ELLIOT MARTIN
Black Castle (I-Town)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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This is the first solo album from the co-vocalist for the roots reggae group John Brown's Body, and while Martin's skill and background in the reggae field certainly come into play, he stretches beyond the roots stylings of his primary gig. Solo projects are too often merely echoes of the group they spring from, but this is no collection of JBB outtakes (not that a collection of JBB outtakes wouldn't be a good thing). Black Castle is a well conceived and well executed project in its own right.

Martin was committed to creating music that was played, rather than programmed, and he drew on a total of fourteen friends from the Ithaca, NY music scene to join in him in the studio. Some were only aboard for a track or two, as he developed the complex arrangements and identified the necessary sonic elements, which ended up including a wide range of percussion, synths, accordion, horns, strings and more exotic sounds to supplement the expected guitar, bass and drums.

The resulting sound is reggae with a definite 21st century slant - danceable, conscious and adventurous. I wish nothing but success to John Brown's Body - they're probably the best roots reggae band in the States - but listening to Black Castle leaves me hoping that they slow down enough every once in a while to allow Martin to put together another solo project or two. He has skills and a message worth hearing.

Track List:

Dreadnaught * Good Things Due * Cool Water * Salt Of The Sea * The Well * Ceremony * Last Day * I Won't Compete * Wrong Time * People My Kind * Afterlife

[Pick this up at www.itownrecords.com.]

© 2003 - Shaun Dale