire burn out our tears” has actually occurred for me), but I LOVE this song, I really do. It has that characteristically crisp Tuff Lion sound to it and of course the vibes and the message are well powerful as well.

Speaking of powerful messages, there were a few in particular throughout this album which kind of caught me nicely for one reason or another, be it Indio’s approach to them or the fact that those topics in general are very un(der)explored in Reggae music to my knowledge. Para ejemplo, check the tune ‘Good Bredren’. This one (obviously) is a tune for the guys who get things right and to those who aren’t getting things too right, but may not be very far from doing so. So many times we hear tunes (by both male and female artists) which analyze the absence of these upstanding gentlemen, but Sahra Indio gives them (US) credit and don’t you just LOVE this line:

“To the upright men in their community - 

I see them meditating doing good deeds daily 

Fathering their babies, being leaders in their house and family

What the youths dem is what they strive to achieve 

THE TUFFEST LIONS PRODUCE THE STRONGEST SEEDS”

Staying on that sentiment (of very interesting messages), there’s also the tune ‘Get To It’, which goes on a vibes of physical health, particularly in women. This is another rarely (shockingly) identified message in Reggae, as we’re primarily used to dealing with spiritual and mental health, but Sahra Indio essentially offers the tune as a bit of workout music to the ladies, telling them many thing essential for keeping one’s body in shape (“in order to stay young, you‘ve got to swim, bike and run“) (even dropping a mention of ‘plus sized fashion’ early in the tune). I absolutely love TANGIBLE messages like that and the tune is easily one of the finest on Change altogether. And there’s also ‘Hey Sista’, later on in the album on which Indio does actually deal with more of spiritual health of women (and does it in a very clever metaphorical way, “hey sista what you cooking? Are you baking any love today?”). She also goes on to deal with the entire family structure as well, on the tune ‘Man & Woman’ and that song is OUTSTANDING! ‘Mature’, ‘Smart’, ‘Intelligent’, ‘Powerful’, call it all of those things because what happens there is Sahra Indio, rather ‘matter of factly’ just describes the way things should be happening in a household in her opinion (doing a pretty good job of doing it in my opinion also). And she doesn’t go after anyone stronger or more harshly than anyone else, giving everyone equal treatment (“what kind of legacy are we leaving if Mama and Daddy are always cheating?”) (Oh, and the song kind of reminds me somewhat of ‘I Understand‘ by Anthony B from the Black Star album). And speaking of intelligent, I should probably also mention ‘Look To The East’ which is a bit vaguer, ostensibly, than the others mentioned here, but if you can decipher it, it rolls through just as strong. The tune speaks on the effect of the sun on daily life and Indio’s stressing of its importance. What I found most interesting here (as someone who has battled mental illness in his life) (not to tell you too much of my business), is when she mentions, a few times, the sun’s effect on Serotonin in the body and that alone definitely shows that she’s well up on the matter of this tune and it is very powerful, as you might imagine.

The balance of Change also features some more interesting material, perhaps ostensibly, the most interesting on the album (as far as being interesting for the sake (again, ostensibly) of being interesting). The least dynamic of these four is probably ‘Give It Up’. I use that word ‘dynamic’ hesitatingly because when you drop in on this tune, you kind of run into a riddim which is food for the soul and is an excellent backdrop for Indio when she does come through on what is essentially a social commentary and an excellent one at that. You also have the kind of ’thumping’ and mentally vast album title track which finds Sahra Indio (somewhat reminiscent of Danny I on the title track for his album Unchangeable a few years back) espousing on the nature of CHANGE. What I take away from this tune which could be taken in a hundred different directions I believe, is that Indio is basically using the tune as an inspiration type of vibes. She never goes into the expected route of talking about really drastic situations and horrors of life and she kind of keeps it ’open’ for the most part, but earlier in the tune she says, “Change is a verb, that’s an action word. Be the change that you want to see in this world”, which to me implies that what she’s saying is if you have something in your life that you aren’t liking, then YOU are to change it. I could spend hours examining this one surely, but just trust me that it’s one of the best tunes on the album named after it. Then there’s ’Jah’s Jewel’, which is a title track of a different type because the song’s title is actually a nickname of sorts for Sahra Indio. I’m not too fond of the substance of this tune, but it sounds so nice with a very ‘jazzy’ type of vibes and of course the riddim is nearly divine. And lastly there’s ‘Nosotros’ [Spanish for ‘We’], which closes out the Change album. I love the kind of laid back (even more than usual) type of vibes and I think whoever was my last Spanish instructor may be happy that I’ve retained enough of what I was taught to make out the chorus which I THINK says, “We are children of God”, or something like such. To my ears, this tune is on a unifying vibes and although it probably isn’t one of my favourites here, it’s still a powerful piece definitely. There’s also a very nice ‘hitch’ to the tune which occurs about halfway through it, but I’ll leave that to you to discover.

