Bedouin Soundclash – Street Gospels
Reviewed by Sadie O., 8/27/07
Unusual Reggae in a variety of styles, straight from Kingston – Ontario. High, emotional vocals take a bit of getting used to, and a few songs leave me a bit cold, but the playing is superb, there are some amazing vocal harmonies, and the songs that click (esp. tracks 10-12) do so in a big way.
No FCCs detected. I like track 3, and I really like 10-12.
1. 3:54 **a bit Lucy in the Sky-ish (funny, they mention that song, halfway through), high vocals. Rather uptempo skank after almost a minute of intro. Subdued instrumentation.
2. 2:31 *solo vocal intro, then uptempo, almost ska skank. Great bass.
3. 3:01 ***spoken intro, midtempo skippy skank, nice combo of vocals.
4. 2:58 **folky guitar strums, downtempo skank with a bit of nyabinghi.
5. 1:57 *solo slow gospel vocals, joined by quite a choir. No instruments.
6. 3:58 **midtempo bubble with snippets of steel drums. Also a bit sanctified sound.
7. 2:14 **solo vocal intro. midtempo Rasta nyahbinghi skank – subdued and sweet.
8. 3:43 acoustic guitar and solo vocals. Bit of rock steady bass after a while. A bit TOO sweet for my tastes.
9. 4:32 *downbeat folk-pop. Pretty, but kind of odd sounding. Ends early, then far away jazzy piano
10. 2:50 ****downbeat and dubby with a healthy dose of Clash.
11. 3:34 ****wonderful slow dub skank.
12. 3:47 ***bass runs, midtempo slinky skank, mysterious and cool.
13. 3:03 *a sad slow dance for the late night beach blanket crowd.