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Island Mele
Friday, April 28, 2000
‘Good Time’ shows
growth and creativityHave A Good Time:
By Ho'onu'a (Feel Good Entertainment - FGECD 420)HO'ONU'A -- Jared Keo and Christian Yrizarry -- takes a creative leap forward with their second album. Keo and Yrizarry are still shrewdly perpetrating the basic Jawaiian format in vogue here, but have clearly broadened their musical horizons as well.
Most noteworthy is the positive blues ambience of several songs. Few local acts do remakes that are worth hearing but Ho'onu'a proves an exception with two versions of "Fire," one mainstream and one for the Jawaiian market.
"Pride," a Yrizarry original, is a reggae-beat plea to end ethnic and neighborhood rivalries. No composer is credited with "Summertime Fun," a 3-minute-and-41 second commercial for FM 100 that includes a salute to long-time FM 100 power broker Davey D and his friend and colleague "Radical Rob" Onekea who produced the track. Don't expect to hear it on Island Rhythm 98.5.
Email: fge420@hotmail.com
Mpeg Audio Clips:
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By Maunalua (Koa - KOA 103)HERE'S a great find for anyone who appreciates Hawaiian music. Clean acoustic arrangements compliment smooth harmonies and clear falsetto in a beautiful collection of Hawaiian standards. A single Top 40 tune, "Teach Your Children," is done nicely as well. Information about the significance and meaning of the other songs is all that's missing.
http://www.maunalua.com
Mpeg Audio Clips:
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By Solana (Aku Boy Productions - abcd-1003)SOLANNA Duque seems at first to be merely Reality lite. Get past the thin synth track arrangements and pseudo-Jamaican affectations and there's a promising artist here. Duque wrote or co-wrote six of the songs. As with most Jawaiian and local pop projects, the originals are far more noteworthy than the remakes.
The title song is an original reggae beat number that should suffice to get her on Hawaii's island music radio stations. "One Night Stand" is better and shows what she can do in a mainstream pop mode. "What Eva's" blends a reggae beat and local slang in an engaging manner.
A passionless and awkward assault on "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is the weakest of several insipid remakes.
Aku Boy Productions - 91-902 Fort Weaver Road #101 - Ewa Beach, HI 96706
Mpeg Audio Clips:
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See Record Reviews for some past reviews.
See Aloha Worldwide for locals living away.John Berger, who has covered the local
entertainment scene since 1972, writes reviews of recordings
produced by Hawaii artists. See the Star-Bulletin's Today
section on Fridays for the latest reviews.