Overall, while I most certainly am recommending that you pick up a copy of Sahra Indio’s album Change, I’m doing so with a caveat and a bigger one than usual I think. Almost ANYTIME you’re dealing with something which is manned by the Tuff Lion, I’m going to say something along the lines of ‘if you’re an older and more established fan of Reggae music, then you’re likely to enjoy it more than if this if your first time out’ and while I am going to say that about this album, I have to stress it even greater in this case I feel. Sahra Indio definitely has Jazz inclinations in her brand of Reggae music and I think that it’s even more likely that an ‘older’ fan of Reggae will be able to appreciate them and actually see how they ADD to her style. And I’ll also say that (even though I think it’s unlikely that such a person is reading this) if you just happen to be a big fan of Jazz music and you’re looking for an ‘entry point’ into Reggae music, that you won’t find more stellar opportunities than Change. Again, while I’m by no means an expert on the Hawaiian Reggae scene, if they’re able to produce an artist like Sahra Indio (and they are), then perhaps I need to become one. With the kind of perception that exists of the area, I can’t think of another place in the world which would seemingly be more inclined to have top notch vibes like this. A closer examination, my first, reveals that is EXACTLY the case. Very well done.

Rated 4.25/5

Olumeye Records/Outpost Music Workshop

2007

Sahra Indio

Sahra Indio @ Myspace

"Just Ripe": A Review of The Breadfruit Riddim by Various Artists

It is most certainly important for a young and up and coming label to do its absolute best in getting its name out there to the masses and just maintaining a nice level of visibility in its particular market as it is in business practices in general. In Reggae music, however, because of several factors, not the least of which is the seemingly ‘fly by night’ and ‘come and gone’ nature of many of the players in our genre, I think it is even that much more important for a young and/or up and coming imprint to focus on being consistent in doing whatever it is doing. It’s also very good to make certain effective connects within the industry (like with bloggers who write ridiculously long and detailed reviews about your material), doing so can certainly give you a bit of ‘star power’ surrounding your eventual releases and besides that, should you end up with the ‘right’ connect, it will get to the point where even if the actual name of your label isn’t constantly in the public eye, the fans will grow to associate a certain artist with you, by extension, which is certainly a great thing. So perhaps that’s what Anthony John had in mind when he (and I think his wife) began Flyroots Productions. Of course they didn’t have to look very far for an individual with whom to link their label because John himself is a very strong artist and, in terms of how Flyroots goes about doing things (which seems to be on a level in terms of production and magnetism that I don’t think John has been associated with consistently in his career thus far), and up and coming one who is being (re)introduced to the public on the international level. The label, to my knowledge, made a wonderful debut in pushing through Anthony John’s third album, Creation very recently and are now in the process of doing a VERY strong job of promoting the album and in terms of just getting up and running, I have to say that John and company are doing a very good job. Of course now that leads to a few other things - The first is the question of whether or not they can turn the album into a successful venture (both in terms of getting the message out there and in terms of being fiscally productive, which I’m sure it has been) and the second and most prominent now is - What next? Maybe we’ll have to sit around for the next eighteen months or so waiting for the next album to drop for Anthony John or maybe there’ll be a mixtape or something like that, but wouldn’t it be so nice if Flyroots could find a way to keep on our minds for awhile and do so SOONER?

