Artist: 10 Ft. Ganja Plant
Album: Bass Chalice
Label: RIOR
Year: 2005
Reviewed By: Woodstock Slim
Phwoarrrr!
Whaat da 'ell is dis mon! Roots! Pure Black, Red, Green and Blue Roots Reggae Raaaaas! Unbelievable! When I first heard a sample Mp3 I had no idea the rest of the album was going to rack it up against the speakers too. I'm sooo picky about Reggae, always have been and like there is a hard line between Rap and Hip Hop there is a hard line between Reggae and Stodge(crappy pop reggae). I needed to review Bass Chalice. It blew my mind. This is also my first meeting with this band and I must admit the name of the band definitely made me want to give it a listen. I was originally looking for a soulful melancholy Reggae tune for our radio show, The Unhappy Hour.
The track "Last Dance" fit the profile, The track opens with an almost generic "scooba dooba scooba dooba doop woo-woo-woooo..." with a sincere female vocal loop. Joined by vocal harmony of the two voices quite distant from each other. With lines like..."today is the day you are going to leave me" and then he asks her for a last dance, 'cause things between them had not worked out. He has understanding and reverence in his delivery and says" I could have made you promises and could have been locked down in a hole..." Unbelievable track. And a suspicious track called "Swedish Prison" with some of the most melancholy saxophone harmonies I've hear in a long time. The music definitely tell a story here and listening to it brings up images of war time and suffering, sadness and only having potatoes to eat. It's is truly beautiful. A song to judge all others by.
"Engine trouble" sounds like the first morning, sunrise
set at an outdoor Reggae festival scooping out bags of sunshine onto
the grassy hills... The rest of Bass Chalice captivated me and it seemed to replay at will in my Cd player. Not often Reggae vibes flow through my crowded study but this album brought back memories from when I was younger and listened to lots of great Reggae stars like Africa Brothers, Misty In Roots, LKJ, Eek-A-Mouse, U-Roy and very little Marley.
Bass Chalice has lots of flavors in it, soul, truth, religion, love, understanding, memories, thankfulness, honesty and late 70's Roots Dub. Contributions by a host of great musicians I understand come from John Brown's Body and a few others pulling together this awesome side project that has since become a band almost on its own.