PAPA MICHIGAN: LOVE IZ (2010)

 PAPA MICHIGAN - LOVE IZ (Rashanco) 2010

I'm a huge fan of Jamaican deejay duo Michigan and Smiley and I'm proud to say that Papa Michigan (aka Baddingo aka Anthony Fairclough) has recently dropped a first class new solo album called Love Iz.

M&S were the foundation rub-a-dub team (and first duo) coming up around '78, '79 when Papa Michie and the Original General were still in their youthman years. They rode rough on a clutch of souped-up Studio One rhythms overseen by the man himself, Coxsone Dodd. If you haven't heard Rub-a-Dub Style (Studio One) you should probably stop what you're doing and get it. Copies seem to be as rare as hen's teeth these days but I recommend starting on Ebay. Highly recommended  -- as are M&S other LPs, particularly the rootsy Downpression and Step By Step, both with instrumental backing by the Roots Radics at the peak of their powers.

Sonicly, Love Iz is about as far away from Rub-a-Dub Style as one can get. Michigan has adopted a more rapid and edgier vocal style in the past several years and his music has been updated and sounds rock solid. The opener, "Yutes of Today," just as on Rub-a-Dub, however, reaches back into the past for its rhythmic base, in this case the classic "Declaration of Rights" riddim. There are also departures into a more, mainstream R&B sound on several numbers, particularly "Work it Up" and "Husla." Michigan, who produced the bulk of the album, displays an excellent delivery and flow and a surprisingly strong singing voice here. The legendary deejay has given us a fresh set of killer tunes that maintain his trademark social conscience, positive outlook and spirituality -- but he's also not afraid to "Light Up" and let loose which is what makes Papa Michigan so much fun to listen to. You can tell you're listening to a guy who's making music and having a blast doing it. Look out for guest appearances by Al Campbell, Luciano, Tarrus Riley and Hopeton Lindo among others. Oh yeah, it's also got the anthemic "Barack Obama" on it. If I were President, I'd make it the new "Hail to the Chief."  Pick it up at ebreggae.com or download at Amazon.com.

LOST: My thoughts

I don't really have much to say about it all...I had a major LOST overdose last night...watched over 5 hours of LOST programming. I always thought the show lasted one season too long...and I'm sticking by that assessment. I wasn't really disappointed in the ending -- I mean, I thought it was handled pretty well -- but it was definitely underwhelming. Basically what I thought was going on back in the first season came true. It's a little lame that some interesting threads were *excuse me* lost on the way. I mean, I'd love to learn more about the Dharma inititive, who exactly Eloise was, what was Widmore looking for on the island? Why were there polar bears? How could Mr. Friendly (remember him?) travel between the island and Manhattan? Does any of this matter? I guess the point is that it's really about the ride. Sorta like life itself. I got a big kick out of the first four seasons. I enjoyed this final season less so, mainly cause it seemed a bit like the producers and cast were just going through the motions for the fans. The initial plot lines were abandoned, but they tried to make it up in the last episode with reappearances by first season characters Shannon and Boone -- although it seemed a bit of stretch to thing that Shannon was Sayyid's soulmate. The awful CGI effect of the plane taking off (why, with a supernatural smoke monster, immortality and time-travel such staples of the show, do I find the biggest leap of logic on LOST to be the fact that anyone could jump start a commercial jet and take it off an overgrown island where it had previously crashed?) troubled me but the finality of the conclusion, not to mention the sight of a major American fictional character slowly dying on screen, was haunting. It's got me dwelling on how I spent the last few years of my life following the mystery and the bittersweet conclusion that doesn't really answer all the questions. In the end, it doesn't really have to.