Well how about a big riddim? That’s a good idea! The step that the label has taken to follow Creation is quite a big leap, it’s also kind of random, but I’m all in favour of random! For their next trick, Flyroots Productions has unveiled the Breadfruit Riddim and it comes under such wonderful circumstances. First of all, it just so happens that the riddim was apparently constructed by the more than capable Sherkhan of Tiger Records (a HUGE friend of this blog’s (THE MAN MADE ME A JINGLE!) and the mastermind behind Perfect’s scintillating most recent album, French Connection) which makes it even more impressive to me and hopefully to quite a few fans worldwide as well. The link with Sherkhan is definitely an impressive one and in the course of building the riddim and voicing it, the potential link Flyroots would make with the artists they chose to voice the Breadfruit could also be just as important and maybe in the future, you could see their releases roll out with similar top notch talents and as you get into the musical aspect of the piece, you begin to see a WONDERFUL cache of artists tapped by Anthony John and company to voice the riddim. Also, the riddim itself is LOVELY (Sherkhan made it, after all) and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is a remake of some sorts (although I can’t quite put a finger on where I would know it from), because it is so nicely familiar and it really produces a HEAVY vibes with a very distinct old school ‘feel’ to the piece in general. It almost sounds something you’d hear as a straight dubbed out piece and I’ll most certainly get into this later (because thankfully included on the album is a clean version of the riddim), but when you listen to and focus on the actual riddim itself what you’ll certainly experience is a riddim which isn’t very complex, but is so DEEP and so healthy that it takes on the scope of a much larger and spectacularly vibed piece than what it actually is. Of course the aforementioned artists chosen to voice the riddim don’t hurt things either in any case. As it turns out Anthony John and Flyroots have VERY good taste in artists. When I first scanned the names of the vocalists utilized for the Breadfruit Riddim, there were three names in particular which stuck out to me and besides that trio, I was very pleasantly surprised to see MOST of the other artists on board as well and eventually what we find that we’re dealing with is a TOP NOTCH modern Roots Reggae riddim, not only in terms of its actual sound, but also the extent to which it has CLEARLY been supported (Anthony John spent some money on this one!) as the names who appear here would indicate. And further on that point, when I have the running ‘checklist’ in my head of what a BIG riddim is going to do in terms of who voices it (I.e. have an adequate number of equally BIG artists, one or two very nice surprises and some new/newer nice artists, as well as a couple of others), Flyroots’ Breadfruit riddim meets those criteria in most cases and even goes on to surpass them in others and, simply based on as it appears ‘on paper’, even before we get into it, the Breadfruit has winner written all over it. Does it live up to those expectations? Well, I don’t think that there was a conceivable way that I wouldn’t like this thing (and I’m pretty sure you already know that), there just wasn’t. But as far as being truly IMPRESSIVE, there’s no doubt about, the Breadfruit Riddim album is just that and a little more.

As I said, the riddim definitely pulls an old school type of vibes to my opinion and just in general, you can get some HEAVY material from this piece and it never falters in any way, not even a little. Speaking of not faltering, you knew immediately who would be the first artist taking the Breadfruit Riddim for a spin and not faltering in that ‘plan’ is Anthony John who delivers the very healthy and very strong ‘Health & Strength’. While this isn’t the single biggest tune on the riddim (that comes next), it is a VERY FINE piece of work to my opinion. “Rastafari give us knowledge which is the key to open the door to tranquility”, John says on the tune’s chorus and that is such a POWERFUL statement (maybe even the prevailing one on the entire riddim) on an equally POWERFUL tune with a HUGE praising message to get things going (also John later turns the focus to both the music and even more directly, his label). Speaking of “HUGE praising messages”, such a thing is defined and underlined on the next tune up, the enchanting Chrisinti on ‘None Like H.I.M.’ The tune, for me, is the mightiest thing to be found on the Breadfruit. Chrisinti has LONG quietly been one of my absolute favourites and it is largely because of tunes like this large and resounding tune which defines the power of His Imperial Majesty as INCOMPARABLE! This one should it get a nice push could do a major damage I feel, but regardless of its popularity (or eventual popularity), it’s already done a big thing for me. And I am going to skip the actual tune #3 on the album and jump to the next one which is ‘Celebrate Your Love’ by the increasingly wicked Torch. This one actually isn’t one of the better from the artist that I’ve heard, though I dare not dump the d [isappointment] word on it just quite, it surely could have been lyrically stronger and the melody isn’t anything to write home about on this OKAY lover’s piece. All in all, it is a very nice opening.

Now, as I alluded to (at least I think I did), the Breadfruit Riddim comes ‘equipped’ with three artists who I was VERY pleasantly surprised to see on board. Sequentially, the first is the one I skipped at #3, which is the excellent ‘Years To Come’ by none other than the explosive Ras Brando. I’ve been looking out for Brando’s output for a couple of years now and tunes like this one definitely will keep me looking for more. The next artist I was very happy to see here comes in six tunes later with the even stronger ‘Jah Will Be There’, Kulcha Knox. I believe Kulcha is in the process of making a comeback of sorts (even though he’s been here for years) (biggup LL Cool J) and this tune is surely one of the better of his catalogue in recent years (he has an album out as well, that has been re-released digitally, Praise Jah Again) . And the final vocal track on the album is ‘Careless Ithiopian’ from none other than the downright MYSTERIOUS, atrociously underrated and feloniously overlooked Steve Machete! This tune is amongst the absolute best on the riddim as Machete identifies some of those individuals in the world who have simply lost their way and have lost their hope in the process. Anytime you can get this artist to do work, the results are potentially MAMMOTH and it’s just such a damn shame that he doesn’t do more, so biggup Anthony John and Flyroots Productions for linking him, every time!

