Review: The Black Seeds 'Dust & Dirt'

THE BLACK SEEDS
Dust & Dirt
[Easy Star Records]

The Black Seeds are one of the Wellington bands at the forefront of what is often disparagingly referred to as our "BBQ Reggae" scene. While that's a tag a few bands undoubtedly deserve, on the strength of Dust & Dirt it's undeniable The Black Seeds do not. Without dialling up the cliches, the bands' fifth album sees their sound maturing, and the group making a genuine effort to push beyond reggae grooves - though that distinctive lope does remain a central core, particularly on "old school Seeds" songs like Love Me Now. However, it's almost as it the band consciously decided against recording an "anthem" like So True or Cool Me Down with which to climb the charts, but chose to further explore the directions hinted at on their last album, Solid Ground. There were a couple of changes which may have encouraged the experimentation: the bands' own Mike Fabulous handled production and the album was recorded in their own studio space. Either way, Wide Open and Settle Down benefit from the touches of psych-rock, and The Bend shows welcome traces of funk, with its' Stevie Wonder meets Salmonella Dub groove. The other noticeable shift may also have something to do with Fabulous (or more to the point, his solo project Lord Echo), as songs like Don't Turn Around, Loose Cartilage and lead single Pippy Pip slide into beautifully layered disco-reggae blends - and end up being some of the best tracks here. Indeed, Fabulous' production gives Dust & Dirt a sense of grittiness and real warmth which is sometimes missing from their early, often over-polished work. There's an overwhelming feeling that Dust & Dirt may be the beginning of something new for The Black Seeds, who are clearly capable of far greater things musically than their first few albums would've indicated.

3 and 1/2 stars from 5

Aside from investigating some of the links above, you could also check out a few tracks from the album in the player below...

The Black Seeds by Easy Star Records

Live Review: SPLORE 2012

SPLORE 2012
Fri 17 - Sun 19 Feb

The size of the first drop suggested this was real deal rural rain. Sure enough, within seconds it'd arrived, water cascading down the hill to the main stage where Erykah Badu was holding court. Seemingly only minutes later thousands of people were desperately seeking cover in the bar, under tress, flags, awnings and marquees. A few brave souls discarded clothing and danced in togs, while others began the trek home to sodden sleeping quarters. In the glorious Saturday morning sunshine there were tales of collapsed tents, mud-caked sleeping bags and broken legs on the goat track, but that's the rough and smooth of buying into the festival vibe, I guess. Sure, there were a handful of logistical issues (the state of the portaloos and size of some of the queues at peak times), but they're minors and didn't diminish the overall experience. An experience which saw any desire to stick to a timetable cast aside early in the piece. Not only was this incredibly freeing, it meant I was able to see the Cuban Brothers, who were easily one of the funnest acts of the weekend, leading the main stage audience in a sing-a-long tribute to Whitney Houston. It also meant when the bro step and glitch hop of some DJs got a little tiresome I could embrace the full-frontal fruity-fun of the Living Lounge, where acts like Labretta Suede and the Motel 6, Macombee and the Absolute Truth and the In Flagrante burlesque dancers (which, despite being totally NSFW, are well worth a google) encouraged folks to unleash their inner freaks. Aside from the generally positive and accepting atmosphere, it was these 'second and third tier' of performers, artists and extroverts who added the flavour which engaged punters beyond the main stage, while local acts like Funkommunity, The Yoots and Lord Echo were easily the equal of the internationals. Having said that, the really big names didn't disappoint. Mostly. While a lithe and majestic looking Erykah Badu pleased the heads by playing songs from Mama's Gun and Baduizm among tracks from her more recent New Amerykah albums, hers was a set in which she captivated much, though certainly not all of the crowd. Around ten minutes before the rains came, Badu had stopped her band and launched into a monologue about oppression and occupation and the people of Mexico, something which seemed to confuse a great number of the younger audience members, who seemed to like her OK, but were eager for more. Hudson Mohawke had more. More of almost everything, except soul. His blunt trauma assemblage of sounds created walls of noise which saw a significant number of punters seriously lose their shit. Speaking of which, I heard the grassy bank above the main stage on Friday night described as 'Magic Cardboard Hill', and it's not really a festival without that sort of behaviour, is it? The quite remarkable Earl Gateshead showed the Serato-toting DJ youngsters how it's done, spinning dubplates and seven inch vinyl records while getting on the microphone to chat, bigging up the tunes, explaining the history of the riddim or encouraging us to join him in celebrating the "Heroes! Heroes! Legends and heroes who smuggled weed across borders, and through customs!". Quite. Both his DJ sets were among the finest of the weekend, alongside those by Hudge, Mo' Horizons, Spikey Tee and the Soul II Soul Sound System, with Jazzie B and Caron Wheeler who, despite some understandable sound problems following the torrential downpour prior to their set, threw down to those who remained or returned. There are many other moments which stand out, like swimming in the ocean with friends while watching Barons Of Tang work a sweltering mid-afternoon crowd into a dancing frenzy, or sharing in the crazy costumes which the majority of the punters changed into for Saturday night's dress-up theme, 'The Island Of Hooha'. From the heavily-pregnant to the SuperGold card eligible, from tourists who'd built Splore into their New Zealand holiday itinerary to girls in bikinis and gumboots - even those privileged few on yachts in the harbour, lights twinkling under Saturday's cloudless night sky - it was the people who ensured Splore 2012 was a proper party.

An edited version of this review appears in Volume magazine

Review: The Yoots 'Sing Along With The Yoots'

THE YOOTS
Sing Along With The Yoots
[Economy Records]

Call this novelty music at your peril! The Yoots are a veritable supergroup of homegrown talent, courted and corralled by Fat Freddy's Drop trombonist Hopepa aka Joe Lindsay - yep, the one with the big guts who wears tiny shorts and singlets on stage. Lindsay formed The Yoots back in 2006 with his brother Sam, alongside Freddy's cohorts Iain Gordon and Toby Laing, Mike Fabulous aka Lord Echo, and a bunch of others. Working the local live circuit hard with their inspired blend of calypso-ska and country-soul, The Yoots embraced music from East Africa to the Caribbean. However, early in 2010, The Yoots began looking at the musical traditions from their own homeland. Thusly, their debut album Sing Along With The Yoots, is jam-packed with reworked classic Maori tunes from Hoki Mai to Tutira Mai via E Nga Iwi, Me He Manu Rere and more. The true New Zealand songbook.

4 and 1/2 stars from 5