Bass Chalice

10 ft. Ganja Plant – Bass Chalice (ROIR)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/12/05
Mellow and sweet roots reggae with a bit of dub overtones. Mostly instrumentals, custom made for relaxing with a big ol’ mess of Jah herb… The few vocals are nice although they betray the upstate New York background of the band. A standout is track 5 with vocals by the Meditations (classic roots vocal trio).
No FCC. I like track 5 best, but 4, 6, 8 and 9 are nice too.
1. 3:56 subtle start, into downtempo skank, mellow instrumentation. Very sweet guitar. False ending about a minute and a half from actual end. Instrumental.
2. 3:50 another very quiet intro, uptempo with dub/syndrum sounds overlayered. Goes more dubwise a little after halfway through. Long fade at end. Instrumental
3. 3:35 female chorus and electric guitar. Slow sad song of lost love. Oooh, it’s really sad. Pretty. But sad.
4. 3:29 **siren and police radio instrumental. Midtempo groove with very cool trumpet.
5. 4:26 ***Meditations provide vocals – very nice indeed. Midtempo skank with tinkling piano. Upful.
6. 3:11 **downtempo, a bit mysterious, nice horns. Long fade.
7. 4:11 somewhat strange vocal intro, nice midtempo skank with very pretty male vocals (maybe a bit TOO pretty).
8. 4:05 **downtempo with pronounced drums. Cool alto sax. Would work nicely in a jazz set, actually. Slow fade.
9. 4:42 **uptempo (almost ska) skank with Marleyesque vocals. Dub and toast towards end.
10. 4:32 midtempo dub with what sounds like a farfisa.