Sista Irie's Conscious Party - Singers and Players - Israel Vibe

Photo by Sista Irie

This helped open the door for Mark Wonder’s first US performance at the 14^th annual Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, a 3-day Northern California music festival, which features the best in conscious, modern roots, old school reggae and world music, along with a late-night dancehall. Joining Wonder on the SNWMF 2007 lineup were fellow Jamaicans Bunny Wailer, Sugar Minott, Tony Rebel, Bob Andy, Derrick Morgan, Queen Ifrica, Chezidek and The Maytones to name just a few. Other performances were offered up by Brazil’s Carlinhos Brown, Spain’s Ojos de Brujo and the Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars.

The Sierra Nevada patrons were deeply moved by Wonder’s impassioned delivery and outstanding vocals. The vibrant reception by the crowd led Wonder to be brought up to Eugene, Oregon for an appearance at last month’s North West World Reggae Festival where he performed along side artists that included Luciano, Ky-Mani Marley, Prezident Brown and Admiral Tibet. Wonder completed his West Coast swing with concerts at the Marcus Garvey Day Celebration at San Diego’s World Beat Center, Club Mozambique in Laguna Beach and at Club Six, a popular night club in San Francisco.

His debut performances in the United States were punctuated with the release of Mark Wonder’s newest album "Victory – The Mystery Unfolds" by Battle-Axe/Jah Light Music. Excellent vocals abound on the 13 tracks which are contained on this CD that includes productions from Addis Records, Al.Ta.Fa.An. and Pow Pow Records out of Germany. Victory is replete with roots melodies and a strong message of Rastafari from this militant soldier and includes combinations with Lutan Fyah and Anthony B.

The musical journey for Mark Wonder, which began many years ago, has been a long one with lots of trials and tribulations along the way. But the success of his recent West Coast appearances has sowed the seeds for an impressive following there. With another tour planned for early 2008, it would appear that, musically speaking, "Victory" is at hand for Mark Wonder.

"Frontline" riddim medley - Medley of the "Frontline" riddim featuring : Chezidek, Mark Wonder, Admiral Tibet, Natural Black, Turbulence video promo produced by addis record (YouTube)

There was a time - in the late 90's - when quite a few people thought Israel Vibration were done. Apple Gabriel left the group and his input was thoroughly missed on more or less mediocre albums like "Pay The Piper" and "Jericho". Remaining members Skelly and Wiss seemed to be worn out, having worked with the same group of people for almost a decade. Still, a first sign of change and a breath of fresh air was when Sly Dunbar replaced Carl Ayton as the drummer in the "Jericho"- sessions. The follow-up, "Fighting Soldiers", got better response - probably due to Dennis Thompson, whose mix sounded much more sophisticated than the mixes done at Lion & Fox for previous Israel Vibration-releases.

Now here comes "Stamina" - Israel Vibration's first studio album in five years... and it was worth the wait. On a first impression one can't help but notice all the changes that took place. New label (Mediacom), new producer (Tyrone Downie of the legendary Wailers), new recording-, mixing- and mastering-engineers, and finally: a step back to some simple, but solid original roots-riddims... at times very much like the ones they recorded with Henry 'Junjo' Lawes for their "Why You So Craven"-album in the early 80's. Canute 'Neil' Ellis' excellent mix adds a lot to that impression, as for once the vocals are beautifully woven into the mix and do not sit on top of it as it was the case when Jim Fox was in charge.

Israel Vibration's five-year-hiatus from the recording studio obviously revived Skelly and Wiss' songwriting skills, resulting in some beautiful, catchy melodies and thoughtful lyrics. A good vocal delivery adds to that impression. Producer Tyrone Downie strips down the music arrangements to an appropriate measure and even makes good use of a drum-computer (courtesy of Sly Dunbar) on three tracks - a first for Israel Vibration.

Unfortunatly, replaygain-values around -8.33 dB and a look at the files in a wave-editor prove that the mastering of the album was done "hot", resulting in a lack of dynamics. Still, the overall-impression of the album is excellent and makes the mastering a minor flaw. Highly recommended!

I think "Midnite vs. Midnite" is a catchy title for this review, but also a pretty much misleading one. "Better World Rasta" and "Bless Go Roun" are not competing against each other; these two very different albums just happen to be released around the same time on two different labels. Unusual release-strategy of the artist? I don't think so - I believe there is no strategy whatsoever when it comes to Midnite; at least no commonly known one. The albums are ready when they're ready and will be released on various independent labels. Since we're talking about a very productive collective, this seems to happen almost every other month or so. At times it feels like you haven't digested the new album when the next, newer one is already knocking on the door. In that sense the two albums in this review are already outdated, since a brandnew one - "Infinite Quality" - will be available soon.

So how does Midnite do it und who is Midnite anyway? Well, first there is Midnite, the band, consisting of brothers Ron and Vaughn Benjamin plus various musicians. And there are several incarnations of Midnite, centered around singer & songwriter Vaughn Benjamin - such as Midnite-I Grade, Midnite-Branch I, Midnite-Ras L, Midnite-Mystic Vision, Midnite-Higher Bound, Midnite-Rastar and more. Each of these names indicate a collaboration of Vaughn Benjamin with another producer for a particular album, giving him the freedom to explore different musical paths. Live on stage it all becomes somewhat indistinct since Midnite (the band) plays also stuff from the collaboration-albums - which adds to the impression that Vaughn Benjamin is the center of it all.

So here are the two current releases "Better World Rasta - Midnite-Rastar Calloboration" (sic) and "Bless Go Roun - Midnite-Higher Bound Prod." (sic), and although both are enjoyable, they differ very much in style and sound. The first one surprises with the use of two 80's Black Uhuru-riddims but stays close to the sound we're used from the Midnite-I Grade collaboration for the rest of the tracks. This comes as no surprise since all tracks have been recorded by Laurent "Tippy" Alfred at the I-Grade Recording Studio; the very lively mixes were done by Sean Wedderburn at Rastar Recording Studio. The downside of "Better World Rasta" is the horrible mastering, if there was any mastering done at all: Replaygain-values range from -8.46 dB ("Gi Dem") to +1.94 dB ("Negus I Rastafari"), which makes a whopping difference of 10.40 dB. If you don't want to blow your speakers, you better turn down the volume before "Gi Dem" comes up!

"Bless Go Roun" on the other hand surprises with exceptional sounds, a clear mix and a well balanced, although "hot" mastering around -7.50 dB. Producer Ryan 'Ishence' Willard certainly has his own style and works with HipHop-beats and various unusual samples and loops - like cello-spiccatos and -pizzicatos on "Ye Lands", harp-like sounds on "Nomo" or Kraftwerk-inspired electronicas on "Here On". This makes listening to the album an experience, an exiting journey into new territory. Still I consider it a Reggae-album, pushing boundaries.

"Midnite vs. Midnite" as title for this review seems even more out of place, considering what "Better World Rasta" and "Bless Go Roun" have in common: The exceptional vocal- and songwriting talents of Vaughn Benjamin.

The Mystery of Mark Wonder Unveiled

Rousing Debut US Performances Lead to ‘Victory’.