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The Black Seeds have done their summer Solid Ground Tour and we’ve been playing ‘Slingshot’ all through August so we know that their hybrid reggae has moved on since their last album, Into The Dojo.

So whilst we still love the big hitters of ‘The Answer’, ‘Cool Me Down’, ‘Sometimes Enough’ and ‘The Prince’, we’ve now got some more from Barney Weir and the boys. It comes at an opportune time as last week was all about classic JA (with Ziggy Marley In Jamaica & Mistajam getting his parent records out on Gilles Peterson’s show) and we know that the Black Seeds have absorbed all that heritage and infused their own dub, funk soul and Afrobeat from a New Zealand perspective.

The opener ‘Come To Me’ even starts with a touch of surf guitar before gettin’ bouncey and getting those horns to work in a proper respect stylee.

The pace of life on North Island really suits their groove and ‘Love Is A Radiation’ and ‘Send A Message’ with some excellent lyrics that are conscious with pop sensibilities. So whilst Barney stills the spotlight on these tracks, the album is clearly a totally inclusive band effort.

So what of the new flavours? Well, ‘Take Your Chances’ is ska based and eases in a touch of 70s Blaxploitation soundtrack and the intro to ‘Make A Move’ is most Shaft-like (Issac Hayes, RIP). And the ‘Afrophone’ goes the whole hog and then add a Latin piano break whilst ‘Rotten Apple gets seriously into the funk! Take it easy lads.

Getting back to the core, ‘Bulletproof’ sounds very Kingston and ‘Strugglers’ is pure The Black Seeds.

Whilst these been a little rash of classic reggae tunes given the dubstep treatment, ‘Cuss Cuss’ and ‘Judgement Time’ riddems spring to mind, these guys seem ideal remix candidates if you ask me. That said, for some reason, I kept starting listening to the bonus track, a dub version of ‘Make A Move’ and this is exactly how to use echo.

Favourite track, ‘The Bubble’ as it’s so cool.

This year sees The Black Seeds celebrate 10 years as a band and whilst members may have come and gone, this line-up, where they are at with Solid Ground and the production must be their pinnacle so far.

Reviewed: The Black Seeds - Solid Ground (Best Seven) Cat No. SBCD0010 Release date: 22nd September 2008
Tracklisting:
1 Come To Me (4:43)
2 Slingshot (6:13)
3 Take Your Chances (4:45)
4 Love Is A Radiation (5:49)
5 Send A Message (6:18)
6 Make A Move (5:22)
7 One Step At A Time (5:25)
8 Bulletproof (4:27)
9 Afrophone (3:13)
10 Strugglers (3:59)
11 Rotten Apple (5:22)
12 The Bubble (5:22)
13 Make A Move Dub (4:41)

Links:
www.theblackseeds.com
www.myspace.com/theblackseeds
www.last.fm/music/The+Black+Seeds
www.myspace.com/jabinward
www.bestseven.de
Isaac Hayes - Singer, keyboardist, producer, songwriter and actor.
Born: 20 August 1942 in Covington, Tennessee.
Died: 10 August 2008 in his Tennessee home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Hayes