MALAGUETA MUSIC - Germany

You don't need extra luggage to listen to the latest Culture Taxi Records album: It will take you straight to the sunny Caribbean, for an encounter with Taj Weekes and his highly contagious reggae. Your luggage is in the trunk, your driver ready to take off, let's go for a ride!

Taj Weekes' high voice combined with his unusually enticing melodies provide the basis for his perfectly balanced reggae. With solid keyboards, the cunning wah-wah licks of his guitar, seductive female background singers, and his complex, yet straight-forward arrangements, it becomes obvious that we are in the company of a musician who is blessed by the West-Indian gods.

Taj Weekes grew up in St. Lucia and later moved to New York. This is where, together with his band, Adowa , he released his first album, "Hope and Doubt" in 2005, starting his live career and building a solid fan community. Today marks the release of his second album, "Deidem" ("All of us"). After losing both of his parents within the same year, Taj Weekes' lyrics dealt first and foremost with his mourning. But quite soon, he began writing about the suffering of mankind instead of dwelling in self-pity. His themes expanded to universal issues:  Right underneath the floating island melodies, his music addresses current problems ranging from the environment ("Dark Clouds"), to globalization, Hurricane Katrina, or the conflict in Darfur.

I find it difficult to emphasize one particular song. Each of the melodies grabs you rapidly and continues to linger in your mind – from the melancholic "Orphan's Cry" to the irresistible "Angry Language", from the upbeat (in spite of its somber theme of humans' inclination to violence) "Since Cain" to "Kink and Crinkle."  All eleven songs bring back the magic reggae sound of the seventies, without ever sounding old. The last song of the album, the ballad "Louisiana", with its sparse piano accompaniment, continues to resonate with you for quite a while after its last chords have faded.

REGGAE-REVIEWS.COM

 
After releasing perhaps the best reggae album of 2005, Taj Weekes returns with an early candidate for the best of '08 in DEIDEM. Although his unique vocals are the most immediately striking aspect of his work, Weekes remains one of the best lyricists in reggae today, reaching beyond typical reggae discourse to delve into abstract concepts, inner emotions, and new ways of delivering the same messages we've heard dozens of times before. To describe the cycle of global violence, for example, he traces it back to biblical times in Since Cain. In Kink and Crinkle, he relates the oppression of Rastas to the processing of hair, while Angry Language is an introspective journey into the battle to suppress one's rage, Dark Clouds laments global warming, and Propaganda War is a searing indictment of the press, proclaiming, "With no printing press, the lies we can't address. They steal away our joy and steal our happiness." Weekes' delivery is as heartfelt as his words, and his strong melodic structure ensures that listeners will stick around to appreciate the lyrics. Of course, the music from his band Adowa is a powerful complement. Aside from the Katrina-themed piano ballad Louisiana, it's chock-full of traditional '70s-style roots reggae, with a touch of folksy blues and a slinky electric guitar that creeps in every now and then. Weekes' is the sort of music I imagine Bob Marley singing if he were still alive today. It's smart, inspirational, musically vibrant, and just plain gorgeous. No reggae fan can afford not to know Taj Weekes.

JAMMIN REGGAE ARCHIVES ON NICEUP.COM

 
Album review by: Ras Adam Simeon

Hailing from the island of St. Lucia, Taj Weekes offers a serious work tackling tough topics over haunting roots rock reggae. His band name Adowa is from a famous Ethiopian battle, a tribute his Ethiopian grandpa. The album starts off with Angry Language where he reconsiders his biblical teachings. He questions the truths we are fed in Propaganda War and the cycle of man's violence on Since Cain. Opression and judgement of dreadlocks is addressed on Kink and Crinkle. Dark Clouds, Orphans Cry and Hollow Display all touch on heavy subjects of inhumanity and broken hearts. Through the dark and heavy messages shine a few rays of hope; on We Stand he intones that "we've got to find a way" and fight against the odds to keep that Little Fire lit and burning. Taj has a very high sweet unique voice almost like a Pablo Moses. His band is very talented and has a Tosh/Lucky Dube feel. The disc's final cut is Lousiana, a slow balad about Hurricane Katrina. Despite the dense material, the disc is not depressing, rather it's serious message music and food for thought.  Jatta Records