Album Reviews

If you're not yet familiar with him, Matisyahu is a 28-year-old white, Chassidic Jewish reggae-rapper/rocker from West Chester, Pennsylvania. Now read that over a few more times, do you have a mental picture yet? He dons the traditional dress of The Hasidic Jews, wears a long beard and sounds a bit like 'Jr. Gong' Marley. In addition he's a self proclaimed former-Deadhead, loves Phish and is an adept beat boxer. Now that I've got you scratching your head wondering if I'm making this all up, it would be a good time to add that he's also a talented songwriter, and his album, Youth is quite the unique musical experience.

Born Matthew Miller, Matisyahu's Youth is a well-thought-out journey through various genres from Dub, Reggae, Hip-Hop, Modern Rock, Folk-Rock and more. His songs focus mainly on the political and religious aspects of being a devout Jew. Bill Laswell, one of the biggest names in modern reggae, produced and mixed the majority of the album.

The first two tracks come rushing towards your ears, with aggressive lyrics and angst in Matisyahu's tone. The second track, 'Youth' is a classic call-to-action with lines like, ' Take a stand, fan the fire for the flame of the youth / Got the freedom to choose, better make the right move,' but after 'Youth' the tracks become more collected, more focused and frankly, more musically satisfying.

On side two, Matisyahu starts to show off his band, Roots Tonic. Roots provides the backing beats and music for the rest of the album, including side three's standouts, 'Jerusalem' and 'WP.' 'WP' has a haunting lyrical melody and an excellent soundstage to match. 'Jerusalem' imparts a wide dynamic range, and a catchy chorus. In my opinion, 'Jerusalem' may be the best song from a sonic standpoint. Not coincidentally, it was one of only three songs not produced by Bill Laswell, rather it was produced by Ill Factor and Jimmy Douglass.

Not to degrade Laswell's mixing abilities, but it just seems that he was a little heavy on the studio compressor, and EQ'd a little hot, probably for the digital release. 'Jerusalem' greets the listener with deep bass notes and a fantastic dynamic range. Side three's final track is the highly analytical 'Late Night In Zion.' It's a slower, more focused production, imparting many metaphors upon the listener, and dare I say it, 'sharp' lyrics like, 'I've got a spear driven through my ear / Can't you hear the sound, crystal clear.'

The fourth and final side starts with a chivalric love song—not the kind of rhymes you'd expect to hear accompanying the hip-hop beat, but it is a very welcomed change. The side's second track is pretty standard fare, until about halfway through, when it breaks into a full jam session, with Roots Tonic showing off its skills. The final track on the album, 'King Without A Crown' finishes the lyrical Freitag's Triangle that is Youth. After the aggressive climax of the song, 'Youth,' the album takes its falling action slowly, spanning three sides, to the optimistic and uplifting 'King Without A Crown'.

The analog edition is two slabs of 180g vinyl, courtesy of JDUB/Epic Records (Ultimately Sony BMG). The surface noise is low, and the album is pressed in an acceptable fashion. The two LPs come packaged in a single, slightly deeper jacket, with a cool album cover. The inner sleeves are fairly heavy card-stock and feature some informative liner note, images, and a copy of Psalm 27. On their reverse, the sleeves are covered in an ivy-like art, which is a nice touch.

Overall, Youth is a well thought out, and very well- executed album. It's unique in the sense that it crosses so many different genres and it does them all justice. Listen to the album and you'll quickly understand why Matisyahu was awarded Top Reggae Artist of 2006 by Billboard.