There are also three fairly new/unknown/up and coming artist on the riddim as well and the trio is highlighted by another underrated artist, Emperor Mangasha, who checks in with ‘Higher Then Dem’. The tune kind of echoes the sentiments expressed by Chrisinti on his riddim topper in a very strong way and Mangasha is definitely a name to look out for also. There’s Mark Tenn here as well, with the very catchy ‘Who Is That Girl’ [on the veranda]. This tune probably isn’t that good, but it’s very memorable and that chorus will have you singing along almost immediately. I don’t know very much about Mark Tenn actually, but hopefully his is a name which will stick with Flyroots in the future as well. And lastly there is the representative of the fairer sex, Tavanity, with ‘Foot Prints’. She does very good on this spiritual tune. It’s not exceptional and it’s not groundbreaking in anyway to my opinion, but still very well done and I would have complained were there not a woman on the riddim by its end and Tavanity is definitely more than just a ‘token’ in that regard.

The balance of the tunes on the Breadfruit Riddim are made up of veterans and big named artists who you’d expect to see on board with such a project. Early on the album there is a downright ‘murderer’s row’ of three established artists in succession who make up a large part of the big name talent on the riddim. To my ears Norris Man’s ‘Differences’ is the best of the bunch quite clearly, followed by Determine in a fine form on ‘Wicked Haffi Fall’ (a tune which is still growing on me with its HYPE chorus). The other name in that group is not too surprisingly the not too low-key Lutan Fyah and his tune is, of course, a nice vibes but it’s not as good as his material usually is and having now heard probably hundreds of his releases, I know that he can do much better than ‘Overcome Dem’, his tune for the Breadfruit (still the man manages to approach lyrical perfection somewhere in the middle of the tune. The best effort from a big named artist on the riddim comes via the Messenjah, Luciano with arguably the second strongest tune on the riddim, ‘Battlefield Warriors’. This is a pretty atypical tune for Luciano ostensibly speaking because it deals with more tangible matters on the surface, but rest assured things quickly take a turn for the epically more spiritual on this nearly massive effort. The ‘hot & cold’ Turbulence also checks in pretty good on ‘Just Hold On’, a tune which, for some reason, I feel that I’m underrating, so give it a spin for yourself and lastly there’s [Burning] Spectacular who tones himself down just a bit on ‘Hungry Society’. Doing said ‘tone down’ (in my opinion) opens the quality of the tune up and it proves to be one of his stronger outings as of late to my opinion. And as I mentioned, Sherkhan’s clean Breadfruit Riddim is also on display, thankfully, a practice I most certainly hope John and Flyroots keep up on their future output as well.

Overall, yes the Breadfruit Riddim album is well worth your time, ESPECIALLY if you’re more of a hardened fan of Roots Reggae. However (and I don’t find myself saying this a lot these days unfortunately), I think even if you’re a newer fan of the music you’ll probably find something here which won’t go COMPLETELY over your head. I find that tends to be the case with compilations which have such a nice variety of artists, new and older, on it. Big respect goes to Anthony John and Flyroots Productions for putting this piece together as well, as the label is mainly based in France (to my knowledge), clearly they took matters to Jamaica to seek recording talent and HOPEFULLY should they continue on (and they should), some of these artists (especially the Machete) can become staples of sorts on their releases. This piece also becomes another SOLID statement as to why you cannot ignore Sherkhan in this day and age. So with seemingly the ‘appropriate’ next step secured by Flyroots Productions, of course the questions now turn to the future, but with more of what is to be found on the Breadfruit Riddim, I’m not worried at all about their future. Not one bit.

Rated 4/5

Flyroots Productions

2010

Flyroots Productions @ Myspace

Coming Soon Vol. 14.5

Okay so, I forgot a couple of BIG things just the last time I ran this one, so I thought that I'd run it quickly again.

