If you go back through these pages, I'm going to say that you're likely to come across long-form reviews like this for maybe... two or three dozen different albums from Vaughn Benjamin between his Midnite and Akae Beka forms. So while I cannot say that I am an expert at analyzing his music (I am not) (I am a novice), I will call it as I do know a thing or two about ATTEMPTING to analyze it and the wonderful turns and twists it takes you on. Sometimes I wonder if knowing how much time would be spent on breaking down his words by his fans brought Benjamin joy or is such a thing would have been unimportant to him as long as he knew we were listening. As I've said in the past, with him pushing the type of work that he did, it becomes impossible to put and ENDING on the music of Vaughn Benjamin. It is ever-evolving. My opinion of the meaning of a song is different than yours and someone else's is different from both of ours and it is BEAUTIFUL and WELCOMED. I cannot tell you how long I have spent working on this man's music and how fun it is has been! Moments that stand out are the (wonderfully) more frequently occuring these days situations where he'll say something or a tune will be positioned in a way in which it reminds me of another one from his catalogue. I'l have a lyric in my head or a melody and then have to attempt to pinpoint it in some way before narrowing it down to find the comparison piece (if I do find it. I don't always). His work typically provides a challenge on two fronts; one being in looking at the music itself as far as what is said and how it sounds and then there's work of attempting to clarify what he's said. Benjamin mumbles at times and hearing him accurately can be difficult. As someone who often uses lyrics to make points in my reviews, I CONSTANTLY run into spaces where he'll say something and I'll get it, but one or two words I just cannot hear and I have to make the decision to either pick a different section (to write it up to that point) or just leave it out entirely... and if you spend any time listening to him, you've been there as well.
Fortunately, for those of us willing to get on that grind there exists a great reward, the same way it exists after a strenuous workout or running for a very long distance. What awaits isn't a shower and a little bit less guilt the next time you want to break your diet, but what does exist is, potentially, some of the greatest music you have ever heard. It is to no great coincidence that I tend to point to albums as my favourites from Benjamin's vault as those which provide some combination of being pleasing to listen to and arduousness. I enjoy that challenge (and simply listening over and over won't get you where you want to go every time) (biggup Chezidek and that "Rising Sun" album) and his is unlike that from anyone else I've ever come across. Today we're going to take a look at and a listen to an album which I'm thinking that... a few years from now may just be a PILLAR of Benjamin's in my own mind as every single time I have EVER listened to it, I have found something new to appreciate in its list, the magically titled "Nurtured Frequency". The 2018 release would have been the fifth from the Akae Beka line specifically (this man gave us over SIXTY albums. Sixty Vaughn Benjamin albums are probably stuffed with two-hundred albums worth of material from almost anyone else) and it was the first (and only), this one coming from Haze St. Studios from out of the States which, I think, is ran by one Andrew 'Drew Keys' Stoch. If you are a nerd for reading credits or press releases (and I am, to the surprise of no one at all), then you know that you've come into contact with the work of Stoch rather consistently throughout the years. He's appeared quite consistently on the work of the esteemed Zion I Kings which, immediately, means that Stoch and Vaughn Benjamin had likely crossed paths several times over the years before deciding to do a full album together (I even noted him by name in the review of "Livicated") (you will also find the Zion I King's logo attached to the physical copy of this one). And if you go through Stoch's own work, what you notice is that he is an a extremely gifted musician, playing (at least) the keyboard, organ and the piano as well as the trombone on a variety of different projects. Coincidentally, the most recent Akae Beka review I wrote was for "Topaz", an album which released at around the same time as "Nurtured Frequency", and it was produced by a Padraic Coursey who was another longtime staple as a player of instrument on many releases from the ZIK. As far as I know, like Coursey, Andrew Stoch also began albums on his label with Benjamin's work as well. Stoch ascended in December of 2020, a year following Benjamin's own ascension, which, in retrospect, makes "Nurtured Frequency" even more IMPORTANT given that it now stands as something of a GIFT to listeners as its creators left us soon thereafter. Regardless of any such circumstances (despite how truly MASSIVE they are), however, "Nurtured Frequency" was a project which, as I said, has done a tremendous amount of growing and continues to expand to this day.
