Kingston Rudieska - Skafiction
Pastel Music - 2008
It seems to me that Korea’s ska scene is growing at a phenomenal rate. In the past couple of years, bands such as The Slackers, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Chris Murray Combo, and Ska Flames have all played in South Korea in one way or another and home grown bands are starting to pop up all over the place.
Enter Kingston Rudieska, S. Korea’s first authentic ska band. Even though they’ve been around since 2004, Skafiction is their first full-length album release and is a great album for new comers and fans alike.
I’ve been following this band since they’ve formed and some of these tracks on this album are new recordings of tracks they’ve recorded before. It’s amazing to see the progress that they’ve made over the past 4 years in terms of musicianship. The first track, their title track, shows you what you can expect from the rest of the album: good solid ska played by musicians with an appreciation for authentic ska music.
My favorite song of the album? “Shooting Star” featuring the Yozoh (Korean pop-folk star) on vocals, without a doubt. Despite not understanding a lick of Korean, everything just seems to come together perfectly on this song, Yozoh’s voice, the rhythm section, the horns, the solo…it’s a very beautiful song.
Final word: I’ll admit that what’s on this album isn’t revolutionary, by any means, as far as ska goes. However, good production values, a tight rhythm section, and even tighter horns make this a superb debut album. Having followed these guys from the beginning, it is exciting to see how far they’ve come, and I look forward to hearing more material from these guys in the future.
You can buy their album for a very affordable price at www.yesasia.com
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