My Book, Music, Movie, Electronics, Computer, Software, Reviews.
I do a bit of writing at www.epinions.com, and will periodically reprint them here with a link (click and I get paid) to the original review at my epinions site.
Weather Report: Heavy Weather. 8/18/2010
Pocahontas Revealed.
John & Abigail Adams.
Indigenous: Things We Do.
http://www1.epinions.com/review/musc_mu-292812/content_521931361924
Indigenous: The Things We Do.
By
James P. Zaworski
I was in the USA for the first time in two years last month, and visited my oldest brother in Wisconsin. We had a good time catching up. We were checking out his stereo system and his iPod shuffled to a song “Things We Do” by a group called Indigenous. I instantly liked this band! Their sound was very distinctive but familiar, and I was instantly reminded of Stevie Ray Vaughn and a little of Hendrix, and even the Allman Brothers. It was a ‘feel good’ blues/rock sound, and I was struck by not only the guitar playing but also the vocals.
I learned that Indigenous is a Native American band that debuted with this very CD in the late 1990s. We listened to the whole recording, and I said “play that again”, and again. I was so impressed that I purchased and downloaded this CD from iTunes and two others since I’ve been back in China.
What follows is a personnel and tracklist of Indigenous “Things We Do” followed by my review and take on what I consider to be the highlights of this, their debut recording.
Personnel--
Mato Nanji---guitar and vocals
‘Pte—bass guitar
Wanbdi—vocals and drums
Horse--percussion
Things We Do Tracklist.
1. Things We Do - 4:54
2. Got To Tell You - 4:32
3. Now That You're Gone - 3:54
4. Blues This Morning - 3:24
5. Bring Back That Day - 5:07
6. Nothing I Can Do - 5:46
7. Begin To Wonder - 3:36
8. How Far - 5:11
9. What's Goin' On - 3:32
10. Don't Take Your Time - 3:05
11. Holdin' Out - 5:14
12. Another Yesterday - 3:07
Review of Things We Do.
1. Things We Do, 4 minutes and 54 seconds.
This is the very first Indigenous song that I heard, and this was the song that got me interested, and now hooked, on this band. The tune starts out with a nice drum and percussion and then into the main theme on guitar, which is a very rhythm and blues mellow sound rather than a hard blues/rock sound, and then into the vocals:
As I close my eyes,
A dream comes to me,
Of the wind blowing leaves,
And whisper to me
Mati’s voice is rich, deep, and distinctive. The lyrics follow a blue line and feel, but the song is a relaxed, laid back and of medium volume and four four time. The lyrics are not terribly complex, but convey a feeling consistent with the music. Towards the end of the song, there is a guitar solo where Mati proves that he is worthy of taking on the mantle of SRV (you may argue with me, but SRV seems to be Mati’s main influence, and Mati shows it here but with the hint at his own signature style in its infancy here on their debut recording). “Things We Do” is a great song, and this title track is one of my favorites on this recording.
2. Got to Tell You.
This one is a blues song, all the way. Not only that, I thought this was Stevie Ray Vaughn when I first heard this song (as my brother’s iPod had been on shuffle, I thought it was a different artist than the first song). SRV sound not only in the guitar and hard sound, but also the vocals sound exactly like him. As I mentioned before, I like it. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, and a little imitation goes a long way here, but I don’t mind it at all. It’s kind of a tribute to SRV’s sound. The solo at the end is great.
3. Now That You’re Gone.
This is another loud blues/rock sound with a good, solid tempo that is at once toe tapping and even danceable. This song is between the first two in feel, from easy to serious blues hard sound. The rhythm section here shows that they are pretty tight as a band (indeed, they are all related, brothers and sister and cousin). It’s another good one. In fact, it is so good that it made it to number 22 on the pop charts, besides being number one in the blues charts.
4. Blues This Morning.
A hard and driving blues tune, Blues This Morning lives up to its name. This one says Muddy Waters to me all over or BB King, and Mati does them proud. I’d love to be in a club to hear them jam this one out. Blues This Morning conveys the feeling perfectly, and is another highlight.
5. Another Yestereday.
This one is a more mellow tune and it rounds out my list of highlights on this recording. It is an acoustic guitar based tune with some decent vocals and harmonies and good lyrics as well. The feeling is full of regret and sadness and remorse, and love, and it’s a good song. It evokes memories and will bring tears to your eyes if you’ve ever been in love and have lost, but remember.
All in all, Indigenous’ first CD, “Things We Do” is an excellent debut blues/rock CD. It was both critically and popularly well received. While it does have a lot of songs that resemble one another, it has enough variation to be worthy of merit and of potential. Indigenous has gone on to fine tune their sound and their musicianship, and I have three of their CD’s now, including one from 2008 and will pick up their latest 2010 release as a result. They’ve definitely grown and are a force to be reckoned with on today’s music scene, and hold a worthy place in my music library.
