Sunday, August 1, 2010

Romain Virgo - Self Titled (2010)



Artist: Romain Virgo
Album: Romain Virgo
Genre: Reggae: Lover's Rock, Neo-Roots
Release Date: Jun 8, 2010
Mood: Love Making, Sunshine
RIYL: Beres Hammond, Gyptian

Rating: ****

This is Romain Virgo's debut self titled album. Romain is an up-and-coming singer with an superb voice. The LP opens with two knock-out culture tunes, Mi Caan Sleep, with lyrics about youth violence in Jamaica, and Who Feels It Knows It (not to be confused with the Bob Marley song), an anthem for the lower working class Jamaicans. Romain seamlessly moves from heartfelt roots and culture numbers to excellent Lover's tunes with a skill rivaling Beres Hammond in his prime. In fact, most of the songs show little evidence of being a contemporary release, with only the slightest evidence of tastefully executed autotuning revealing their actual modern nature. The Lover's middle tracks, including "Taking You Home" and "Should I Call Her" are almost as excellent as the two openers. Unfortunately the album is very front heavy, although none of the later tracks are truly bad (with the somewhat cheesy lyrically "I'm Doing Good" closing off things on a sour note). A little better distribution of the stronger songs would make for a better listening experience, but that's a small complaint for a highly recommended LP. Romain's singjaying in an old school dancehall style on "Customer Care" (using the Duck Riddim I believe) and the Nyabinghi production of "Be Good" offer up a nice variety to the album on a whole. This is likely to be one of the best reggae albums of the year. Looking forward to seeing this young artist (he's only 20) continue into the future.
  1. Mi Caan Sleep *****!
  2. Who Feels it Knows It *****!
  3. Love Doctor ***
  4. Taking You Home *****
  5. As the Money Done ****
  6. Should I Call Her *****
  7. Wanna Go Home ****
  8. Dark Skin Girl ****
  9. Live Mi Life ****
  10. Customer Care ****
  11. No Money ***
  12. Murderer ***
  13. Be Careful ****
  14. I'm Doing Good **

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