Inside HILife: Best Island Music of ‘09
December 31, 2009 by John Berger
Filed under Featured, Island Mele
‘Net impacts local music
2009 was year of transition for the local recording industry. The number of physical CDs released was barely half that of a few years ago, while the Internet continued to grow in importance as the place to sell and buy music. As such, a small but significant number of the titles reviewed in “Island Mele” were download-only releases.
Daniel Ho and Tia Carrere made history when they won the Grammy for Best Hawaiian Music Album. It was the first time the award was won by recording artists instead of by the producers of a compilation album. Pali was the pace-setting act when the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts presented the 32nd Annual Na Hoku Hano hano Awards in June, with the group’s double CD winning Album of the Year and Island Music Album of the Year and group leader/songwriter Pali T.W. Ka‘ai hue winning Song of the Year for one of his compositions.
HARA also responded to changes in the industry by re-establishing the Single of the Year category in recognition of the “popularity and value of singles in online sales in addition to the continued release of physical CD singles.”
Although downloads and electronic distribution are the future of the music industry, physical copies of new albums are unequaled in presenting a complete package of music, album art and background information. This is particularly important for Hawaiian music — knowledge of the lyrics and their meaning is essential.
AND SO, although “Island Mele” covers all genres of locally recorded music — both digital downloads as well as actual CDs — this is a look back, in alphabetical order, at the best Hawaiian albums of the past year (review publication dates are in parentheses):
>> “Baba Alimoot,” Baba Alimoot (Hula)
Alimoot displays his talent as a singer, musician and arranger with this collection of 14 songs. He demonstrates his imagination with a fresh arrangement of “Ku‘u Home o Kaha lu‘u” and also pays homage to tradition with his renditions of “Makee ‘Ailana” and “Hi‘i lawe.” (Dec. 4)
>> “Cloud Warriors,” Keli‘i Tau‘a and David Kauahikaua (Tiki)
Call their music Hawaiian because of the lyrics, or hapa-haole because much of it is not Hawaiian in the traditional sense. Whatever you call it, Tau‘a and Kauahikaua are exploring new ideas in Hawaiian-language music. (Feb. 13)
>> “Hawaiian Man,” Brother Noland (Mountain Apple Co.)
Brother Noland revisits his own work with a new arrangement of “Pua Lane,” pays homage to several styles of traditional Hawaiian and hapa-haole music, and expresses his nationalist sentiments with a medley of “Hawai‘i Pono‘i”/“Hawai‘i Aloha” that he describes in the liner notes as “designed to trip you out.” (March 20)
Pick up a copy of HILife in Friday’s Honolulu Star-Bulletin to read the rest of this story.
Inside HILife: Island Mele
July 11, 2009 by John Berger
Filed under Featured, Island Mele, Latest News
‘He Pa’ipunahele no Tenno Heika’
Keith Haugen
(Island Viking)
Indefatigable island songwriter Keith Haugen adds several “firsts” to his list of accomplishments with this CD single that commemorates an upcoming visit by Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. Haugen sings while Pierre Grill creates most of the instrumental effects on keyboards.
In a second version, Kaha’i Topolinski renders the lyrics as traditional Hawaiian chant with additional noh-style vocals and taiko drumming by Kenny Endo. The project also includes an instrumental rendition of the Japanese national anthem, “Kimi-ga-Yo,” arranged for shakuhachi flute and brass.
Haugen says this is the first Hawaiian song written to honor the emperor of Japan, the first Hawaiian chant to honor the emperor and the first recording to combine chant with taiko drumming and noh vocals.
The tracks are available free to the first 10,000 people who visit www.hawaiiansong.com.
Audio Samples:
“Kami-ga-Yo”
“He Painapunahele no Tenno Heika chant”
“He Painapunahele no Tenno Heika sung”
Click here to read the rest of this week’s local album reviews.
Inside HILife: Island Mele
June 5, 2009 by John Berger
Filed under Featured, Island Mele, Latest News
Accent on island style
Jimmy Da Geek
(Dis-N-Dat Music Group)
James “Jimmy Da Geek” Bender has a noteworthy spot in local music history as one of the founding members of the 3 Local Boyz with Grant “Lanai Boy” Tabura and Alan “Da Cruzah” Oda.
Expect a reunion of the Boyz sooner or later, but in the meantime, Bender has teamed with Kutmaster Spaz for a solo project. Despite not having lived in Hawaii for years, he hasn’t lost his ear for local dialects or his knack for razzing island icons.
“Talk Like a Pinoy” shows his imagination in utilizing Filipino accents in a way that doesn’t make fun of Filipinos who speak English as a second language.
“The Hello Kitty Song” expresses in vivid terms the plight of a man whose girlfriend is obsessed with the Japanese feline. A third clever piece is a commercial for “Spam for Men” cologne.
Click here to read the rest of this week’s reviews.
Inside HILife: Island Mele
May 29, 2009 by John Berger
Filed under Audio, Island Mele, Latest News
Quartet sampler rocks
‘…here nor there’
Amitystreet
(no label)
It’s been years since Honolulu was short of talented rock acts. Amitystreet joins that long list of local rockers past and present with this six-song sampler. The quartet — Jason Everett (vocals/guitar), John Gonzalez del Solar (guitar), Jhon Lynch (bass) and Eli Oguma (drums) — is somewhat reminiscent of a young U2, but not to the point where they sound like either mindless clones or a “tribute band.”
Everett’s voice often serves as another instrument rather than as the focal point of the band’s sound. This makes careful listening a must for anyone trying to decrypt the lyrics. In “Better Man” the message is first broken into segments for insertion in the somber, well-crafted instrumental arrangement and then restated almost in its entirety as the song builds in intensity.
“The Setting Sun” is a pleasant change of pace because it doesn’t follow that same template. Poignant and romantic, it speaks of loneliness and the pain of separation in vivid terms.
“Sekai no tame ni,” although sung primarily in English, is as cryptic as the others in posing the age-old question, What are we living for?
Amitystreet doesn’t presume to provide an answer. But with “…here nor there” as a sample of what they have to offer, it seems safe to bet that they’ll be back.
Click here to read the rest of this week’s CD reviews.
Inside HILife: Island Mele
May 22, 2009 by John Berger
Filed under Island Mele, Latest News
‘Girl Talk’
Hula Honeys
(Ululoa)
The traditions of smooth jazz and hapa haole music are blended in perfect measure in the second album by Maui’s Hula Honeys — Ginger Johnson and Robyn Kneubuhl. The vocal duo works their musical magic across a collection of 14 romantic selections. A slight majority are jazz or hapa haole classics; the others are originals that could become classics in the years to come.
Hawaii is represented by the works of John Kameaaloha Almeida (“Kiss Me Love”), Melvin Paoa (“Waikiki Chickadee”) and Norman Kaye (“A Maile Lei for Your Hair”). The pop and jazz selections include songs by Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer and Jerome Kern.
“Girl Talk,” written in the ’60s by Neil Hefti and Bobby Troup, adds a bit of humor in expressing the feelings of many women: Much as we enjoy talking among ourselves, we also like having you men around.
Kneubuhl’s “Hana by the Bay” describes the delights to a journey to one of the most isolated parts of Maui. Johnson’s “I Dream About You” and “The Lei You Made for Me” are more intimate in their descriptions of marvelous dreams and a romantic gift.
“Kiss Me Love”
“Hana By The Bay”
“My Heart, Your Heart”
Click here to read the rest of this week’s reviews.