{Or I just didn't feel like writing today}

Coming Soon

Natty King - Born To Be Free [House of Riddim]

This was the one that made me do a double-take and kind of pissed off that I didn’t get to mention it, because it is TRULY a big fucking deal. You might know the Austrian label House of Riddim from dealing with artists like Yah Meek, Marlene Johnson, Fitta Warri and the other European/European based/European traveling artists (like Cali P) (and Black Dillinger) and they’re now stepping out with what has to be regarded as their most high profile release to date, a full blown album for the one Natty King Born To Be Free. The album becomes his second and a half, following No Guns To Town and the construct which was Trodding from last year (biggup Zojak) and I am SO looking forward to getting my paws on this thing because I think it is going to be EXCELLENT. Natty King is an artist who has proven himself capable of carrying the vibes for an entire album and I have a good mind that this piece will be his biggest to date and just downright MASSIVE as well. Why? Well, at first I had a good thought because the first tune was one of my own personal favourite efforts from the King, ‘Slew U In The Open’ from the Ilove Riddim, but even thought that particular piece is changed (to an acoustic set), later on you’ll stumble upon another of my favourites from the singer, ‘Fyah Bed’ which was HUGE! And just listening through this thing, I find myself getting eager and more eager to take it for a spin.

Potential Rating: 5/5

Releases on April 16

{note: You can find this one on preview on Juno Download and you know they let you listen to entirely too much of the tune on the sample (I swear that thing must be 90 seconds long), so you can pretty much listen to half the damn album on that page}

Riddim Driven: Classic [VP Records]

And the other one which I wanted to mention was one I actually knew about (because I’ve had it for a couple of weeks now), but just didn’t put up because. . . I didn’t have a big cover and the track sequential (yes, those are actually the reasons) - the latest edition of VP Records’ famed Riddim Driven series, the Classic. Of course, this one is all over my senses because it comes via the greatest Reggae producer on earth, Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor (see note) and is his latest creation to date. The riddim has a vibes to it which DEFINITELY earn its title and on top of that sweet old school classic vibes, the thing is just COOL! Featuring efforts from the likes of Beres Hammond (of course), Etana, Wayne Wonder, the Lindo siblings, riddim topper Singing Melody and a HUGE combination of Duane Stephenson and Ras Shiloh which is almost overdoing it at this point (I mean REALLY! You put two artists like that and. . . Damn). And all of that leads me to potentially declaring the Classic the finest edition of Riddim Driven since. . . well, since Flava dropped the Rub A Dub a couple of years ago.

Potential Rating: 4.5/5

Releases on April 19-20

{note: McGregor just recently launched his website (biggup Camille) where you can purchase a great deal of his work to date, including a new and exclusive full blown album from Gyptian, Revelations and you can see quite a few articles and reviews written by some dude named Achis from UnitedReggae.com and his blog. Check my favourite places for the link>}

"The Midas Touch": A Review of Closure by Maurice

Regardless of how misguided I may or may not ultimately be in doing so, I’d like to think that I’ve gotten to the point, doing what I do, where enough people know of me and place some type of trust in me to do something a little different. If you’re really confident in your material and you want someone to give you an honest and generally unbiased critique, you get it to Achis and if it is really good, I will talk glowingly about it, unlike anyone else in the world (and even if it isn’t that great, I will tactfully dance around it with the grace of the Nicholas Brothers) (actually not that gracefully, but I’ll try) (and fail), in my opinion. And it is similar to that rather strange level that I am trusted, that I also find myself placing musical TRUST in certain entities within this wonderful art form to do things for me as well. For example, the most glaring example (especially considering what I’ve been listening to most recently) is Soca music. I ‘trust’ people like Destra and Faye-Ann Lyons to cheer me up and to get me through that last kilometer or so on the treadmill, despite the fact that my legs lost their juice several minutes back. I trust people like Sizzla Kalonji, Vaughn Benjamin and definitely Lutan Fyah to offer food to my brain on nearly every new release they have and I put trust in artists like Queen Ifrica, Luciano and the legendary Garnet Silk to provide similar nourishment for my spirits as well. The same can be said for the powers that be which exist behind the scenes also. Looking up and down at what VP Records has in store for 2010 and what they’ve already done (releases from Sanchez, Sizzla, Capleton, Junior Kelly, Beres Hammond, Luciano, Busy Signal, Etana and Gyptian), I have no problem at all accepting and assuming the fact that they will probably be releasing big projects for many of the biggest names in our genre (which includes signing up many of the newer artists) into perpetuity. And we can even break that down further - My absolute favourite current producer (and probably, by the end of my life, my favourite of all time) (biggup Fattis at this point), Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor - Whatever his next riddim is, following the forthcoming Classic Riddim, I’m almost SURE that I’m going to like it and it’s not due to any type of partiality, it’s due to the fact that the man makes EXCELLENT music. And actually, as I think about it, there’re quite a few producers, perhaps even more than artists, that I place a great deal of reliance in on a very consistent basis.

