I first discovered the music of Rosina Kazi and Nick Murray aka LAL via their 12″ singles Brown Eyes Warrior and Dancing The Same in May 2005. Finally the album Warm Belly High Power of this Canadian duo is available in Europe. Actually LAL already entered the scene in 1998 when their song Last Stop was included on the Metropass EP on the Public Transit label. By 2000, LAL had released their first full-length CD Corners in Canada. Their music has been remixed so far by the likes of Nick Holder, Moonstarr, Abacus, and Nu Era.
LAL’s music draws its inspiration from carefully watching contrasts, balancing political and cultural contradictions. Both musicians are children of emigrants. Rosina’s parents hail from Bangladesh and Nick’s from Barbados — both families settled near Brampton, Ontario. In their childhood both listened to their parent’s traditional music and raised themselves on local urban sounds. They both met as employees at the same record shop and finally moved in with each other and the rest is - as they say - history.
The original versions of the above mentioned singles are a good example of the sound present on this album. It’s a soulful and melancholic melange of dub, lounge, trip hop and electro, somewhere between early Massive Attack, