Island Mele

Friday, October 12, 2001

By John Berger

"Hawaiian Steel Vol. 2"

Various artists
(Keala)

The steel guitar is the most endangered of the four-string instruments associated with Hawaiian music. Many people play ukulele, slack key or acoustic bass, but there aren't many steel players of the Baby Boom generation or younger. Greg Sardinha is one of Hawaii's four most prominent young players. He produced this compilation and features the other three -- Alan Akaka, Bobby Ingano and Casey Olsen.

Akaka's bouncy rendition of "In a Little Hula Heaven" and Sardinha's sprightly take on "Kewalo Chimes" are fine examples of uptempo steel standards. Olsen's smooth interpretation of "My Rose of Waikiki," and Ingano's gorgeous "Ua Like No A Like" are in the tranquil romantic style that millions elsewhere associate with Hawaii. An Ingano original, "Beauty & Harmony," brings the traditions of romantic steel into the 21st century.

MP3 Audio Clips: Beauty & Harmony Hilo March On A Little Bamboo Bridge Quicktime | RealPlayer | MPEG-3 info

"Beginnings"

Opihi Pickers
GO Aloha Enterprises

The Opihi Pickers surfaced in 1998 with a debut album memorable for appallingly bad remakes and grating nasal vocals. This second effort by three survivors and two new recruits is a major step forward. Picking -- by young ukulele virtuoso Imua Garza -- is where they excel, but their vocal skills have improved.

The arrangements are a crisp commercial mix of semi-acoustic Jawaiian and Pure Heart-style pop. The songs are fresh. All but one is new. Garza wrote seven of 14; two are impressive instrumentals that give him room to rock. Several of the others should become local hits.

The lyrics here are mostly on the high school love song level but "Victim" is enigmatic. Is the singer warning a female friend of another man's sexual scheming, consoling her after the fact, or trying to get her for himself? Read into it what you will, but applaud the rebirth of the Opihi Pickers.

www.opihipickers.com

MP3 Audio Clips: Victim Guilty Love You Forever Quicktime | RealPlayer | MPEG-3 info

"Uh-Oh"

Fritz & Bobo and the Mutant Sidekicks
Flying Eye

This indie-label album is out of California but has an important local link. "Fritz" is none other than Fritz "Da Fritz" Hasenpusch, a major creative figure in Hawaii's proto-rock scene in the '80s as a member of Shnazz and the Heebee Jeebee Bros. Both were cutting edge; the Heebs' single, "Merry Merry Christmas Baby," was one of the best locally written Christmas songs of the Reagan-Bush era.

Hasenpusch hasn't lost his edge as a musician or writer. He has a talented partner in John "Bobo" Newman. Think Zappa or Dead Milkman or Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper -- that's where they're coming from. Strong undercurrents of comic irony flow through the power-rock opener, "Candyapple Metalflake Pinstriped Buddah," and a tongue-in-cheek love song, "Trailer Park Princess." Other songs address the "My god is better than your god" syndrome or explore comic horror/sci-fi themes.

www.angelfire.com/hi4/WikiWakiWoo

MP3 Audio Clips: Candyapple Metalflake Pinstriped Buddha Trailer Park Princess When I Am King Quicktime | RealPlayer | MPEG-3 info

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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.