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Island Mele
Friday, July 28, 2000
Andrada’s ‘Days’
full of gentle soulThese Are the Days: By Vincent Andrada (Olena VA2000-1)
VINCENT Andrada is a gentle and imaginative soul whose soft pop love songs should appeal to the same audience that embraced Audy Kimura almost 20 years ago. All the songs are originals. "Amblin' Road" and the title track are two of the potential local hits here.
Andrada slips in a bit of acoustic blues with "Sam Bone" and seems equally comfortable when boosting the energy with light rock hymn "Glory And Honor." Lyrics and background information on each song complete this beautiful album.
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PETER and Henry Bergstrom added Hawaiian chant to world-class dance club mixes, formed Sunland, had a local hit with "We Are Only Human," and then got a national record deal. Their new Sunland album is an international project recorded in Honolulu, Miami and Stockholm. It features vocalist Claudia Vazquez. She proves highly commercial throughout and almost every song has the potential to become a national dance club hit.
The Bergstroms distinguish themselves not only as producers, engineers and song writers, but as arrangers as well. They reference a hook from Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" in a memorable reworking of "Hotel California." They also succeed where others have failed in offering a fresh perspective on Miriam Makeba's 1967 hit, "Pata Pata."
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AT least the album cover concept is clever. Side Salad is almost equal parts earnest Jawaiian originals and generic remakes. The group's namesake song is reminiscent of two old Quintinn Holi songs but with Rodney Villanueva adding the comments of an obnoxious local diner. It would a stronger song without the voice overs, but demonstrates the trio's potential.
Christopher Cross' "Sailing" is nicely cloned and a reggae beat treatment of Champaign's "How 'Bout Us" also passes muster as a decent remake. A tedious Jawaiian rehash of Gladys Knight's "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" edges out an equally pointless revival of "Don't Worry Be Happy" as the worst.
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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.
