‘The I-Project’
Audible Lab Rats
(Tektonik808 Music)
Audible Lab Rats’ breakthrough album comes with a notable back story: Most of the music comes from free iPhone apps. Recording technology will continue to evolve, but at the moment this is a benchmark. That aside, the high quality of the work is the important thing.
Chris Blue, Werdupstu Sta, DJ Skid and a few guests use an impressive assortment of beats and audio effects that represent several decades. Hawaii hip-hop artists are generally witty and imaginative lyricists, and Audible Lab Rats maintains that tradition with references to Britney Spears, Cyndi Lauper, Trekkies, George Clinton and "Papa Bear’s porridge." If some of the lyric images are over the heads of contemporary audiences, so much the better.
The standout track in terms of lyric content, "picupdapieces," shares the band’s frank perspectives on the Philippines and its history. "Our forefathers shed their blood in the land of our mothers/Still Third World living … you just another lost piece to the puzzle" is the refrain as the group comments on conditions there and America’s role in creating some of the problems.
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"picupdapieces"
‘A 20 Year Collection of The Mana‘o Company’
The Mana‘o Company
(Dan Pa Productions)
Founding members Danny Kennedy and Salaam Tilman celebrate the Mana‘o Company’s 20th anniversary with this economically packaged collection of recordings by its current roster: Kennedy (bass, vocals), Tilman (drums, percussion), Kaulana Pakele (vocals), Frank Sua (keyboards, vocals), Jack Ofoia (guitar) and Jan Luna (keyboards). The sextet is joined by a constellation of guests on various tracks, including Fiji, Keali‘i Reichel, Harold "H-Dawg" Kama, B.E.T. and "Radical Rob" Onekea.
The selections include new recordings of the group’s early hit medley, "Drop Baby Drop"/"Who Loves You," their Na Hoku Award-winning song of the year, "Aloha," and a disco remix of "96 Degrees in the Shade."
Kennedy said several years ago that although they hit the local charts as a Jawaiian act in the ’90s, the group’s original repertoire included other genres. "Jungle Rain," which they recorded the first time in the ’90s for an early Mana‘o Co. album, is a glimpse of what might have been.
"96 Degrees In The Shade"