Recommended:
Yes
Indigenous: The Things We Do.
By
James P. Zaworski
I was in the USA for the first time in two years last month, and visited my oldest brother in Wisconsin. We had a good time catching up. We were checking out his stereo system and his iPod shuffled to a song “Things We Do” by a group called Indigenous. I instantly liked this band! Their sound was very distinctive but familiar, and I was instantly reminded of Stevie Ray Vaughn and a little of Hendrix, and even the Allman Brothers. It was a ‘feel good’ blues/rock sound, and I was struck by not only the guitar playing but also the vocals.
I learned that Indigenous is a Native American band that debuted with this very CD in the late 1990s. We listened to the whole recording, and I said “play that again”, and again. I was so impressed that I purchased and downloaded this CD from iTunes and two others since I’ve been back in China.
What follows is a personnel and tracklist of Indigenous “Things We Do” followed by my review and take on what I consider to be the highlights of this, their debut recording.
Personnel--
Mato Nanji---guitar and vocals
‘Pte—bass guitar
Wanbdi—vocals and drums
Horse--percussion
Things We Do Tracklist.
1. Things We Do - 4:54
2. Got To Tell You - 4:32
3. Now That You're Gone - 3:54
4. Blues This Morning - 3:24
5. Bring Back That Day - 5:07
6. Nothing I Can Do - 5:46
7. Begin To Wonder - 3:36
8. How Far - 5:11
9. What's Goin' On - 3:32
10. Don't Take Your Time - 3:05
11. Holdin' Out - 5:14
12. Another Yesterday - 3:07
Review of Things We Do.
1. Things We Do, 4 minutes and 54 seconds.
This is the very first Indigenous song that I heard, and this was the song that got me interested, and now hooked, on this band. The tune starts out with a nice drum and percussion and then into the main theme on guitar, which is a very rhythm and blues mellow sound rather than a hard blues/rock sound, and then into the vocals:
As I close my eyes,
A dream comes to me,
Of the wind blowing leaves,
And whisper to me
Mati’s voice is rich, deep, and distinctive. The lyrics follow a blue line and feel, but the song is a relaxed, laid back and of medium volume and four four time. The lyrics are not terribly complex, but convey a feeling consistent with the music. Towards the end of the song, there is a guitar solo where Mati proves that he is worthy of taking on the mantle of SRV (you may argue with me, but SRV seems to be Mati’s main influence, and Mati shows it here but with the hint at his own signature style in its infancy here on their debut recording). “Things We Do” is a great song, and this title track is one of my favorites on this recording.
2. Got to Tell You.
This one is a blues song, all the way. Not only that, I thought this was Stevie Ray Vaughn when I first heard this song (as my brother’s iPod had been on shuffle, I thought it was a different artist than the first song). SRV sound not only in the guitar and hard sound, but also the vocals sound exactly like him. As I mentioned before, I like it. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, and a little imitation goes a long way here, but I don’t mind it at all. It’s kind of a tribute to SRV’s sound. The solo at the end is great.
3. Now That You’re Gone.
This is another loud blues/rock sound with a good, solid tempo that is at once toe tapping and even danceable. This song is between the first two in feel, from easy to serious blues hard sound. The rhythm section here shows that they are pretty tight as a band (indeed, they are all related, brothers and sister and cousin). It’s another good one. In fact, it is so good that it made it to number 22 on the pop charts, besides being number one in the blues charts.
4. Blues This Morning.
A hard and driving blues tune, Blues This Morning lives up to its name. This one says Muddy Waters to me all over or BB King, and Mati does them proud. I’d love to be in a club to hear them jam this one out. Blues This Morning conveys the feeling perfectly, and is another highlight.
5. Another Yestereday.
This one is a more mellow tune and it rounds out my list of highlights on this recording. It is an acoustic guitar based tune with some decent vocals and harmonies and good lyrics as well. The feeling is full of regret and sadness and remorse, and love, and it’s a good song. It evokes memories and will bring tears to your eyes if you’ve ever been in love and have lost, but remember.
All in all, Indigenous’ first CD, “Things We Do” is an excellent debut blues/rock CD. It was both critically and popularly well received. While it does have a lot of songs that resemble one another, it has enough variation to be worthy of merit and of potential. Indigenous has gone on to fine tune their sound and their musicianship, and I have three of their CD’s now, including one from 2008 and will pick up their latest 2010 release as a result. They’ve definitely grown and are a force to be reckoned with on today’s music scene, and hold a worthy place in my music library.
Recommended:
Yes