Mutabaruka / Life Squared
| Album: | Life Squared | Collection: | Reggae | |
| Artist: | Mutabaruka | Added: | Jun 2002 | |
| Label: | Heartbeat | |||
A-File Activity
| Add Date: | 2002-08-12 | Pull Date: | 2002-10-14 | Charts: | Reggae/World |
|---|
| Week Ending: | Oct 6 | Sep 29 | Sep 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airplays: | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | Jan 06, 2020: | Everything (last hour edited for best of show 6-15-20)
Dem Seh |
4. | Jul 08, 2007: | Transmission Overload
Confusion Today |
|
| 2. | Dec 20, 2018: | Hanging in the bone yard
One People |
5. | Jun 10, 2005: | No Cover, No Minimum - Part 1
Time We Realize |
|
| 3. | Nov 17, 2018: | audio ambrosia
One People |
6. | Mar 04, 2004: | forty degrees
One People |
Album Review
Fo
Reviewed 2002-08-06
Reviewed 2002-08-06
MUTABARUKA – Life Squared
HeartBeat, 2002
REGGAE / SPOKEN WORD – Mutabaruka may be reggae’s poet laureate. His words relentlessly push black consciousness and pan-Africanism, cutting to the heart in a way few others have ever been able to match (only Linton Kwesi Johnson comes to mind). As soon as that instantly-identifiable voice starts talking, you know it’s time to shut up and listen. Surprisingly, this is his first full-length album of new material in eight years. In it, he attacks oppression, religious hypocrisy, international economics and much more. The dub-roots backing tracks are uneven (several are downright weak), but it’s all about the words anyway.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 13, also 3, 4, 10, 12, 14
02. up/med tempo, good rockin’ rhythm
03. great ska cover: men vs monkeys
04. dub rhythm, self-determination lyric
05. economics lesson w/ska-dub track
06. gimmicky “What’s Goin’ On” update
08. laid-back roots + positive philosophy
09. spoken word tribute to a lost friend
10. an essay on religion, nice backing
12. in praise of women, w/religious overtones
13. slammin’ horn/piano track, strong lyric
14. slow jazz track, poem about a poem
15. mostly acoustic track, about a dream
16. stripped-down, mixable version of track 3
18. long remix of Mutabaruka’s masterpiece
[Fo] - 8/6/02
HeartBeat, 2002
REGGAE / SPOKEN WORD – Mutabaruka may be reggae’s poet laureate. His words relentlessly push black consciousness and pan-Africanism, cutting to the heart in a way few others have ever been able to match (only Linton Kwesi Johnson comes to mind). As soon as that instantly-identifiable voice starts talking, you know it’s time to shut up and listen. Surprisingly, this is his first full-length album of new material in eight years. In it, he attacks oppression, religious hypocrisy, international economics and much more. The dub-roots backing tracks are uneven (several are downright weak), but it’s all about the words anyway.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 13, also 3, 4, 10, 12, 14
02. up/med tempo, good rockin’ rhythm
03. great ska cover: men vs monkeys
04. dub rhythm, self-determination lyric
05. economics lesson w/ska-dub track
06. gimmicky “What’s Goin’ On” update
08. laid-back roots + positive philosophy
09. spoken word tribute to a lost friend
10. an essay on religion, nice backing
12. in praise of women, w/religious overtones
13. slammin’ horn/piano track, strong lyric
14. slow jazz track, poem about a poem
15. mostly acoustic track, about a dream
16. stripped-down, mixable version of track 3
18. long remix of Mutabaruka’s masterpiece
[Fo] - 8/6/02
Track Listing
| 1. | Dem Seh | 10. | Spirituality | |||
| 2. | War a Gwaan Dung Deh | 11. | Muta Seh | |||
| 3. | The Monkey | 12. | Mother Divine | |||
| 4. | Time We Realize | 13. | One People | |||
| 5. | Life and Debt | 14. | I Write a Poem | |||
| 6. | Confusion Today | 15. | Dream Girl | |||
| 7. | Muta Seh | 16. | The Monkey (Mento Mix) | |||
| 8. | I Truly Believe | 17. | Muta Seh | |||
| 9. | Pele | 18. | Dis Poem (Remix) |