Before we get into the music, something has to be said about that STUNNING cover art. As I said, I'm not a big fan of art in this sense, but I do have eyeballs [!] and sometimes they work. The cover for "Nurtured Frequency" has to rate very highly within the archives of covers of Vaughn Benjamin albums. For me it would be in the neighbourhood of personal favourites such as 'Be Strong', 'In Awe', the recent "Righteous Synergy" and "Homage To The Land" ("Better World Rasta" was pretty good as well). I also want to mention that a major credit goes to the maestro as the music throughout "Nurtured Frequency" ranges from at least very good to exceptional (more on that in closing). Because I ALWAYS start reviewing the music on an album at the beginning, I think I'll change things up this time and hop right to the second half, which begins with our title song. The very first time I even saw 'Nurtured Frequency' written, what came to mind was a piece called 'Healing' from "Beauty For Ashes" (be revisiting that album in at the end of this review as well). There is a line in that one which says, "kind words and good emanation frequency proven most beneficial inna medically". I've spent so much time working with that lyric in particular and when placed within the concept of the entire tune, what I take it from now is that by simply saying something nice to someone can help them in some way. So when I saw this, my mind immediately went back to that space. I don't think this one is about the same thing, I actually think it takes a step forward in one aspect. I think Benjamin's 'nurtured frequency' is a "NURTURE-ING frequency", meaning that he's speaking on the importance of showing love to one another. And he says that this is an inborn (this also HAS to be the very first time I have ever heard anyone use "vainglorious vagueries" in song) (biggup Vaughn Benjamin) behaviour amongst us - it's natural.
"It was always there you see
The love found recently"
No one has had to teach you how to love. You were given that knowledge at birth. The song is a CRYSTAL! It is stunning! And, again, it develops even more brilliantly with every listen through. Next was a very attractive title which would go on to head a just as beautiful composition, 'Superstructures'. This one may just be the most LAVISH praising tune that I have ever heard! It's definitely in the discussion. This thing is bedecked (I had to go there, 'bedecked') in heavy jewels. If you were walking down the street, you could see it shining at the opposite corner if it had its back to you. Here, Benjamin speaks to 'structures' which have immeasurable sizes and how HE rules them all ["HE WILL NOT SPEAK OF HIMSELF, HE IS THE HIGHER ONE, WE LOVE HIM. FOREVER WILL HIS REIGN BE THE RULE OF THE LOVING"]. I also enjoy the vocal arrangement on 'Superstructures'. If you really tune it in, you'll notice this almost constant chanting behind Benjamin. If when you notice it, you go back and allow it to fade into the background, it stands out so finely subtle. We go from the stratospheric 'Superstructures' to the well grounded and hustling but MAMMOTH 'To and From' - a tune which very much has both of its feet planeted (PLANETED, not PLANTED) but manages to shine as brightly as any other star on "Nurtured Frequency". It is DAZZLING!
"Jah know dem line up a battalion a gun
Big-wheel tire pon dem chariot ah come down
Set up inna every modernized under the sun
Still ah pretend seh that they never need none
IT HAVE A MOUNTAIN LON PON DI BACKPORCH AH SIT DUNG
I KNOW SEH THAT WITH ONE SEH YOU NO HAVE NO GRIEVANCE WITH NONE
When you pay some environmental attention
What is di heartburn inna bloodthirst and man-gression
Just upon di highways, inna transition
Commuters inna di earth yah moving to and from
To and from
Moving to and from
Commuters inna di earth yah moving to and from
SOME DEVELOP IMMUNITY TO MORBID CONDITION
Sometime ah packing up a van and have a fan vendor stand
Pon a bigger scale - ah go through and develop a brand
HAVE TO FIND DI HELIUM INNA DI YING AND YANG-
JUST TO RISE ABOVE ALL THE DISSONANCE
THE KING OF KINGS, TO HIM THE HUMBLE ANSWER
THE KING OF KINGS, TO HIM THE HUMBLE ANSWER"
If I were going to pick a single song from this album as a demonstration of a style to a listener who had, literally, never heard anything from Vaughn Benjamin, I might choose 'To and From'. It takes top honours on this release and PERFECTLY captures what he does unlike anyone else we have ever seen. We have powerful lyricists and that list may even grow by the year or so as some other insanely gifted writer arrives on the scene, but there exists no one who says stuff like this man does ["Wi nah go win when evil done commence. Dem have a bucket, drop it in, which is bottomless. DI OCEAN CHALICE OF DI WORLD - BOWL OF WATER BLESSED"] (HUH!). And I love the kind of hypnotized intensity on this tune, it's almost like he was in the world by himself and just releasing this torrent and, for his part, Stoch provided Benjamin with an amazing composition, highlighted by those damn horns! Oh and as for its message: What I would take from 'To and From' was Benjamin showing just how easily everything and everyone are related and connected to everything and everyone else. The world is kind of a huge place... but with how much we move and how easy it is to do, it kinda isn't. 'Comforted' is another gorgeous selection and one which definitely slows things down following that gold bar which it chases. This one is quite simple for a Vaughn Benjamin idea, although it is somewhat of an underexplored notion. There is a tremendous power in comfort! It sounds almost silly to say it out loud and maybe even, in doing so, you may disagree because what you're doing is underrating comfort. But if I tell you, "Doubts and fears relief in the moment", it instantly becomes far more relatable. Think about the last time you were nervous (and a really good example may be like a doctor's visit or something like that) and someone did something for you which put you at ease. We may encounter situations like this, in some capacity, every single day and that's what Benjamin is dealing with here. "Someone just wants to be comforted. Not to be made uneasy, comforted", he says, seemingly pushing the action of doing it for someone else. If you see someone kind of shaky, maybe do something to calm the down if you can. At the risk of sounding like a broken record (not that I care), the final piece on "Nurtured Frequency" is.... another exceptional one. 'Agenda Fi Sound' is HEAVY! The song has this kind of 'crawling' vibes to it (you could even call it a bit Hip-Hoppish and, coming from me, that's usually a bad thing, but it works here). I think that the source of the ideology behind it can be found at the its very beginning:
"No such thing as riddim weh underground"
I come away from 'Agenda Fi Sound' thinking that it is about speaking out against negativity. What he says here is that the message is not to be buried. If you bury it, it does not exist because it can't be buried, there is "no such thing" as a buried message. Such a thing a thing is merely a thought. Benjamin goes on, as he always does, to get into places such as finances (an obvious clear interest of his) and others (such as the development of ideas), flowing them together seamlessly.
