Check out ‘Melody Maker’ – The true story of a White Plains boy who found both God and reggae. Essay by Mike Rubin. http://www.nextbook.org/cultural/feature.html?id=225
“Though Matisyahu’s talents are evident in concert, his albums leave me wanting. He’s not without real skill, but on record his backing band is dull; the grooves are too tame and overly polite, and the basslines—perhaps reggae’s most crucial sonic component—are positively timid. Matisyahu is devout not only in his love of God and Torah but in his fealty to the reggae genre, and his albums are reverent to the point of blandness. While songs like “Warrior” and “King Without a Crown” have memorable melodies, elsewhere he falls prey to the same affliction that plagues much underground “backpack” hip-hop, especially by white rappers: overcompensating on their props-paying to the point of tedium. His records suffer not from a lack of talent but from a lack of excitement.”
I thought SOTDA rocked. Timid basslines? Overly polite grooves?Cracka please. That album was off the chain. Rastas were bumpin it. Catholics were bumpin it. Jews were definately bumpin it, and most yidden round here still be bumpin it. Fo sho.
BTW, yall seen the video for Youth, right? Tefillin on MTV.
We’re living in a different world than our parents did at our age, for sure.
wow, yasher koach mobi. yeah, so if anyone hasn’t heard, matis is performing in SF for purim at Purimpalooza. check it out at the chabad sf calendar.
I didn’t see it on the Chabad web site. Please share the details.
Check out ‘Melody Maker’ – The true story of a White Plains boy who found both God and reggae. Essay by Mike Rubin.
http://www.nextbook.org/cultural/feature.html?id=225
“Though Matisyahu’s talents are evident in concert, his albums leave me wanting. He’s not without real skill, but on record his backing band is dull; the grooves are too tame and overly polite, and the basslines—perhaps reggae’s most crucial sonic component—are positively timid. Matisyahu is devout not only in his love of God and Torah but in his fealty to the reggae genre, and his albums are reverent to the point of blandness. While songs like “Warrior” and “King Without a Crown” have memorable melodies, elsewhere he falls prey to the same affliction that plagues much underground “backpack” hip-hop, especially by white rappers: overcompensating on their props-paying to the point of tedium. His records suffer not from a lack of talent but from a lack of excitement.”
yeah i read that article and thought it was a bullshit…am i the only person who thought shake off the dust was better than live at stubbs?
I thought SOTDA rocked. Timid basslines? Overly polite grooves?Cracka please. That album was off the chain. Rastas were bumpin it. Catholics were bumpin it. Jews were definately bumpin it, and most yidden round here still be bumpin it. Fo sho.
BTW, yall seen the video for Youth, right? Tefillin on MTV.
We’re living in a different world than our parents did at our age, for sure.
shmuel–teffilin on mtv? madonna did it first! 🙂
for all your live Matisyahu needs: archive.org
Thanks for this…we are going to see him March 12th in Houston…can’t wait