Such as the case here. When I think of people who I know of in the business who’re exceptional at finding new talents and developing them, of course the first name which comes to mind is the architect that is Dean ‘Cannon’ Fraser. Having served that direct purpose for artists like Luciano, Tarrus Riley and MANY others (and indirectly for most of Xterminator’s artists, which of course includes Sizzla), Fraser has proven himself a genius at establishing new voices. Certainly far less known, but increasingly crucial is the talent Dean Pond displays in doing the exact same thing. If you are a fan of Reggae music from out of the Virgin Islands, then artists like Ras Army and definitely Pressure Busspipe (and who knows who else) surely play a large role in your musical appetite and it is partially to the credit of the one Dean Pond for establishing said appetite by providing some of the EXCELLENT music for these artists to make their name on and having a hand in their development as well. Not only that, but even more recently he ‘gave’ us (along with Eno Stafford), Revalation, a potentially HUGE artist also from out of the Virgin Islands. So, given his history with his various labels and endeavours, it’s pretty safe to say that the next time Dean Pond deems an artist worth enough of his time to produce an entire album, even if it’s a Hip-Hop or a Heavy Metal Rock album, I’m probably going to pay it SOME attention, based on his involvement alone (and of course it helps when I’ve already heard the first single and I like it). Well, that just so happens to be the case with Maurice’s debut album (I THINK) Closure, which comes via Dean Pond’s new label, Rymshot Productions and is pushed the lovely people at Zojak Worldwide. You can definitely call Maurice the latest 'discovery of Pond, but he just as definitely doesn’t have the same lineage as many of Pond's previous finds. First of all, he’s Jamaican. I’d imagine that the two linked in Florida in the States (as both live there now) (I think), but Maurice’s history is EXTREMELY interesting, particularly given the fact that he is somewhat Reggae (Dancehall) ROYALTY as the brother of the late Dirtsman and of course, the legendary and arguably greatest Dancehall DJ of all time (in terms of skill), Papa San. And with a bloodline like such, one might imagine that Maurice is yet another either extremely harsh, but talented DJ (like Dirtsman) or an almost overwhelmingly brilliant master of the spoken word (like San) - And in doing so, “one” would be wrong. NO! Maurice is, instead, a very impressive kind of soulful Lover’s Rock type of a singer. There’re also many international types of flashes in his style. Lover’s Rock is a subgenre in Reggae music which hasn’t had a glaring ‘face lift’ of sorts in terms of the actual style itself unlike pretty much every other form of Reggae music within the past decade or so, so what you’re going to hear in Maurice’s style, ostensibly, is what you might hear from many of his contemporaries, although thankfully he does have a bit to his ways which does offer his music a sense of originality. Maurice (or maybe Pond) (although I’m pretty sure it’s Maurice) is obviously a fan of modern American R&B and that’s something which also comes through and maybe it’s something that you could look at and call a ‘nuance’ or something like such (a ‘wrinkle’), but it’s SO close to his style that it is a part of his style (the album cover even looks like R&B). Whatever your preference for describing Maurice, by its end, his debut album is one which is almost certain to delight fans of Lover’s Rock (particularly new ones), in one way or another.

This album comes as a further showcasing of Dean Pond’s Rymshot Production. Following an extended stay with Studio 340 (biggup Eno Stafford) and also DSP, Pond recently returned with the new label with a HUGE release for VI Reggae superstar Pressure Busspipe Coming Back For You and, as you might’ve expected, the two releases share a bit in common musically speaking (including the starring artists, more on that in a second). What is original to this album however is that it is Maurice himself running the show and he gets things started on his new album Closure with in a very familiar fashion with the STERLING ‘Can’t Wait’. The tune utilizes the same hypnotic riddim which backs Pressure’s tune ‘Pure Life’ (which coincidentally began his album also) and the tune itself is VERY strong. Here, you get a very nice taste of Maurice’s vocals which, as I alluded to, definitely have more than slight overtones of what you might find in the arena of R&B, but with fantastic compositions like this, it never REALLY becomes an issue on the song. Strong beginning. ‘Moonlight’, the next tune in is also quite familiar, however, in this case, for a very interesting reason. The tune uses the New Chapter riddim of all things, which is a creation of superstar producer Stephen McGregor (and was thought to have been smashed and left for dead by Etana and her MASSIVE ‘Who Gave You The Right‘) and it was a pretty nice deviation for him. For Maurice, however, it’s another similar powerful statement. This one struck me as being quite the clever tune for various reasons and it definitely is a standout here and maybe one of the stronger tunes on the entire album. Not nearly as strong, however, as the following tune which was definitely the one here which I was most looking forward to, the first of two EXTREMELY high profile combinations, ‘African Girl’ alongside the previously well mentioned Pressure Busspipe. This tune is just COOL! I can’t even put it into more context than that, but I will say that it is an even stronger tune than ‘Baby Girl’ the rather funky combination between the same two artists back on Coming Back For You and I’m assuming there will be and looking forward to more tunes from this very EFFECTIVE link.