Now watch this! I've never done this halfway through a review! "Nurtured Frequency" begins with what is a definite signature moment in the social commentary, 'Whole World Watching' (BOOM!). Theoretically speaking, if you were making an album, you might want to put forth a song that will capture and keep attention and that is definitely what happens here as 'Whole World Watching' is one of the most dynamic sets here.
"Accumulation of a whole lifetime -
In one moment defined
Infamy and notoriety time
Just let that slide
RIGHT OR WRONG, JUST LET THAT SLIDE
Down the side
The whole world's watching
It's of the rise and of the decline
The input/output basis
And lives are on the line
Can't simply just resign
Request for help: DENIED
Can simply never mind
THE NET IS LARGE AND WIDE, PROTECTING WHAT THEY HIDE"
It's built within this massive lyrical vault and you have to really dig in there to get to it, but what stays with me from this tune is making better choices. Benjamin 'constructs' this omnipresent viewpoint -- the entire world may be looking -- to place an emphasis on something very simple, which everyone is, hopefully, doing anyway. Failure to do so can cause drastic results as one instance of weakness can stay with you for your entire life ("accumulation of a whole lifetime, in one moment defined"). Big tune. 'Simply Might Is Right' is a very interesting title isn't it??? I thought so too. I saw it and my mind probably went back to "Portals" for 'Simplest Long' ["Cheerful and grateful inna health and is strong. It's not where yuh from, it's inna yuh vibrations"], but 'Simply Might Is Right' comes with enough fuel of its own as well. Here, Vaughn Benjamin gives his take on the notion of those in power ruling in the absolute sense - to be unquestioned and without error. This subsequently leads to an examination of the poorer people of the world being overlooked and undervalued ["The ball and the gown and making merry, while the survival is counting pennies"]. I was going to lock in on this more in closing because I haven't done it at all to any depth here but the vibes on this song, like almost all of them, is so powerful. It is such a lovely track to listen to and I find myself complaining more and more these days that producers are seemingly unaware of the material that they have on their hands because they don't give it an opportunity to shine. Stoch didn't have that problem on "Nurtured Frequency". He knew he had great works and he gave them the display that they deserved. And then there was 'Diseased', a PROJECT of a piece if there ever were one. As I said, part of the requirement in listening to the music of Vaughn Benjamin is to figure out what the message is within his often cryptic output.... but prior to that you have to figure out exactly what is being said and if you spend any time searching online, you will see just how many people are sitting around trying to figure out his words. In fact, with some of the older stuff, while we were active, SHOCKINGLY, these pages have become somewhat of an archive for his work and I virtually never write entire lyrics to songs (thankfully, a lot of people far better at it than I, have done it as well) (and I've often wondered, 'mightily' just how many people were hanging on to the artist's every word or just were 'around' for other reasons). So with 'Disease', you're first going to have to figure out what is being said because Benjamin comes with some type of effect on his vocals (manipulating the volume controls on your device works). Once you've unlocked it and are able to get into the 'body' of things on this one, what you will find is a bleak look at the world ["A high citadel of warfare, they idol"] where he focuses on how many people, particularly many of those with some type of influence, go towards downright savage behaviour. He goes completely in-depth on it as well, examining the root of things. Ultimately he concludes that the conduct is an infection and one which is, RIDICULOUSLY, highly coveted. This one, maybe above any other on the whole of "Nurtured Frequency" reveals more and more of itself with every listen, so TAKE YOUR TIME. It will be worth it in the end (there is no "end", by the way) (you will never grab it completely). Next in was the wholly STUNNING praise 'Lineage Ring'.
