Harris, Corey – Zion Crossroads
Reviewed by Sadie O., 7/24/07
Very rootsy and well done Reggae – I was a bit shocked to recall that Harris hasn’t been a Reggae artist, but a bluesman with a longstanding interest in African music. Most tracks have a very classic roots feel to them. He’s clearly done a lot of research. Many of the lyrics are quite simple and straightforward, although not all the subjects are so basic.
No FCCs detected. I like the French track, 9 – but most of the tracks are really good.
1. ***relaxed midtempo bubble, classic roots Reggae sound. Sounds a bit like early Culture – very nice.
2. ***midtempo bouncy bubble, rather simple lyrics but very cool music. Great classic toast by Ranking Joe.
3. *midtempo skank, almost Lover’s Rock in tone. Sweet singing, kind of belies the lyrics.
4. ***downtempo skank, rather minimalist, strong lyrics and subject.
5. ***classic roots bubble, wonderful sound. Rasta simplicity lyrics. Bit of blues guitar.
6. ***uptempo bubble, cool keyboard sound. Blues guitar solo.
7. *pretty bit of thumb piano and African language chanting.
8. **somewhat uptempo bubble. Simple lyrics. Bit of thumb piano
9. ****uptempo skank, lyrics in French. Very much in the style of African Reggae like Tiken Jah Fakoly. Simple and nice.
10. ***starts with 10 seconds of very low level percussion. Midtempo skank, sweet singing, mostly repeating the old aphorism about cleanliness.
11. **uptempo, folk acoustic guitar and vocals, bit of violin, not Reggae but a pretty cool sound and strong lyrics.
12. *midtempo bubble, sweet. Sax solo.
13. ***gospel flavor, long intro. Uptempo skank, Rock Steady.