Description by Nicky Trax (Phuture PR/Blues and Soul magazine) Where Northern soul collides with electronica in a funked up stylee, there?s even more amazing soundscapes on Kava Kava?s hotly anticipated new album "Maui".... more » With diverse fans such as Mary Anne Hobbs, Freddy Fresh, Capoeira Twins, Rob Da Bank (Sunday Best) through to Simon Mu (Back To Basics), Kava Kava are exploding as a kick ass band with more festival credentials under their belt than even Pete Tong! The new album sampler contains the big dancefloor number, "Don?t Stop The Music" and the Cienna Remix of "Maui", and Kava Kava are hotting floors up with their heady mix of French -styled funked up disco, electro sounds, raw live acoustic soulful ensemble playing and some greats beats. Impossible to pin down musically...they combine souped-up baggy beats and 80?s atmospherics with richly melodic grooves, led by Fulgoni?s crisp and uplifting Northen Soul vocals. Kicking off the album is the unashamed feelgood "Don?t Stop The Music" already getting the San Fran thumbs up, and set to be remixed for even wider appeal. "Space People" unleashes an upbeat breaks excursion with trumpets and strings, and another album highlight. Squelchy skanking Ram Jam Band sounds rocks "Terrrorists" as Pat Fulgoni?s strong vocal presence runs through. Then electro opens the irrepressible wah wah funk ridin? groove, "Sicfuck". The title track "Maui" unfolds in soft vocal n strings style as the breaks push this soundscape out into trippy terrain. And then KK turn it up on the rockin leftfielder beats n guitar thrash, "Bank Job". "Swans" is a soundtrack style interlude before KK then spin back in time with their chirpy, breaky first single, "Funked Up And Freaked Out". "Beats For Cheats" adds a rave flava with Eastern sounds meshing with nasal beats and nagging keys that then breaks into funk...mad stuff. "Tic" is a more acoustic eastern "Beatles" styled jaunt and then more leftfield musical arcadia can be found on "nfa" alongside the closing instrumental oddity "Faith". It?s funky with guitars, soulful and squelchy, and you can dance to Kava Kava?s music which mixes it all up with live musicianship, electronica, samples and beats. A bit Polyphonic, nu Talking Hards. It?s one of this year?s more out there album sets and all the better for it.« less
Description by Nicky Trax (Phuture PR/Blues and Soul magazine) Where Northern soul collides with electronica in a funked up stylee, there?s even more amazing soundscapes on Kava Kava?s hotly anticipated new album "Maui". With diverse fans such as Mary Anne Hobbs, Freddy Fresh, Capoeira Twins, Rob Da Bank (Sunday Best) through to Simon Mu (Back To Basics), Kava Kava are exploding as a kick ass band with more festival credentials under their belt than even Pete Tong! The new album sampler contains the big dancefloor number, "Don?t Stop The Music" and the Cienna Remix of "Maui", and Kava Kava are hotting floors up with their heady mix of French -styled funked up disco, electro sounds, raw live acoustic soulful ensemble playing and some greats beats. Impossible to pin down musically...they combine souped-up baggy beats and 80?s atmospherics with richly melodic grooves, led by Fulgoni?s crisp and uplifting Northen Soul vocals. Kicking off the album is the unashamed feelgood "Don?t Stop The Music" already getting the San Fran thumbs up, and set to be remixed for even wider appeal. "Space People" unleashes an upbeat breaks excursion with trumpets and strings, and another album highlight. Squelchy skanking Ram Jam Band sounds rocks "Terrrorists" as Pat Fulgoni?s strong vocal presence runs through. Then electro opens the irrepressible wah wah funk ridin? groove, "Sicfuck". The title track "Maui" unfolds in soft vocal n strings style as the breaks push this soundscape out into trippy terrain. And then KK turn it up on the rockin leftfielder beats n guitar thrash, "Bank Job". "Swans" is a soundtrack style interlude before KK then spin back in time with their chirpy, breaky first single, "Funked Up And Freaked Out". "Beats For Cheats" adds a rave flava with Eastern sounds meshing with nasal beats and nagging keys that then breaks into funk...mad stuff. "Tic" is a more acoustic eastern "Beatles" styled jaunt and then more leftfield musical arcadia can be found on "nfa" alongside the closing instrumental oddity "Faith". It?s funky with guitars, soulful and squelchy, and you can dance to Kava Kava?s music which mixes it all up with live musicianship, electronica, samples and beats. A bit Polyphonic, nu Talking Hards. It?s one of this year?s more out there album sets and all the better for it.
