---

"Ke Aloha: Hawaiian Love Songs"

Pierre Grill
RVR

Pierre Grill approaches familiar Hawaiian melodies from an unusual perspective with his second album of solo acoustic piano stylings. He cuts no corners with his choice of keyboards, using a 9-foot Bösendorfer on some selections and a 6-foot, 4-inch Pleyet on the others. Nothing electronic here!

Grill's beautiful arrangements get inside familiar tunes, taking them through uncharted territory, before returning to the recognizable melodic signatures of "E Ku'u Morning Dew," "Ku'u Home O Kahalu'u" and "Pua 'Olena." They evoke the links between Hawaiian music and the Western classical traditions that go back well more than a century. The songs also provide a soothing musical antidote to the stress of modern life.

---

"Maui Style Second Edition"

Various artists
Lyri-Cool Productions

There's a nice sense of ohana in this compilation from Maui-based Lyri-Cool Productions. The credits reveal that on most of the songs, the singers wrote the lyrics and the producers provided most of the music. The ohana aspect kicks in when some of the vocalists help out on others' songs. That's a nice touch.

Jamaican impersonators predominate over the pop singers by a margin of 6-to-4. Most of the Jawaiian acts are good enough, however, for play on Hawaii's island music-format radio stations. Of the others, Tiana's lament, "Wasn't Meant 2 B," is longer than necessary but at least shows that she has a good voice for local pop.

"Not This Way," sung by the single-named Leora, is more interesting because of the way the producers use acoustic instruments that complement the seductive timbre of her voice.

But it's a shame there are no artist bios included with this album. While they might be recognizable on Maui, most are unknowns here in Honolulu.

---

"The Ex-Superheroes"

The Ex-Superheroes
Hawaiian Express

The punk band's DYI album is the latest to percolate up out of Hawaii's fertile underground music scene. Their 19-song project has been floating around for a while and is available at their gigs and their Web site at www.exsuperheroes.com. It offers no earthshaking, new ideas, but the group explores the usual topics of alienation, ennui, political issues and relationships wrapped in raw high-energy punk and reggae-style rock.

The one instrumental, "Late for What I Hate," shows that they can play more melodically as well.

The one obvious error is the repeated use of a hackneyed epithet that adds nothing to the music. Using four-letter words for effect is fine, but swearing just to hear yourself do it is immature.