Rough-hewn rhymes and boisterous beats from Lady Saw, the ultra-hyped Laura Jean delivers some finely crafted songs, and the debut album from ensemble act Horsemen Family suggests a promising future.
>Lady Saw. Walk Out. VP Records/ Rhythmethod
4 stars (out of five)
Dancehall remains Jamaica's dominant indigenous musical force, and a particularly male-dominated one at that.
Certainly, one would expect a ruder, rawer and far more aggressive strain of reggae to be populated by a testosterone-fuelled majority. Cue Lady Saw, who, for over a decade, has enhanced her reputation as the "First Lady of Dancehall'' with a hard-punching, bawdy, and (largely) tongue-in-cheek style, which has given the boys a hurry-up.
Clearly, any woman who counters her critics by claiming that government corruption is a far worse evil than dancehall posturing displays a fair amount of testicular fortitude.
Eighth album Walking Out sees the former Marion Hall persist with the same rough-hewn rhymes and boisterous beats that have turned her into a Caribbean heroine, as she fires off feisty couplets aimed at chart rivals (Chat to Mi Back, It's Like That), rivals for affection (Walk Out,
Like It), or male fecklessness (Loser).
She even gets her claws out in her sleevenotes, warning "all the bitches who can't wait to erase my name'' that you "can't buy your way into real people's hearts''.
However, acerbic broadsides are not her only stock-in-trade: the tender Silly Dreams has her smouldering like an R&B diva, while the jazzy Baby Dry Your Eyes exhibits a voluptuous charm to counteract the grit.
The production, too, is engrossing - a rush of demonic stuttering and skittering beats - providing the perfect backdrop for her motormouth delivery, and suggesting a mainstream future for Lady Saw. After all, Missy Elliot and No Doubt have already come knocking. - John Hayden
> Laura Jean. Eden Land. Shock
3 stars (out of five)
One thing you should never do when assessing an unknown artist is buy into the hype. There
seems no end to the amount of critics and marketing personnel vying to fawn over Melbourne-based songwriter Laura Jean.
Some Triple J exposure for her debut and an association with Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody should have no bearing on the matter either. Jean's voice is exquisite, the recording sumptuous but still something is missing.
Eden Land is a folksy and slightly whimsical journey through Jean's subconscious mind, a parallel place apparently discovered while recording the album. Altered consciousness or not, Eden Land is a slightly ethereal stage resonating with Jean's saccharine mix of Joni Mitchell, Edie Brickell and Heather Nova.
Topped off with a random assortment of quasi-Kate Bush-like lyrics, Eden Land quotes from some quality sources.
Some fortitude in the backing band would not have gone amiss. There's no denying that Jean crafts fine songs, it's just that they have a tendency to blend into the same waffly tune after a couple of listens. Jean's solo guitar rings bright and lovely only to be dwarfed by an awful medieval backing ensemble. That's a real shame as stripped right back, Laura Jean is mesmerising.
Persist and ye shall find, however. Thankfully track No 8, Eve, sends more than a ridge of goose bumps up the spine. With her gentle, near spoken delivery, Jean's obvious talent is allowed to shine as she augments the fable with a lone viola, although, at just nine tracks and a mere
30 minutes it's a case of too little, too late.
In a small, intimate setting, Jean would be well worth the price of admission, just as long as she brings only her guitar, the lovely viola and some edgy drums. Eden Land is an assured hint of great tales to come. - Mark Orton
> Horsemen Family. My Shout: The Album. Horsemen Records/Dawn Raid
3 stars (out of five)
When Dawn Raid, New Zealand's most prominent hip-hop label, went into liquidation in April 2007, its stable of artists looked certain to fade into obscurity.
Yet thanks to the pioneering spirit of its creators, the label has risen from the ashes, and its marquee act, the Deceptikonz has responded with an offshoot label, Horsemen Records.
My Shout is the debut release from the label's subsidiary. Comprising the Deceptikonz and a posse of platinum-chained henchmen under the banner Horsemen Family, the release suggests that Aotearoa's foremost hip-hop family possesses the dynastic aspirations of the likes of the Wu-Tang Clan.
Yet, in order to build an empire, perhaps the collective concentrates on ploughing its own furrow.
Much of the album's mood is redolent of the Clan's murky menace (all lunging string sweeps and harsh synth buzzes - though to be fair, there are worse templates from which to draw inspiration).
Similarly, many of the 12 tracks revisit the familiar territory of the rigours of The Game (Hush Mode), pugnacious posturing (Cross the Line), and hedonism (Drink with Us). And, as so often, the beats are on the whole more memorable than the rapping.
My Shout does contain promise though: new blood Frum the Stablez hold their own against Mareko's nimble lexicon on Good Times, while current single Feels Like Magic, featuring reggae act Sweet and Irie, has crossover appeal in spades.
And with such a refreshing lack of skits, the ensemble approach presented here is mostly a winning one. - John Hayden
