Unusual New Year

Cyndi Lauper

Girls just want to have fun, especially on New Year’s, and coming to Hawai’i to help all acquaintances be forgotten is the girl who wants to have the most fun, Cyndi Lauper. Suffice to say, it will be interesting to bid farewell to 2007 by spending it with the 80s pop icon responsible for that indelible ode to masturbation, ‘She Bop.’ Obscenely spunky at age 54, she’s probably still messing with the danger zone.

Looking back, it’s amazing how she with the funkily colored follicles managed to remain relevant with one debut album and a single from her sophomore effort. She’s So Unusual yielded, in addition to ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ and ‘She Bop,’ ‘Time After Time,’ ‘Money Changes Everything’ and ‘All Through the Night.’ Her second album True Colors gave her one last mainstream smash (the title song) before she became a gay cult figure on par with Cher, Bette Midler, and Celine Dion. That’s a heckuva lotta mileage from just a couple of discs two decades old. And it seems everyone wants to do a cover of her songs, with acts as diverse as Phil Collins, New Found Glory, and Quietdrive recording their own versions.

As long as she sings ‘The Goonies R Good Enough’ though, it’s guaranteed 2008 will be rung in the right way. Masturbation optional.  –Ryan Senaga

Crucial coming of Gavinchi

Fresh off his hits ‘Cry 4 Me’ and ‘Another Day,’ Gavinchi, the herald of reggae music’s next generation, makes his return to Hawai’i this week, bringing back his raw conscious sound. Born to a veteran Jamaican radio broadcaster father and reggae vocalist Shirley McLean, Gavinchi’s eclectic upbringing, supported by a seasoned academic foundation, is felt through his dancehall rhythms and lyrical critiques of social problems. Reggae Pon Di Aina is coming to both town and country alongside Isouljahs and featuring Ras Mikey and Lion Fiyah. Stancehall (dancehall music with substance) heads can check out Breakers Restaurant and Bar out on the North Shore on Friday or head down to the Loft in Chinatown Saturday night. Seen?  –Travis Quezon

Kicking and pushing the pipeline

In hip-hop, there are two types of buzz that can accompany an artist. There’s the artificially created buzz backed by mad amounts of money and an over-hyped image. Then there’s the buzz that surrounds Lupe Fiasco — a deserved buzz based solely on originality, simplicity and a shift in subject matter to the fun and positive. In a nutshell, the Chi-town emcee is just being himself.

The music world was first introduced to Fiasco on Kanye West’s ‘Touch the Sky.’ This was just a sample of what was to come. Once the skateboard anthem ‘Kick, Push,’ dropped, hip-hop officially had its new golden boy. When you’re rubbing shoulders with the likes of West, Jay-Z and The Neptunes, have a shoe deal with Reebok and already have your own record label (1st and 15th Entertainment), you must be doing something right. Not bad for a 25 year-old who goes against all the major rapper stereotypes of today. Fiasco doesn’t drink or smoke, but digs the skateboard culture, comic books and toy robots.

His sophomore album, The Cool, had almost double the first-week sales figures than did his first album, Food and Liquor (150,000 units compared to 81,000), with no real downfall in sales in sight.

Away from the music industry, GQ’s ‘Breakout Man of the Year’ is a partner in the multimedia company Righteous Kung Fu, with plans to produce a comic book based on The Cool.

Amidst all the accolade, award show nominations and high expectations, Fiasco is a representation of his fans–just a regular dude with big dreams. With talk of retirement after his next album, the rap career of the Next Big Thing may be potentially coming to an end sooner than fans would like. But then again, when was the last time a rapper said he was going to retire and actually stuck to his word? Exactly.  –Kalani Wilhelm

Honolulu Blues Co-Op

Blue me away

Honolulu blues buffs are in for a treat on Saturday, when the Honolulu Blues Co-Op gathers for a gig at Atherton Performing Arts Studio. A sort of ad hoc gathering of luminaries in our local blues circuit, the concert is set for broadcast on the KIPO Radio Blues Stage program.

If there can be a blues guru in Honolulu, it has to be Rick Smith. With a truly genuine understanding of the blues ethos, Smith and his lead and slide guitar will front an ensemble that will see some of our most seasoned and cherished players assembled. This is perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the show, as the cast of characters represents the very best of blues players that, as a town, we can boast.

The fare for the evening will be homage to the great players and songs the blues have given the world, certainly to include Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker and Robert Johnson. The players gathered for the show read like a laundry list of venerable, veteran experts. It’s James Ganeko on drums and Ian Chames on bass, with a very special appearance by Lisa Gomes and her magic blues fiddle. Mad producer genius Pierre Grill will man the keys. It’s a good thing someone’s going to record it. –Jamie Winpenny

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Hot mama

If you’re in a band, you’re in very good shape if your debut album is produced by an award-winning genius. Mama’s Cookin’ is in such shape, with Chuck Zwicky, who’s twisted the knobs for the likes of Jeff Beck and Price, manning the controls for their self-titled debut effort.

Billed as a hip-hop-rock-blues outfit, Mama’s Cookin’ brings their sound to Honolulu for a series of gigs at The Loft, rRed Elephant Cafe and the Waimea Valley Audubon Center. It’s always a special occasion when an indie touring outfit manages to make it to our little spire of lava out here in the Pacific, but with the current surge in indie-jazz-hip pop fusion mojo we’re enjoying, Mama’s Cookin’ is an attraction that will allow attendees to tune into what’s happening in the national milieu.

As can well be expected, our own fusion band Tempo Valley will be along, as will other ’special guests.’ The venues booked are somewhat of a coup for any visiting artist without major label support — a further indication that the independent music scene in Honolulu is not only thriving, it’s growing. Feed the fire.  –J. W.