"Seeds of Aloha"
George Kahumoku Jr.
(no label)
"The Timeless Voice"
Richard Ho‘opi‘i
(no label)

Slack-key master and all-around entrepreneur George Kahumoku Jr. adds movie production to his resume with the release of these two double-disc packages. Each comprises a detailed biographical movie on DVD and a soundtrack CD of the songs in the film, and each serves as a beautiful introduction to the life and career accomplishments of a major figure in modern Hawaiian music.

Kahumoku is a three-time Grammy Award-winning record producer for his work on the "Masters of Slack Key" series of albums recorded at the weekly concert he presents on Maui. Richard Ho‘opi‘i is one of the great Hawaiian falsetto voices of the past century.

The biographies begin with genealogical information that show their subject’s connections to the culture of their ancestors. It’s notable that Kahumoku and Ho‘opi‘i spent their earliest years immersed in the traditional island culture of rural Hawaiians and were raised in multigenerational families; Ho‘opi‘i still lives in a secluded valley on Maui.

Some of the musical performances are archival material from Kahumoku’s Slack Key Show at the Napili Kai Beach Resort. Others were shot for these films. Whatever the context — solo or with other musicians, performing for an audience or the camera — they are welcome additions to any collection of modern Hawaiian music. The DVDs are excellent as well.

For more information, go to kahumoku.com.

"Only Love"
Kulewa
(Oversized Productions)

Kulewa was a solid trio when it released an eponymous album back in 2009. This time — with Gregory Marsh (drums/percussion) joining founding members Ron Hetteen (guitar/backing vocals), Keali‘i Lum (bass/backing vocals) and Damon Parrillo (lead vocals/guitar/bass) — the group is officially a quartet. Reinforced by vocalist Kelly Covington on two songs and assorted studio musicians on others, Kulewa puts its own spin on several popular genres of 20th-century music.

Remakes of two hapa-haole classics — "Honolulu, I’m Coming Back Again" and "Waikiki Chickadee" — are beautifully done with steel guitarist Bobby Ingano as the featured guest. Hetteen switches from guitar to Tahitian banjo and gives a bright South Seas feel to a song that was an American pop hit in 1940, "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)."

With other songs Kulewa evokes memories of the Waikiki nightclub bands and lounge entertainers of the 1970s. That 1970s feeling is also found in Kulewa’s remakes of a Cecilio & Kapono hit, "Someday," and a Temptations classic, "Don’t Look Back."

For more information, go to www.kulewa.com.

"Raw Sugar"
Pau Hana Blues Band
(Kekela Sounds)

The Pau Hana Blues Band is the latest musical project of Mark Coleman, a Honolulu Star-Advertiser editorial page staffer, and fellow musicians William Altizer and Byron Lai. They write in the liner notes, "Did we mention we never practice? You can probably tell," and that pretty much defines it: Three veteran musicians with solid instrumental skills having a great time experimenting with various regional accents as they play a diverse mix of blues, pop and rock.

Self-deprecation aside, Lai is a formidable guitarist, and Altizer and Coleman are a solid rhythm section.

Coleman is the songwriter in the group and, no surprise, he has a way with lyrics. With "Me and the Bank," a song about home mortgages, he shares a slice of the blues that almost every homeowner in Hawaii can relate to.

Pau Hana Blues Band plays Mondays at On Stage Drinks & Grinds in Kapahulu. They sell "Raw Sugar" between sets. For more information, go to www.kekelasounds.com.

"Storm’s A Brewin’"
Storm
(Tin Idols Productions)

In-your-face conflicts between women have inspired country music songwriters for decades and been part of rap music for almost as long as female rappers have been rocking the m-i-c. Over in the high-decibel world of Goth-metal rock, it’s a different story. Death, loneliness, vengeful spirits and the Apocalypse are all common topics but "women’s issues" haven’t been.

That makes a certain song on Storm’s debut album an instant standout in a beautifully crafted collection of dark doom-and-destruction rock.

The title probably isn’t appropriate for a family newspaper, so suffice it to say that lead vocalist Sandy Essman calls out the female object of her fury with a torrent of verbal abuse while Tatiana Grecic (keyboards), Jase LeFebvre (guitar), Gerard K. Gonsalves (drums) and Darren Soliven (bass) rock and roar behind her.

Tin Idols Productions is the collective that successfully reworked a Broadway classic as metal with "Jesus Christ Supernova" and then created an imaginative Christmas compilation, "Metal Kalikimaka Volume I." Gonsalves was the leader on both projects. "Storm’s A Brewin’" reaffirms his place as a leader in Hawaii’s metal music subculture.

For more information, go to www.facebook.com/storm808.

"Anthology 1994-2014"
Eric Lee
(Lee Enterprises)

Eric Lee has played a lot of music in the last 20 years. He was part of a Jawaiian/ local pop group, the Ka‘ala Boys, and recorded serious Hawaiian music as a member of the Kanile‘a Collection and Hoku Award-winning Na Kama, as a solo artist, and as the last official member of the Makaha Sons.

Lee is commemorating his first two decades as a professional musician with a three-disc boxed set — two CDs of music and a DVD that documents his journey visually.

The CDs display Lee’s work as songwriter as well as his talents as a musician and singer. The songs come from the Hawaiian or hapa-haole side of Lee’s repertoire, although he includes a new arrangement of a song he did with the Ka’ala Boys.

Two songs, "Hali‘ali‘a Aloha" and "Mahina’s Lullaby," stand out as perhaps the last songs recorded by Louis "Moon" Kauakahi before his retirement from the Makaha Sons.

No Hawaiian album is complete without the Hawaiian lyrics, basic English translations and background information. Lee provides all that in the liner notes booklet that completes his milestone project.

For more information, go to www.ericleehawaii.com.