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Until
That Day
(Soul Majestic, 2004)
With their sophomore release Until That Day,
Soul Majestic emphatically cements their position in the ever-growing line of
quality homegrown American roots reggae bands.
For this release, the group traveled to the Bob
Marley's legendary Tuff Gong Studios to record.
With this inspiration, plus the helping hands of Jamaican veterans like Sly
& Robbie, Anthony B, Fargo Vice, and
percussionists Bongo Herman and Sticky Thompson, they manage to capture a
genuine roots sound. As an
eight-member group, Soul Majestic projects a refreshingly large, live-band
sound, even when venturing into a traditionally computerized dancehall stylee on
cuts like "Red Eye" and "Be Wise."
Still, these tunes can't compare to the group's strong rockin'
roots riddims -- or even to the more old school (pre-digital) dancehall edge of
"Poor People" and "Sound of the Rhythm."
The music -- as featured on three dubs -- is bewitching enough to
justify an entire dub album, which would be a soothing antidote to all of the
computerized modern "dub" out there. The
vocals are likewise striking, supported by strong melodies and largely female
backing harmonies that make you wonder why -- despite the I-Threes and the Puma
Jones years of Black Uhuru -- there aren’t more
strong female backing vocals today. Soul Majestic takes a welcome step further, however, and has
a female singer, Oriana Sanders -- whose fluttering vocals could be compared to
Dezarie's -- sing lead on "Poor People" and
"Elder Voice." Lead singer Eric
"no relation to Allen" Iverson also has a good voice -- perhaps too good
for the genre. It seems strange to
say, but his vocals could stand to sound a little less trained and more ragged
-- as roots singers generally are. It's
not a major fault, but Iverson sometimes sounds like he's singing musical
theater (as on the theatrical rock delivery on "Strong Meditation") rather
than reggae. I don't know if this
will bother many people, though, and it certainly shouldn't dissuade you from
picking up this excellent album. See soulmajestic.com.
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