‘The 25 Greatest Hawai‘i Albums of the New Century’

Various artists
(Mountain Apple)

Rolling Stone magazine has made itself the subject of ridicule in recent years with its lists of the "Greatest (fill in the blank) of All Time" — as if "all time" began only around 1940 and doesn’t have billions of years yet to run. Now, with only 87 years to go until the year 2100, Hono­lulu Magazine has followed Rolling Stone’s example by announcing the 25 greatest "Hawaii" albums of the century. That’s a period of 100 years, folks! Songs from 12 of the 25 are included here.

The producers conform to the format set by the producers of the seven compilation albums that won Grammys in the now-defunct Hawaiian category by including the work of male and female vocalists, steel guitarists, ukulele players, falsetto singers and slack-key guitarists. Although this album contains no instrumental songs, there is much diversity within the Hawaiian musical traditions represented here.

Use of the word "Hawai‘i" rather than "Hawaiian" in the title is the key to the project. Given the many genres of music recorded by Hawaii-resident artists — from Go Jimmy Go to the Angry Locals, Don Tiki to Kings of Spade, Sing the Body to Paula Fuga — making the list about "Hawaii" artists rather than "Hawaiian" artists is appropriate. For instance, it allows the compilers to put an acoustic pop song by John Cruz on the album alongside 11 that are either Hawaiian-language or traditional hapa haole.

It also allowed them to include albums by Anuhea (No. 11), Jack Johnson (No. 12) and The Green (No. 25) on the original 25-album list. No. 13 is an anthology of recordings by John Kameaaloha Almeida (1897-1985) that were made in the mid-20th century but re-released in this century.

There is then a bit less ethnocentrism evident in this project than in the infamous Rolling Stone lists. On the other hand, who can say that no great Hawaii albums will be recorded between 2013 and 2100? Oh well!

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"Waimanu I Ka Lauoha"