Israel Vibration – Reggae Knights
Reviewed by Sadie O., 8/20/11
Classic-style Roots Rock Reggae. Mostly quite mellow and sweet (no dubstep here!*), fine players of instruments and backing vocals, honest and unprocessed lead vocals, very sincere stuff. Background vocals reflect Israel Vibration’s classic slow vibrato styling. I like the last four tracks, which are all very different from each other in style.
1. 4:37 **midtempo irie swingy bubble. All about sharing with others. Sweet.
2. 4:27 **a bit uptempo but relaxed bubble, all about ital farming. Restrained but delightful instrumentation.
3. 4:54 ****way groovy midtempo bubble with grunty keyboards – great sound.
4. 4:17 **downtempo swingy groove, hint of spaghetti western in guitar; pretty, mysterious vibe. Parables from Old Testament lyrics.
5. 4:22 ***nyahbinghi – classic sound. If you go way up in the hills in Jamaica, this is what church sounds like. (that’s a good thing, BTW)
6. 4:24 **downtempo, rootsy vocals. Sweet guitar solo.
7. 4:38 **a bit uptempo with a lot of swing – and a bit of country western sound. Very mellow – sounds like some early Jimmy Cliff arrangements. Doesn’t sound a bit like New York City to me, but that’s mostly cause there aren’t any honking taxis…
8. 4:30 ***upbeat skank with a hint of Latin sound.
9. 3:52 *midtempo bubble, a bit too smooth instrumentation for my tastes.
10. 4:18 ***midtempo roots skank, good sound, slice of life lyrics.
11. 4:22 ****uptempo and upbeat – almost rock steady – horn section. I think this is about music industry vultures.
12. 4:25 ****midtempo calypso groove with banjo. Jamaican pride song, which fits with the Junkanoo sound.
13. 4:53 ****cool midtempo skank with almost heavy metal guitar, about being sold up the river.
14. 3:57 ****hip hop – in fact almost dubstep*. Very modern, bangy sound, spoken word delivery. Different!