I believe that before Closure much of the discussion surrounding the forthcoming album in circles where Maurice is popular (which apparently extends all the way to Canada where he seems to have quite a large following), was largely for two tunes. The first, chronologically speaking (I THINK), was the other combination on the album, ‘All Of A Sudden’ which just so happens to feature Reggae superstar Wayne Wonder (as UNDERRATED DJ alter-ego, Supriz). Apparently Wonder and Maurice are pretty good friends and have performed a bit together and while the tune isn’t my absolute favourite on the album, the two clearly have a nice rapport which definitely helps the tune’s ultimate quality. The other tune is the previous official single (which was also released not too long ago by Zojak), the OUTSTANDING ‘In My Dreams’, my choice (and my Wife’s as well) as the finest tune to be found on Closure altogether. This one has such a nice and ‘airy’ and COMFORTABLE vibes to it that it strikes chords and nerves unlike any other tune to be found here. It’s not groundbreaking or really profound in a significant way, but what it is just a GORGEOUS tune and the head of the class of quality for the album, without a doubt.

Incidentally, if the bestowment of the honour of the album’s second best tune doesn’t go to ‘African Child’ then the tune that it does belong to follows ‘In My Dreams’ (after a cool interlude) - ‘Forgiven’. The tune kind of symbolically (at least I think it’s symbolically) places Maurice in the all too familiar role of having to apologize for what he’s done and as it’s a skill that I’ve become AMAZING at over my years, I can definitely relate and the tune itself is another beautiful effort as well. So good, in fact, is ‘Forgiven’ that it makes up for the very curious selection, ‘Good Enough’. The phrase kind of, to my opinion, presupposes that there is BETTER when you tell you someone that they are “good enough for me”, but the lyrics of the tune don’t exactly carry that out. Still, I can’t help but wonder (PAINFULLY) what might become of me were I to tell my wife that she’s “good enough” as opposed to ‘THE BEST‘. The balance of Closure finds Maurice instinctively walking the border between R&B and Lover’s Rock and doing so, for the most part, very impressively. Although not the most impressive in the first instance, to my tastes, the most obvious ‘odes’ to R&B comes in the form of two tunes. This first is ‘Pretty Brown Eyes’ which is, of course, a remake of the song of the same name by US vocal group, Mint Condition. The song is SLIGHTLY Reggae’d up, but it’s likely to get quite the reaction, despite not being one of my favourites on the album. The other R&B tune here that I recognized was a tune that I used to LOVE by a group named Ruff Endz, ‘Someone To Love You’. This tune, I think, was pretty obscure, but somewhat of a hit nonetheless and apparently it hit Maurice with the same intensity that it did for me and he takes it and ever so slightly gives it a Reggae treatment, although from what I can tell, it’s pretty close to the original, which isn’t a bad thing at all. Another nice piece to pay attention is the much stronger (in my opinion), ‘Just A Little’. This one had a very American vibes all over it until it REALLY got going and although that didn’t dissipate completely, I hear a pounding almost Dancehall vibes in there as well which definitely grabbed my attentions. The same I’ll definitely say in regards to ‘Because Your Mine’ which rides the same EPIC riddim as the title track of Pressure’s Coming Back For You. This tune (not to tell you entirely too much of my business) definitely has a bit of ME in it and it dazzlingly captures more than a few sentiments which I share with Maurice apparently. VERY WELL DONE (“just look, just look, it‘s not everyday your woman should come home and have to cook“). ‘Ready For Love’ re-Reggaefies the mood of the album following ‘Pretty Brown Eyes’, despite being a remake of its own (which I didn’t recognize AT ALL and I suddenly feel compelled to go back and run the rest of these tunes by wife (who did recognize the tune) to see what else she might hear that sounds familiar) of an India Arie tune. This tune I really liked a lot and despite the fact that I didn’t know it was one of hers, it is to no surprise at all that it is something that Arie sang, because she is wonderful. And lastly there’s the spiritual selection ‘Father’ which is pretty obviously the changeup for the album. This one has a ‘bigger’ type of vibes to it (not to the point of what is traditional gospel, but not too far from it either) and is, as expected, on an inspirational vibes. The tune is probably one of the strongest on the album and I love the deviation in any case. There’s also a bonus tune which I don’t know if I’m supposed to mention, so you’ll just have to pick up the album and spin the (very familiar) tune for yourself.

