Sun Araw, M. Geddes Gengras, and the Congos - FRKWYS Vol. 9: Icon Give Thank

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

Came out in April but didnt know about it till today. A beautiful beautiful record. Huge congos fan. Huge Sun araw fan too so this is like catnip for my ears right now.

 

01 New Binghi

02 Happy Song

03 Food Clothing and Shelter

04 Sunshine

05 Jungle

06 Invocation

07 Thanks and Praise

 

http://soundcloud.com/igetrvng/frkwys09-happy-song

 

http://igetrvng.com/discography/123/

 

For the ninth volume of FRKWYS, a music and film series pairing contemporary artists with those that may have preceded them in style and / or approach, Sun Araw and M. Geddes Gengras meet legendary dub reggae group The Congos in St. Catherine, Jamaica and create the full-length album,ICON GIVE THANK. In conjunction, RVNG will release ICON EYE, a feature film documenting the young musicians’ time spent living and learning The Congos way.

 

In hindsight, the FRKWYS Vol. 9 timeline takes on dream-like qualities. In a matter of months, the idea for the collaboration was divinely inspired, The Congos reassembled in their original formation, and Sun Araw (earthly name Cameron Stallones), Gengras, alongside filmmakers Tony Lowe and Sam Fleischner, traveled to St. Catherine, Jamaica (45 minutes outside of Kingston) for ten days to undertake the unknown.

 

What events would transpire in the Portmore neighborhood of St. Catherine can only be described as blessed. The gates opened wide and warmly, the musicians and filmmakers ate, slept, and smoked at The Congos headquarters, their mural-emblazoned studio, home, and spiritual compound. An environment steeped in the Ital lifestyle, Rastafarian reflection and meditation, and a rich community bubbling with musical energy, both young and old artist would learn an unspoken creative language.

 

Having recorded some loose musical themes in LA to help inspire the creative process, Stallones and Gengras could only count on the shared respect for the sacrament of music to guide their work with The Congos. This respect is the foundation upon which Sun Araw & M. Geddes Gengras meet The Congos - ICON GIVE THANK is built.

 

GIVE THANK is not a dub reggae album, though it shares some of the genre's production characteristics. Rather, it's an album of Stallones and Gengras's melodically experimental meditations ornamented with The Congos' soulful vocal leads and four-part harmonies. The four kings of the The Congos share the vocal throne over the course ofGIVE THANK. "Congo Ashanti" Roy Johnson tenor, Cedric "Bongo" Myton'sfalsetto, Watty Burnett baritone, and Kenroy "Tallash" Fyffe cosmic vocal glue command singularity and create an essence combined.

 

The visual companion to the musical fruit of GIVE THANK is ICON EYE, a feature-length travelogue executively produced by Christine Vachon (Killer Films) and Randall Poster & Gelya Robb (Search Party Music). Shot by Lowe and Fleischner, ICON EYEevokes a musical and cultural intersection through refracted atmospheres and a feeling of magical, rhythmic synchronicity. ICON EYE shares dubbed-out editing techniques inherent in the reggae sub-genre, rendering a visual "version" of the album.

 

Through the diaristic yet cinematic lens of handheld HD cameras, secret moments from the studio, fishing villages, late night dances, abandoned hotels and The Congos' yard are blended into a strange tapestry. Musicians, computers, children, and food reveal mystical resonance. ICON EYE is the first RVNG Intl. film production. Director / editor / cinematographer Lowe and producer / cinematographer Fleischner previously collaborated on Below the Brain (2011), a documentary about Brooklyn Carnival.

 

The FRKWYS Vol. 9 - Sun Araw & M. Geddes Gengras Meet The Congos - ICON GIVE THANK album and ICON EYE film will be released April 10th 2012 on CD / DVD, LP / DVD, and as a digital bundle.

 

GIVE THANKS & PRAISE!

[Nebraska]

when i saw this topic i thought they had made another record. personally i didn't enjoy it, and i consider myself a fan of both araw and congos

[Guest spike]

its nice and good from this end

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

when i saw this topic i thought they had made another record. personally i didn't enjoy it, and i consider myself a fan of both araw and congos

 

u mad bro

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

I wanted to add that i also liked LA vampires based on the stuff with zola jesus and after hearing this record I realize how much they controlled the sound i liked on that ep and afetr seeing zola how much she didnt. perhaps

[Guest the anonymous forumite]

The 1977 record from The Congos "heart of the congos" is one of the best reggae record I've ever heard. And I'm not a big fan of reggae music.

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

yes it is. they call it scratch's best production too.

[Nebraska]

when i saw this topic i thought they had made another record. personally i didn't enjoy it, and i consider myself a fan of both araw and congos

 

u mad bro

 

no. why would i be?

 

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

please explain why as a fan you didnt enjoy. I can see that it isn't similar to heart of the congo.

[Nebraska]

i thought it felt very unfocused and messy- the production seemed to be everywhere and trying to do too much which heavily went against the rhythm of the congos. i really loved sun araw's 'heavy deeds' and 'on patrol' because they were minimal and effective (kinda like all dub music)- but this stuff with the congos seemed too impatient to let things build and insistent on "trying" to do so with unnecessary effects and percussion, so it ended up sounding terrible imo.

 

btw: when i originally heard this it was a free download and i remember thinking "at least they didn't try and make people spend money on it". well, all that's changed now hasn't it

[Guest igloos unlmtd]

I have it - I bought the vinyl a while back being a massive congos fan.

 

Nebraska's criticism are valid. it isn't as immediate & catchy as heart of the congos....

 

the album requires space & time.

 

if you give it a chance, It has some really pretty moments. lots of moods & textures. But sometimes its more like Sun Araw vs The Congos. Where they are both fighting for a different vibe.

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

its way more dub that heart of the congos. that is reggae. this is ambient dub. I haven't spent much time with it yet but enjoying it throughly.

 

the production seemed to be everywhere and trying to do too much which heavily went against the rhythm of the congos.

 

isn't that scratch's style? all-in big busy overblown crazy productions.