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NEWS & REVIEWS |
[REVIEW] PANNONIA ALLSTARS SKA ORCHESTRA - FEEL THE RIDDIMFriday, 22 January 2010Recently recruited to the Bruised Fruit team as the Head of A&R Europe, I thought my first task should naturally be a review of a European band that's not so well known in the UK and Ireland, the Pannonia Allstars Ska Orchestra; Hungary's foremost ska band. This eleven-piece ska/reggae band from Budapest formed in 2003 and aimed to bring a slice of early Jamaican ska to the Hungarian music scene. Their fourth studio album, PASO's "Feel the Riddim!" is a mixed affair, compared with the fantastic "Budapest Ska Mood" and "The Return of The Pannonians" albums. Opening with long-time live favourite "Hungarian Dish", with it's random lyrics and tight drum work by Mr Lippi Brown, this wave of ska loveliness continues to wash over us with tracks such as "Do The Rocka Style" and "Bawl Out Fi We", featuring some excellent violin work from Barna György. The standout track, however, is "Skatilla"; with an intro that wouldn't be out of place in a 70's Michael Caine movie, some fetching horn runs and an unexpected Middle Eastern-esque break. Plus, we all know that the best ska songs involve word-play in their titles. SKATILLA! There are sadly some below par tracks on this album, and they all use guest vocalists. "Miu Miújság" and "What Is Our Love For?" featuring Harcsa Veronika and "Tell It On The Mountains", a reworking of their previous hit, "System Connection", featuring Sena from fellow Hungarian ska-reggae band Irie Maffia. This particular track is made worse by the fact that "System Connection" is such a classic song to begin with. What can we learn from these? Let Lord Panamo deal with the vocals. Saying that, one track that does actually benefit from a guest vocalist is "New Generation" featuring French rappper Tribuman. Is this an convincing album though? Yes and no. Retro-reggae tracks like "Pon Di Corner" and almost ska-ballad tracks such as "Budapest" make this album a joy to listen to. Even adding lyrics to one of their older instrumentals has given us a good song in "Vampires". Sadly the three or four below average songs mean that this album doesn't quite hit the lofty expectations set by the two previous albums. It's most certainly worth a listen, but I'd buy "Budapest Ska Mood" and "The Return of The Pannonians" first, then you'll realise that PASO are one of the best ska bands you'll ever hear. Albums available from iTunes and http://www.songs.hu. http://www.myspace.com/paso Reviewed by Conor MacNeill |
 
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