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REVIEW
Review written by François-Xavier Rougeot
on Thursday, July 12th 2007 - 17 505 views
Released last month, "Made in Jamaica" painted the portrait of a paradoxical Jamaica, torn between the poverty of its people and its musical wealth, between the legacy of the elders and the impatience of the new generation. Its soundtrack naturally does the same. Two volumes for two facets: on one side roots reggae, held up by glorious "elders" (Bunny Wailer, Gregory Isaacs…); on the other a compilation of dancehall tracks, driven by some of the masters of the genre (Bounty Killer, Vybz Kartel, Elephant Man…). Whether or not you have seen Laperrousaz's "Made in Jamaica", you quickly sink into the atmosphere of contemporary Jamaica through these forty or so tracks, all previously unreleased because specially recorded for this docu-fiction, of which they are, incidentally, the only lyrics. But it must be admitted that listening to "Made in Jamaica" is more joyous once you have already taken in, from your tip-up seat, the musical and social patchwork laid out over two hours by Laperrousaz.
The sound-image relationship in "Made in Jamaica" is such that the images scroll by as you listen to each of the two compilations. And the soundtrack works like the film. Some extracts leave more of a mark on the listener than others. Often the same ones, in fact. Thus Old man's soul, a family duet between Cat Coore, who makes his celo (a sort of cello) weep over the heavy bass of his son Shiah, gives as many shivers as on screen, where the former looks proudly at the latter, before the dark streets of Kingston roll by. We also remember Vybz Kartel in a nightclub, surrounded by water nymphs, reeling off his pertinent lyrics on Emergency and its howling Sirene Riddim: "both parties sing the same old tune - the poor have nothing, the money is vanishing - they raise the price of petrol and tobacco - why don't wages rise?" Later, on a beach, between pretty girls and badmen, Kartel lends his pertinence to the roots riddim of We a kill we ("We're killing ourselves"), where he sets about denouncing his country's economic inconsistencies, notably the proliferation of guns in a country that does not produce a single one.
Besides the classics (Bunny Wailer's 400 years, Third World's 96°, Toots's 5446), we revel in certain gems, such as the superb Temptation by Gregory Isaacs and Celebrate Life by Beres Hammond. As in the cinema, there are a few misses (Buynny Wailer and his very special cover of I Shot the Sheriff, notably), but the vocal power of Bounty Killer (Talk to them, on Anger Management), the energy of Elephant Man (Make your Body Bounce) and the mischief of Joseph Current, who shoots down gunmen with words (Mister Gunner Man), allow "Made in Jamaica" to keep its coherence. And even a touch of fantasy when Elephant Man starts to sing (?) the Jamaican anthem… |
sur we a kill we de vybz, de quel riddim s'agit il svp
comment trouver we a kill we de vybz kartel magnifique tune help hekp svp indiquer moi
Un cd carrement inégal avec 8, 9 morceaux valant le détour.
Globalement, on ne retrouve pas les vibrations que nous font ressentir ce film documentaire.
A ne pas acheter si vous en aviez l'intention, attendons le DVD;
trop puisann surtout red light zone tro fort
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