‘Salty Kisses’
Kawena
(Kahiapo Talent)
Kawena Mechler, known around town as a booking agent and show producer, is now a recording artist. Four original songs present her as a local pop singer, and as a songwriter with national potential.
Her lyrics show a knack for coining memorable phrases and lyric images as she describes catching someone while "on the upswing."
Veteran guitarist David "Chino" Montero rocks out in "On the Upswing," and pianist Shawn Livingston Mosley gets the instrumental spotlight on "Always You" — a song certain to be popular with romantics come Valentine’s Day.
One of the advantages of releasing songs on a CD is being able to put them in an order that tells a story. The first three songs here combine to tell of a lonely person who meets someone when they are again "on the upswing" and find the love they’ve been waiting for.
www.kawenamusic.com
"Salty Tears"
‘Motion and Rest’
Stephen Agustin and the Fourth Wall
(Hungry Ear Records)
A generation after Peter Agustin and a Top 40 "cover band" named Funny Company played off-nights at the Waikiki Beef ‘n’ Grog on Kalakaua Avenue, his son, Stephen Agustin, is advancing the family commitment to music with this impressive debut album.
Stephen, who plays several instruments, is the primary voice and the resident writer of the project. Paul Brittain (bass), Kimo Short (drums) and Kasey Shun (guitar/vocals) help build his compositions into powerful modern rock. The group, SA4W for short, opens the album with melodic, hard-edged, electric guitar rock but proves equally accomplished when switching to acoustic guitars and smooth falsetto harmonies.
"It don’t take much/To fall completely in love with a lie," Agustin observes early in the album, and his thoughts on the impact of time and illusion on human relationships deserve a careful listen. The instrumental passages are always interesting and never become "filler."
The quartet wraps things up with "When the Half-Gods Go," a plaintive lament delivered over a seductive potpourri of "noise" that brings the musical journey to a soothing conclusion.
"Motion and Rest" is available at Hungry Ear in Kailua and at music.sa4w.com.
www.sa4w.com
"The Big Bang Phenomenon"