CD Reviews
"Don't Stop the Music"
CGC | Los Angeles, CA USA | 01/10/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Kava Kava are hard to describe, and the cover is a bit misleading. This is a four-piece band from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire who look like British hard rockers but produce an eclectic, energetic sound that falls somewhere between Massive Attack and Parliament. Each track on this flawlessly produced CD is refreshingly unexpected, pulling in sounds from trip hop, funky breaks, and plain old jamming blues and soul. The music has bite, and lead singer Pat Fulgoni's voice is just fantastic. What some others have said... NME Magazine calls them as "psychedelic funk" and Alt.Culture.Guide says their sound is "as indebted to Stax soul and the Philly sound as it is to the Manchester beat and Brian Eno." For me, the standout tracks include Maui, Don't Stop the Music, Tic, and Bankjob, but it's all strong material."
The bomb
MUFF JAM | 11/23/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"i don't know who they are, or what the idea was naming it kava kava and have some cactus for a cover but this is one hot, funky experience.
'dont stop the music' freaked me like isleys 'who's that lady' with a voice so sweet and soul you just get up and listen to that. SO ...... DONT STOP THE MUSIC you ram jam fat boys!"
Maui Wowee
john | Edinburgh | 04/09/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm thinking Groove Armada meets Funkadelic meets Primal Scream behind an original male vocal with a big soul sound! I love this album!
It is quite unique but still consistent in its diversity........'Terrorists' starts off like a classic old school hip hop tune, wanders off into funk rock and psychedelic soul territories and frankly any song with a chorus line "soul and love" has to be applauded in this day and age. 'Dont Stop The Music' has some high energy disco beats and an Isley Brothers feel before it kicks in some blatant house textures. 'Bank Job' is a sledge hammer of a song with big strings, brass and a Tom Jones vibe in a Daft Punk setting! I can't get enough of this and can't wait to see them live! What is it? I don't care. Its music and its about time someone pushed the boat out."
Tic! Thank Goodness Someone Knew...
Good Girl | New York | 06/21/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I am ecstatic right at this moment. HBO has a new series "John From Cincinatti". In episode 2 of the show, there is a song playing as the guys are waxing their surfboards inside the surf tent. It is MESMERIZING! To my dismay, and apparently hundreds of other people, the song credits were not listed. The bulletin board was filled with people begging to know what the song was. I even e-mailed HBO to ask them to release the name of the song. Luckily, someone replied and said "The song playing in the surfer tent scene was TIC by Kava Kava." I immediately went to amazon, found the cd, and clicked on the song Tic with my fingers crossed. Low and behold, that was it! I'm giving the rating of a 5 even though I have no idea about the other songs, just because I am soooo in love with that one song and happy that I found it."
Relentless and funky
Marc Evans | 04/08/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For such a cohesive piece of work this certainly contains enough variety to surprise or to alter the tone yet Maui runs seamlessly from one track to the next to form a marathon of rich versatile sounds. The album has touches of talent from many genres, and particularly excels at departing from mediocrity with an effusion of dynamic synthesisers, funky guitars & bass drums all providing the perfect complement to the leading vocalist and backing singers. The backdrop is most apparent in lulls as the tempo drops and entices the listener with an abundance of sound, serving to emphasise the build up and maintaining flow."
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1