Customer Reviews

Tings An' Times

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To listen to the music alone, one would expect the lyrics to be something along the lines of love on a beach, birds singing in the spring, and other such sweet nothings. But no, LKJ is a dub poet, which means his leanings are distinctly political and most definitely on the serious tip. Not that you could understand everything he's trying to lay on you through the Jamaican patois, but when you hear the names Ceauscescu and Honeker you know he's not talking about a walk in the park.

To listen to the music, though, he might as well be walking through the park with not a care in the world nor a thought heavier than the delicate breeze at his back. It's a weird thing, much like Morrissey, over bouncy Smith's melodies, rapturing about the heavenly nature of being flattened along with his lover (of unknown persuasion, of course) by a double decker bus.

But unlike the British, Jamaicans know how to have fun even on the political pulpit (I take that back - If you've ever watched the House of Commons on C-Span, you know the Brits can rip it up white whigs and all, and that the Prime Minister can cap with the best of `em). The rich uplifting sounds of an LBJ production attest to the spirit of the islands, the heavy rolling beats clearing a path for the rollicking frollicking tropical medley of flutes, trumpets, and trombones. The result is an album best taken on a sunny day with a few fruity rum drinks on the side.

If you like reggae with the heavy beats - Steel Pulse and Black Uhuru come to mind - and the multitextured melodies of west African world beat music, buy it.

On musical grounds this stands as Linton's most ambitious song cycle concerning oppression and it succeeds marvelously. Rarely have brass and flutes sounded this upbeat. He spices up his established reggae-jazz leanings with World beats. His long time band knows how to bob and weave around him. Obviously that's only the half of it. He's as serious as ever and his patois in conjunction with his lyrics require intense relistening. He mentions political names in "Mi Revalueshanary Fren" that haven't reached this side of the pond too often. The killer title track is so downtrodden that the dub-instrumental closer is either needed to deflate the seriousness of the whole or else to pave the way to a morsel of optimism. As a vocalist and poet his sense of humanity is sharply felt. And I love those electric violins on "Story".

The way Linton Kwesi Johnson mixes thoughtful socially conscious lyrics with traditional reggae beats and then blends in jazz instrumentation all to a hypnotic effect -- well, his middle name might as well be "Krasi". And I mean "crazy good"! Its never boring and always adventurous, reminiscent of the way Bob Marley could get your toes tapping and your head bobbing all the while he was singing about the oppression of his people. This is an amazing CD and probably my favorite of his. Not a mediocre song on it. A real treat. The more you listen, the more you hear.