MISHKA
One Tree (Cornerstone RAS)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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I know about three thousand kids who would love Mishka's album One Tree. They are the freshman class at any of the state colleges in Eugene, Boulder, Ames or Athens (Oregon). Anyone who went through such a cultural indoctrination found that even in the "academic dorms" the copies of Bob Marley's Legend per student were right up at 1:1.

I went to the University without said album; this isn't to defame reggae and its acolytes, I just never came into it until I began counting shoulder tapping for half racks as a hobby. The record is solid, and its source artist undeniable, but reggae has a much dirtier, much more ethnic feeling than the watered down singles of a greatest hits album. Half the reason I think The Harder They Come seems so funny to me is that it is, in striking terms, a Hollywood parody of something real.

I listen to One Tree and I love Mishka's voice, I love the producers who constructed this record - I even love the songs on it - but I can't abide by how without consequence it feels on first listen (then on second and third too). There is a boatload of talent and heart here, more than you'll hear on a dozen other records, but it feels like a something that's been over handled, to the point of losing its roots luster.

© 2005 - Erick Mertz