Search - Half Pint :: No Stress Express

No Stress Indeed. . .

Achis | Kingston, JA/Philipsburg, SxM | 04/14/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"(3.5stars)

I'll maintain from today until the my last day that reggae music is a vibe that has the power to heal and ease various types of struggles and pains in people. I don't care who you are, where you are from, if you can Overstand the word to the songs or even if you actually LIKE the music at all, somewhere and from some artist there is a reggae song which can hit a spot in you and just lively up your vibes when they aren't so lively. Over the years, there have been many artists who have conveyed this particular vibe of healing and easing the pain specifically in their music and even in their overall musical approach. Of course, the very first example is without a doubt Cocoa Tea. The now legendary Clarendon native has made an entire career and a rather MASSIVE fan base (myself included) based at least partially on the strength of his voice, his style and his overall musical approach; all of which go to build some of the most lethally relaxed type of vibes ever seen in any form of music. If you have never heard Cocoa Tea, just look at the name, perhaps never before a name has ABSOLUTELY captured the vibes of an artist before in music. Similarly, there is Beres Hammond, a bonafide reggae superstar and legend. Hammond makes a brand of reggae which is absolutely necessary. I challenge you to a find a fan of American r&b music over the age of thirty who doesn't enjoy Beres Hammond's music. Hammond routinely, and has routinely over the past several decades cranked out vibes of such a smooth and relaxed and `stress free' nature (save for the songs on the broken hearted vibe which he tends to do, but even those don't drop the vibes none at all) which have become a virtual staple in reggae music. Simply put: the game just wouldn't be the same without Beres Hammond. There are other artists such as Sanchez, Wayne Wonder and most notably who also tend to fall into the category of making just supremely easy vibes in reggae music. Of the three, Luciano has definitely made the biggest impact on the specific vibes here and done so from a nearly COMPLETELY spiritual side, while Wayne Wonder flirts occasionally with the hardest of hardcore dancehall and Sanchez flirts with the hardest of hardcore INACTIVITY. Yet, they all to some degree have helped push the rather welcome (at least to me) stereotype of the ultra laid back, yet very spiritual, reggae singer, seemingly singing for no one in particular, yet all who stop to listen seem to consider hearing the vibes a PRIVILEGE.



Yet another artist who more than adequately fits those vibes and one who it has certainly been the pleasure and privilege of millions of reggae fans (again, myself Included) worldwide to enjoy over the past three decades or so. The diminutive (thus the name) Kingston native has enjoyed a whole heap of success and respect in the business as, originally, one of the most prolific and downright dynamic songwriters in the game, along with being a very fine singer and performer. Pick up his vibes at nearly any point of his career and you'll definitely hear why I've included him alongside names as Cocoa Tea, Beres Hammond and perhaps most importantly (in terms on contrast) the Messenjah, Luciano. Half Pint's style is part Luciano and part Beres Hammond: At his absolute best, you'll get COMPLETE spiritual gems such as (my personal favourite Half Pint tune altogether) Greetings and at the same time, on the other end of the spectrum of vibes, you'll get syrupy sweet tunes such as Just Be Good. Vocally, his high pitch is almost a stronger version of Cocoa Tea's tones at times and, just as it does for Cocoa Tea, it serves Half Pint immensely as his range allows him to control the overall tone of his music (in contrast to someone like Luciano, who would not sound well singing anything besides his brilliant spiritual vibes); Half Pint could probably sing ANYTHING he wanted to (check Mr. Landlord for more on that). His writing style also allows him such versatility and freedom in his vibes, when he is able to write strong cleverly serene material one time out and the next write a political and social commentary into a vibe which is ultimately `guarded' by his vocals (meaning even if you don't want to hear what he is saying, because the vocals are so strong, you, being a reggae fan, are ultimately drawn to it in some way), you have to pay attention to Half Pint. And Jamaica and the extended reggae community has definitely been paying attention for quite awhile, as the past decade or so hasn't been his most active stretch as an artist (expectedly so), Half Pint still performs quite consistently, if you happen to live in the western states in the United States you probably know somewhere the singer has played in the past year or so as he stays quite active on that scene (as does legendary dancehall singer Eek-A-Mouse), making Half Pint one of the few artists (particularly of the roots variety) who have found the lion's share of their successes in the advanced stages of their careers in the States while many of his peers continue to trod to (and seek residence) in Europe. He also continues to maintain his very high status here in Jamaica, and not only amongst the elders. Taking his entire `bag of tricks' as an entirety you could definitely say the singer is one of the most SKILLED artists the island has ever seen (which is saying a lot), and talent such as that is respected in any era. Late last year I was rather happy to see that Half Pint would be reaching the album form again with the appropriately titled No Stress Express as the once ever present and ever busy artist really hadn't touched the album side very much at all in the past decade (by my count his last album would have been Closer To You in 1999). No Stress Express come via Varese Sarabande, a label best known for releasing motion picture soundtracks and is also distributed by Universal. No Stress Express is a welcome return by one of the quietly most talented reggae artists we have ever seen.



