A Thinking person’s sacred che of dance
I like the way K-os [pronounced like the noun “cha - os”] thinks, for truly he gets it, and his music brings the Whitman’s Sampler of assorted flavors as he debouches “Atlantis – Hymns for Disco”, [Virgin Records 54284]. It is very listenable on the home tip as well as for us DJs who will be able to pick n’ choose according, and within the eclectic nature of the venue we are playing in.
The first beats of this CD feature those sampled from the ole James Brown female protégé Lynn Collins’ “It Takes Two” and will knock your socks off if your aren’t firmly grounded with your shoes tied. The track is entitled “Electrik Heat – the seekwill”, bringing it “Can you feel it? To da beat y’all. Let the music play 4 the pee-pull”- style. Next he takes us straight to Dip City” with a slow jam chance for you DJs to glean if your crowd wants to get up close and personal with one another. “Fly Paper” is ole Al Hirt’s “Flight of the Bumble Bee” (the Green Hornet theme from the seventies’ TV show with Bruce Lee as “Kato”), from the start, then gets caught between some rock and a jazz hard place with a mix of sung and spoken words.
K-os stands for “Knowledge of Self” and it is exactly that concept that further attracted me to this effort, fore it is not just a slogan, his music seems to live it as on track five, “Sunday Morning”, the first single to be released late last year, and should be on the charts now according to his publicity. “Sunday Morning” is about renewal and the chance for success with the dawn of another day, in my opinion. It has a good hook, and a lively, positive beat that embodies a true promise of uplifting all of us whose ears it blesses. As he states in the press release, growing-up “If Saturday night was party night, Sunday morning was family time in my house.” He is going for the successful sound of “Hey Ya” on this one.
Other notables are track nine, “Cat Diesel” with a Hugh Masekela Serengeti chorus feel, and my personal favorite, “Black Ice – Hymn for Discos” which should be the next single culled.
To use the cliché that there is “something for everyone” on this CD is to evoke another by calling that “an understatement”. Tracks six and seven, ‘Mirror In The Sky” and “Born To Run” skulk throughout, never obtaining the needed momentum, even on a downgrade, however.
On the Hip Hop flavored “Cat Diesel”, the programmed five-on-five staccato bass line becomes the hook late into the song; vaguely reminding me of a jam from Marvin Gay’s little-played “Praise” album, just with a faster tempo, and the lyrics are really poetic. The juxtaposition of that is striking when you hear the Q-Tip-like “AquaCity Boy” next. We like this more and more, boye! Then just when you think K-os has sold-out to the dance, he slows it down with an introspective, folksy lecture on “Highway” – as in the highways of life, in my opinion.
“The Ballad of Noah” is a creative, pathos-filled song that provides a moving, percussive ending to this album capturing your emotions syncretically.
K-os has taken the circuitous route to the US market, from his native Trinidad and up through Toronto in order to become the new champion of positive Hip Hop and R & B. Maybe a place like HOT (97FM) in New York City should re-discover it’s roots of sixteen years ago and embrace this style instead of trying to compete with the edgier forms of a Power 105 an it’s ilk. “Atlantis-Hymns For Disco” won’t stop there however, this has it’s sights set on other radio formats like Contemporary Hits, Adult Contemporary, and modern forms of Rock too! I recommend the website – www.k-osmusic.com for the info, musical links, and colorfulness like the CD’s cover art. Additionally, the text is easy to read there, unlike the often miniscule lyrics available when you open the physical album. Based upon all of the above, I can pluck five “aos”-um stars for this stellar olla podrida.
