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| Love Heights (Carivan, 2004?) Named for the famed region of Jamaica (home to Count Ossie and Rico Rodriguez, amongst others), Wareika Hills is a 10-piece band hailing from France who draw inspiration from the classic Jamaican roots reggae sound of the 1970s. Their style is as unassuming as their aim for this debut set (They were treating it as an experiment of sorts and had only a few hundred copies pressed.). Love Heights is laid-back and meditative, with modest, understated vocals -- a bit like Hawaii's Ooklah the Moc. Their easygoing nature, however, isn't indicative of the group's hard-hitting messages, as the opening track, a poignant first-person tale of the internal struggles of Rwanda, attests. And those of you in the US who don't speak French won't even need to buy a dictionary; the lyrics are in English! Huzzah! Although the band supposedly wasn't very experienced when it came to recording an album, this may actually have helped their sound more than it hurt. The songs feel organic and enchantingly unpolished; you can pick out each individual instrument, and nothing feels synthesized or overly sterilized by "studio magic." Beautiful stuff. Take a listen at www.myspace.com/wareikahills. |
| Track Listing 1. Rwanda 2. People Down 3. Mother Music 4. Celestial Jerusalem 5. Accept to Be a Man 6. Not Stranger 7. Feel Strong 8. Fulfilling Light 9. Josianne 10. Shatan (Carivan Dub) |
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