Overall, definitely take Maurice’s name and add it to the VERY impressive roster of artists with which Dean Pond has been involved. While he certainly is a far cry from Pressure, Army and Revalation, Maurice is an artist who, respectively, belongs in that class but for far differing and ORIGINAL reasoning. Closure is an album which, because of its ‘intense’ and inherent type of appeal has a nice chance of ‘crossing over’. I can imagine that it’s getting a nice response, particularly in Florida, on more of the mainstream radio stations where many of the tunes on the album are likely to fit in quite nicely. But will they fit in nicely in the collections of heavy Reggae fans (which is what YOU are)? I think so, but there’s a catch - If you have the same disdain or complete neutrality to American R&B that I have towards Hip-Hop, then you probably won’t like this one. Similarly, if you’re looking for Lover’s Rock in the most traditional range of the genre, then you also might not like what is to be heard here. HOWEVER, if you do have the ear for R&B and definitely for Lover’s Rock in the more modern sense, then you’ll LOVE Closure. I even would have liked to see them do other things with it also (a Revalation combination?) and I also just have the sneaking suspicion that in terms of ultimate talent, Maurice has even more than he’s revealing here. That’s saying a great deal, because for me, Closure is VERY GOOD by its end and I’m looking forward to the next album. Well done.

Rated 4/5

Rymshot Productions/Zojak Worldwide

2010

Maurice @ Myspace

Stuff . . . YEP!

Yow!

Hope all is well yeah, everything around here is going so nice, had a TON of things going on this week and while next week figures to be a little different, hoping to see things continue like such, definitely. We're taking the little one to visit the Grandparents next week, we'll be up from Tuesday until the next Tuesday (23-30) and, as usual, you won't notice too much different around here (except for the fact that I'm probably not writing on Monday) (and I'll probably be posting late as hell on Tuesday). So, hopefully the visit will produce copious amounts of FREE SHIT for me, already tied up a few pieces (HOPEFULLY), including one that I'm REALLY looking forward to, which we hope manifests this time.

As far as what's been going on around here. It's been all about Junior Kelly and Bescenta. TONS of reaction from both of those reviews now and definitely see it going on for awhile. So interesting that I didn't think too many people rated Bescenta, but a lot of messages coming in like "oh yeah, I've been waiting for him to have an album for SO long, definitely". Stuff like that makes me feel very nice and that's why things like that are up here and definitely be sure to grab up Red Pond also. I've also been trying to make a few nice NEW connections with people and have been decently successful. But that's now! What about what's coming up???

• Actually I'm thinking about going with three reviews this coming week for the first time this year (I THINK). First we have a review that I wrote a long ass time ago for the Breadfruit Riddim album, then hopefully we'll have Maurice's new album Closure (which I'm listening to now) and then later on we can have Sahra Indio's album Change.

• Past next week, you can expect reviews for Ayaaso Band, Alison Hinds, Midnite (maybe), No Glory Riddim (maybe), the African Riddim, Destra and whoever else that jumps up (and I'm sure I'm missing someone in there also).

• I'm also working on an idea for a REALLY cool Completely Random Thoughts that is going to take a bit of research, so I might wait until I get back home to deal with it. But I might give you another (far easier) one that I'm working on as well.

• Also have a very SEXY idea for a video drop, which is kind of involved (if you consider spending about 3-4 hours on youtube to be "involved" to any degree), but I think it's cool, so you'll probably get that next week.

• Thinking of doing a list of the biggest disappointments/underachievers, have to develop that a bit more though and it may be awhile on from now.

• You're definitely going to get a version of 'Check It'. I was working on that last preview and when I finished it, I was surprised at how much I had actually forgotten to add also.

• And who knows what the hell else I'm going to do. I'm looking for some DECENT Zouk. I had my eye on Kim's album Premier Pas, but it wasn't really hitting me too heavily, so I think I'll pass, but hopefully before the end of April, we can get back something Zoukly.

Just want to remind everybody that I'm writing all the time (exclusive stuff, which you won't see here) for UNITEDREGGAE.COM (biggup Camille) and you can also see some of my reviews reprinted for REGGAEVILLE.COM (biggup Julian). So definitely check out both of those sites, helping Reggae take over the entire world.

Biggup everybody . . . Everybody, I'd name you, but my eyes are closing. You know who you are, big respect and I'll name you ALL pretty soon (if that makes any sense, I am so damn sleepy). Okay song! (if you don't LOVE this tune, leave this blog and never return) (EVER).

Picture

Bescenta

Big Album

Go get it