"In this time
It can be blessed and be eerie
Tings world never seen
Taken place simultaneously
Spliff or steamers or kutchie
Rasta haffi hold a meditation inna stand-firmly
SOUL-EXPLOITATION OVER LEGITIMATE NEEDS
Isolationist, xenophobia inna prosperity field
Shot clock, the clock stop, it was the resource greed
The world ah bleed
ALL THROUGH THE COURSE OF HISTORY A SIMILAR SCENE:
RASTAFARI CONQUERING!
The drastic part of an ego's megalithic
WHERE THE SKEPTIC IS DISSEMINATING TO THE CRITIC
It was a live newsreel
Live newsreel
Live newsreel
Inna horrific, dem get specific
How much victim, people value life and limb
Call The King Of Kings!
HIM WITH THE LINEAGE RING
With the lineage ring
Call The King Of Kings"
Now you take that and place, 'Power of The Trinity' right next to it:
"Just like a beacon
Just like a lighthouse, showing the way to safety
The principal stays no matter who leaves
Not over-righteous, the walk between
Wi haffi deh weh you deh -
Praising The King and The Holy Mother for her life-bring
She who incubate infants in Her vessel
POWER OF THE TRINITY STILL
POWER OF THE TRINITY STILL
POWER OF THE TRINITY STILL"
And then chase them both with 'Holy JAH'. What you have there, between the trio, might be one of the most memorable stretches on ANY Vaughn Benjamin album (up there with 'Bittersweet', 'On the Broadcast' and 'Black Mamba' in succession on "King's Bell", the opening lot from "Beauty For Ashes", 'A Reminder', 'When Jah Arise' and 'Same Boat We', and then I'd also want to mention "In Awe" which pounded 'Music to Honour I King', the title track and 'Worth Working For' (a tune which no on remembers, but you go back and listen to right now, I dare you, and tell me how amazing it was) ["Look at the pilgrimage, images and banners all over the place. YET THE FIRST FATHER'S FACE - THEY REFUSE TO FACE"] and prior to those three was '360'. "In Awe" was FANTASTIC! It was one of the best albums Vaughn Benjamin has ever made). In this particular case, all three offerings come in exaltation of His Majesty. 'Lineage Ring' is the strongest of the lot (may just be the second best song on "Nurtured Frequency" altogether), but they're all of a exceptionally high quality. 'Power of The Trinity' was a single here and even released as so, with three mixes (including a lovely dub courtesy of IGR). It is just BEAUTIFUL as well and while 'Holy JAH' is not a better tune, it may be right up there with 'Whole World Watching' as the easiest listens that you will find on this album.
Overall.... okay I have a few things on my mind. The first (before I forget to mention it) is that "Nurtured Frequency" kind of reminds me of "Beauty For Ashes" and I LOVED that album. The main-attraction for me there was that we had an hour's worth of music where Vaughn Benjamin, basically, dealt with the exact same topic (UNITY), which he split into thirteen different lessons. It was absolute GENIUS! That doesn't happen here completely, but "Nurtured Frequency" is an album very much about how we all relate to one another. I cannot say it is about unity like "Beauty For Ashes" ["King Selassie I speak out against isolationist policy"] ["and the positive and the negative and the neutral march along. And the one tread of i-manity run through everyone"] because the idea is not constantly about bringing us together. It does have those elements, but pieces such as 'Simply Might is Right' look, explicitly, at why we're apart. But for the most part (and even including that song), this is an examination of human relations. The next thing that I want to say is that "Nurtured Frequency" is one of the best SOUNDING Midnite/Akae Beka albums that I have ever heard. From beginning to end (yes, even 'Diseased'), it is A JOY to listen to. It speaks to the ability of so many individuals, particularly, our director Andrew Stoch, and the wonderful contribution he gave us as his life's work. And lastly I want to go back to the theme of this review. "Nurtured Frequency" is nearing three and a half years old now. If you've spent that time listening to it at least semi-regularly then, while well into it, you are nowhere near DONE with it. Every time you make significant progress, someone erases the finish line and repositions it even further away from you. Listen to it at different times of day. Listen to it while you're doing different things and while you're in different moods. LISTEN TO IT IN DIFFERENT COMPANY! You will never be finish with it, but for YOU, so much of it has illuminated and it is my opinion that such cases are even more noticeable when the work is of an extremely high quality. "Nurtured Frequency" is of "extremely high quality". While "Portals", at least for the moment, remains the best of the Akae Beka line, in my opinion, "Nurtured Frequency" is right behind it (and I may change my mind on that at some point --I likely will-- as my opinions of albums tend to change once I scrutinize them for a review like this and, as you can see, I'm slowly working my way through all of them) and if you wanted to call it THE best, I would respect that argument. A release like this one, whether it took twenty years or twenty hours to complete is best served in an 'aged' form. After giving it that time to process, you may very well arrive where I am - "Nurtured Frequency" was AMAZING.
No comments:
Post a Comment