Matisyahu – Youth (Sony BMG)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 3/24/06
Jewish reggae. Very strong band and production, strong vocals. A lot of singing/toasting a lot of words very fast in several songs, which seems to be the style since the dancehall days. CD starts strong but doesn’t really keep up the pace in the middle. I can’t find info on instrumentation, which is frustrating.
Couldn’t hear any FCCs. 1, 2, 11, 12 best, 10 is interesting but short.
1. **midtempo, upbeat, religious lyrics. A bit of hip hop.
2. **Heavy metal intro. Good lyrics, music slightly bombastic in places, but mostly a strong, slightly downtempo skank.
3. Uptempo but more relaxed in mood. Can’t really tell what the lyrics are saying. Rather pop sound to the instrumentation.
4. Somewhat uptempo, but more relaxed again. Lots of both sweet electronic sounds and synthesized “war” noises. Interesting lyrics. Ends a bit oddly.
5. Nice syncopation, lots of synthesized instrumentation.
6. Acoustic guitar and vocals –folk anthem feel. Nice lyrics, no beat.
7. Slightly downtempo, good beat but mostly synthetic. Paeon to Jerusalem, pretty.
8. *Downtempo, mysterious female vocal intro. Strong beat, lots of lyrics (male), autobiographical. Hip hop section in center.
9. Interesting syncopation and some kind of dulcimer/zither. Very pretty.
10. Downbeat, pop sound and rather whiny vocals, depressing lyrics.
11. **Downtempo with strong beat. Love song, pretty but strong.
12. **Goes back and forth between strong midtempo skank and a rather African sounding bit with thumb piano. Cool drum solo.
13. Somewhat uptempo, lots of lyrics, lots of musical changes.