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Click pic to buy! |
| Full Cup (Natural Vibes/House of Rastafari, 2004) This is the first Midnite-affiliated album I've heard that I can't recommend to even the biggest fan of the band. (Well, the biggest fan might want to check it out just for curiosity and/or completeness, but I don't think he'll be terribly entertained.) While Vaughn Benjamin provides vocals, the music is produced and arranged by Ras L, who previously worked on Midnite Branch I's Project III set. As such, the sound is more of the avant-garde Branch I type: slow, simple, and percussive, sounding as much like drowsy hip-hop as reggae. Benjamin seems to take a cue from the repetitive beats and delivers the most repetitive, unmelodic vocals I've heard from him. He's managed to carve a uniquely appealing rapid-fire chanting style on many of Midnite's proper albums, but here, it just drones and drones and drones. Did I mention that it's repetitive? To make matters worse, the mind numbing repetition goes on for 17 tracks. Did I mention that it's repetitive? Only a few tunes -- "The Sign," "My Light," "Oil Scrolls" -- display enough variation to prevent a fit of narcolepsy. Full Clip feels like a bunch of songs stripped from Midnite's hip-hop-flavored Let Live for being not release-worthy, showing that if you want to taste the magic of Midnite, go directly to the source. |
| Track Listing 1. Sold Out 2. The Sign 3. Walk wid I 4. Chant Arda 5. Man 6. Togeda 7. My Light 8. Dey Ya 9. My Staff 10. Ganja Alagy 11. Oil Scrolls 12. Man Ethio 13. Redeem Alone 14. Reach 15. Worthy Deeds 16. Money Mint 17. Man Dem |
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Thru & True (Rastafaria, 2006)
*GUEST
REVIEW*
At least in my area of the country, Thru & True is one of the most widely available
Midnite albums, along with Unpolished and Scheme a
Things. Resist the urge to buy it. Whereas those albums offer inspired, organic roots reggae,
Thru & True offers only pale, imitation trip-hop. Although Ras L attempts to place Vaughn Benjamin in a unique sonic space, he very seldom succeeds. Most of the 18 tracks sound distinctly second-rate, with a sound as dull and unappealing as titles like "Skull Dung" and "Tools" would suggest. But for all their mediocrity, at least those songs are produced with competence. Some others
-- especially "Stars (Applawz)" -- are so poorly produced that they might as well have been recorded at
Lee Perry's Black Ark -- after he burned it down. While
Thru & True is not absolutely un-listenable, it is close, and I can recommend it only to
hardcore fans looking to complete their collections. For more casual listeners who may be intrigued to hear Vaughn Benjamin chant over
electronica-laced riddims, Suns of Atom would make a far better choice.
- Reggie
| Track Listing 1. Viybz 2. Stars (Applawz) 3. BC 4. Bak Bone 5. Belial 6. Beta Ment 7. High Ona 8. Tools 9. Skull Dung 10. Heat 11. Da Frame 12. Karn 13. Inity 14. Abuna 15. Mat 16. Thru & True 17. Falla Gad 18. Ina Ye |
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