The album itself kind of flows in a more traditional type of method for modern reggae albums where it is a compilation of older singles alongside newer tunes. Another nuance that occurs here is the singer seemingly taking full advantage of his popularity in the western states of America and collaborating with some of the most unlikely of characters as he taps members of The Long Beach Dub All-Stars as well as Sublime (both of which are California based groups heavily influenced by the reggae sound. The result of that gives some of the album somewhat of a more experimental type of vibes, but it is ultimately brought to the right course via Half Pint's talent and experience. No Stress Express actually begins with my least two favourite tunes on the album altogether! The opener, Unity, is a song which has a vibe which I'm SURE many people will enjoy and I'll have people saying I'm crazy or stubborn for not liking it, but from the very first note, the dusty acoustic guitar, its just not for me. For his part, unsurprisingly Half Pint does carry a nice vibes (as do the Long Beach All Stars who are also on the tune), the somewhat alternative pop style just doesn't reach me at this point. The tune is followed by the pop/ska My Best Friend's Girl, a remake of a tune by American rock band, The Cars. The tune, again, might very well prove to do some big damage, but it just doesn't reach me at all, and Half Pint himself doesn't even seem to be too high in the vibes of the tune, by his voice. The beginning of the album downright scared me and I was about to simply give up on No Stress Express, as, although it had delivered on the title's declaration, it was thoroughly unimpressive. But in a move that might be criticized by many for rehashing old tunes, someone finally got it right by me. Completing the opening of the album is seminal Half Pint CLASSIC Just Be Good. Just Be Good EASILY is the best tune on the entire album (which is saying a bit as it really picks up later on) and, as I mentioned, one of the strongest of his entire career as well. The Beres Hammond produced tune absolutely epitomizes the thought of the `No Stress Express'. I have probably NEVER heard a more simply beautiful love tune in history with the basic punch line balancing itself on the `less is more' thought as Half Pint just says to his woman, `Just be good to me, I'll be good to you'. If you've never reached a dance floor to the song, then you must not like dancing as the song has been keeping men and women dancing together from the second Half Pint stepped out of the studio voicing it.



In terms of sequence and in definitely in vibes, for me, Just Be Good really rights the course of this `express' as the songs get better than the beginning. The real big vibe here is the former singles which he did which are on the album and really carry the vibes for me. Check Suzie, originally for Lion Paw (you'll recognize the riddim as the same which backed Warrior King's brilliant break out tune Virtuous Woman) a very solid tune and to my knowledge, a tune which appears on no other Half Pint album (actually when you have such a long time between releases, such a distinction means less and less I imagine, but it still is the case here). A song which was quite popular a few years ago also turns up in the WICKED serene lover's piece Blessing Darling on a remake of Duke Reid's old Expo Train riddim (very fitting here). Blessing Darling is definitely another of the biggest tunes here altogether and really one of the gems to appear on No Stress Express, so if you missed it a few years back, it would definitely be a big attraction for you. Another BIG tune here which goes to show Half Pint's overall power is, former single, the strong Bless Us. Bless Us is a big spiritual piece which combines the new-school style of programming with the very basic foundation of a strong (yet wonderfully subtle) nyah drum in Yardie International's criminally under-voiced Selah riddim. The tune really should have been a hit and I remember hearing it back when it first dropped (which I believe would have been ~ 2002) on a demo recording and I was thoroughly impressed even back then. Had I not tracked it down and been enjoying for quite awhile, for me, the tune would have been quite a score for No Stress Express, as it is, I'm still very happy they included it, and if you have yet to hear it, definitely you might want to check out the album JUST for that, if not for anything else. Lastly (on the former singles) I'll mention Children Of His Majesty which, if for nothing else, holds the distinction of flowing superbly over one of my favourite riddims of all time, Fat Eyes' Soldier riddim! I love the riddim and barely even remember Half Pint voicing it, (I kept singing Beres Hammond's I Love Jah when the riddim started). Probably of all the songs here (with the possible exception of Bless Us) Children of His Majesty showcases Half Pint the songwriter. The riddim itself almost ENCOURAGES the type of style at which Half Pint excels (I.e. the laid back roots) and he shines throughout crafting a beautifully worded gem of a tune which ultimately just places people into a single vibe where we all belong: As Children of His Majesty.



The balance of No Stress Express is picked up by newer singles and exclusives. Of course the one which most caught my eye (and if you are a reggae fan, and you are, will most catch yours) was Bad Boy which features none other than Sizzla Kalonji. Half Pint and Sizzla NEED a tune together! They just do. And while the tune doesn't exactly find either at the height of their powers (Sizzla, unsurprisingly chooses his more animated style) the song is still BIG and its mere presence here has probably already sold a few copies of the album. Similarly check Babylon Release The Chain which is a combination with rising New York Based, Spice Isle native, DJ Dollarman who really impresses alongside the legend. Dollarman has a VERY straight forward style which even, at times, almost comes to a powerful whisper and combining that with Half Pint's ultra laid back tones and you have a really strong tune, one of the strongest here altogether. And I'll be looking forward to future releases from Dollarman definitely, he just made a fan here. The album ends with an acoustic remix of Just Be Good alongside US songbird Miki Howard. The tune is harmless and just reinforces how much I like the original because its not normally the type of thing I would like and I have absolutely no problem with it at all.



Overall, No Stress Express is definitely for the newer fans of Half Pint as I would imagine the real hardcore heads would have collected the gems here already (and if you're a bigger hardcore fan of Half Pint than I am, then you might have even done so on CD form already for most of the tunes). Still, with his relatively long absence from the scene, you may have not. But specifically to the newer fans this is a pretty good showcase and intro to one of the coolest, most appreciated and most talented reggae artists we've seen in quite awhile and as albums for the elder artists tend to go, this one is proving to be quite popular. Reggae music itself, in my opinion is THE no stress express and when a `conductor' such as Half Pint releases a new album, the entire reggae world takes a turn for the better."