Mo Kolours – EP1: Drum Talking
One-Handed Music: 2011
Mo Kolours’ debut EP, EP1: Drum Talking, is dripping in reggae brine, Island percussion and spontaneous inclusions of poetic, crooning lyrics. The tone is set with an invitation into Mo Kolours vision where the sights and sounds of childhood memories collide with modern day influences that are spliced together like shards of glass—floating though an audible kaleidoscope.
“Biddies” opens with a beautiful melody of tribal harmonies, subtly cut, reversed and reflected into a more modern counterpart. Mo Kolours’ technique is culinary fusion, which is eclectic and subtle, where time-honored flavors meet modern technique.
Mo Kolours uses drum laced melodies in the track “Biddies” to set the tone for feathery displays of poetic verse. Melodic groves sit between prose, like runways for trance like trips into interpretive outer space. Float around for a bit on Mo Kolours childlike insight, “like the rain falls, like the wind blows, like the sun shines, like the clouds move.”
On the opposite side of the spectrum there is the track “8 Hours”, where bent tones are more reminiscent of something electric, and club oriented like that of King Tubby. Mo Kolours’ swaying vocals resonate throughout the track, “Hold on this time…”
“Drum Talking” is a percussive museum. Tribal melodies are heavily layered in off beat synchronicity. Mo Kolours is—after all, a percussionist and purveyor in his native sound, Sega music. So the drums sound effortless and smooth, as though improvised. Vocals take on their own percussive character. Mo Kolours sings, but the drums do the talking.
Mo Kolours creates uplifting music, appropriate for various island genres. If you keep one ear to the ground, you might hear a similar sound from an elder musician on the other side of the globe, where music is an experience rather than proof of an experience. EP1 has tapped into that notion.
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4.5 out of 5
