Island Mele: Artist debuts album of lasting appeal
‘Falling for You’
Veronica
(Jumpstart Music)
Singer/songwriter Veronica Pangelinan, a Makakilo resident, introduces herself with a collection of five original songs — four co-written with local music veteran Lance Motogawa, the fifth with a cousin currently living in Oklahoma. Give her credit for not cutting corners on production costs; she and her producers, Motogawa and Kalapana founder DJ Pratt, use live instruments on several tracks where other young artists would settle for computerized substitutes.
Appealing voices are never out of style, and songs about irresistible love are always popular — Wilson/Phillips’ “Impulsive” and “Take It While It’s Hot” by Sweet Sensation being great examples from an earlier era. Veronica borrows nothing from either song but gets maximum commercial leverage with the title song. A commercial Jawaiian beat drives her account of falling for a man whose charms she cannot resist (“My mind is saying ‘forget him’/My heart won’t let go”). Her voice and the lyrics sell the song — a guy can imagine that she’s singing about him; women can relate to the emotions she describes.
Veronica describes the pain of departure — for a mainland college, the military or whatever — with “I Know.” So many people have been leaving Hawaii in recent years searching for better opportunities elsewhere that this song too expresses feelings that many people share. Veronica also touches the heart with “The Fire,” a requiem for a relationship that is “no longer burning.” Songs like this one will have an audience for as long as hearts get broken.
Veronica and Motogawa make a bid for play on Hawaii’s self-styled “island music” radio stations as they welcome Tim “Papa T” Troxell as her guest vocalist on “Just an Island Girl.” With Herb Ohta Jr. reinforcing the “island” feel on ukulele, the song is tailor made for the “kanakafarian” set.
The songs on “Falling for You” are available on iTunes.
“Falling For You”
“I Know”
“Just An Island Girl”
‘Love Town’
Kolohe Kai
(Go Aloha Entertainment)
Kolohe Kai builds on the commercial momentum of its 2009 debut album with this collection of original compositions that showcases singer/songwriter Ramon De Peralta. De Peralta wrote all the songs and is the only distinctive voice, so the septet’s producers, Imua Garza and Brett Ortone, must have a concept in mind.
The format is reminiscent of the formula that launched Garza as a solo artist out of the Opihi Pickers. Based on De Peralta’s work here, he could easily go the same route, moving on to record as a solo artist with studio musicians and backing vocalists behind him. This is a group project, however, and Kolohe Kai got a much better start in 2009 than the Opihi Pickers did back in 1998.
Maybe it’s a coincidence, but several selections have a Bruno Mars feel. The phrase “typical heartbreaker” sounds like something Mars could have come up with, and the arrangement has a touch of the Smeezingtons to it. The processing of De Peralta’s voice in “Contagious Smile” is even closer to something that Mars and the Smeezingtons might assemble — not that there’s anything wrong with that! Why shouldn’t De Peralta’s musical horizons extend far beyond Hawaii and the Jawaiian/pop styles popular here?
At this point, however, Jawaiian rhythms predominate. De Peralta’s imagination as a lyricist is found in the title track as he describes “a special place where love’s around.” Is it a physical location or a state of mind? Either way, the song is a fine showcase for De Peralta’s voice.
There have always been songs tied to a particular stage in life. The Beach Boys can sing songs like “Be True to Your School” and “When I Grow Up to Be a Man” today because they recorded them back when the guys were in the appropriate age group. The youthful textures of De Peralta’s voice give “First True Love” an honesty that the same song sung by a much older vocalist would lack. “Written in Stone” is also imbued with the optimism of youth and young love.
The septet puts a praiseworthy harder edge on their Jawaiian repertoire with “K-O-L-O-H-E” — there’s more energy in this song, and more soul. Crank it up!
To make sure that they’re not overlooked, the other members of Kolohe Kai are Jordan Augustin (guitar, vocals), Noah Cronin (ukulele), Luke Daddario (drums), Warren Estencion (bass), Jasmine Moikeha (vocals) and Wilson Wilson-Ku (keyboards, sax, vocals). Maybe their individual talents will be featured more prominently on the group’s next album.
“Love Town”
“First True Love”
“Contagious Smile”
MAILANI MIXES HAWAIIAN STYLES
”Aina’
Mailani
(Mountain Apple Co.)
Mailani Makainai’s first solo album, “Mailani,” beat out albums by Nohelani Cypriano, Amy Hanaiali’i Gilliom, Raiatea Helm and Lorna Lim to win Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2010 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. Her second is therefore a front-runner for the 2012 Hoku Awards — it would represent Hawaii quite nicely at the 2012 Grammy Awards as well.
The single-monikered singer and her producers, Dr. Trey and Jon de Mello, explore a cross section of Hawaiian and hapa-haole standards in superb style — two styles, actually. Mailani generally backs herself with additional vocal tracks, creating a sound reminiscent of her Hoku Award-winning recordings with Lei Malket. When she omits the backing tracks, the result is representative of how she sounds playing clubs and concerts. The naturalness of the “solo” sections is particularly nice.
“He’eia,” the opening song, sets the mood and reassures the listener that this is a follow-up to her solo debut. The interplay between the guitar and ukulele, the energy added by various percussion instruments, and Shawn Ishimoto’s unobtrusive work on bass blend Hawaiian and haole (non-Hawaiian) elements in contemporary Hawaiian ways. That feeling is maintained through each song that follows.
By including remakes of iconic pop standards, Mailani follows the example set in recent years by Gilliom — and with the same uneven results. Mailani sings “Yesterday” nicely, but the Beatles’ version remains the definitive one, and adding Hawaiian lyrics here is an indulgence. On the other hand, few artists have dared tackle U2′s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” but there’s a playfulness in Mailani’s voice when she sings about “holding hands with the devil” that takes the song in a different direction. Bono sounds tormented and on edge; Mailani sounds content and at peace with herself.
No Hawaiian recording is complete without the Hawaiian text and English translations. That essential information is available at www.mountainapplecompany.com/mailani.
“He’eia”
“Pane Mei”
“Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”
—John Berger / jberger@staradvertiser.com
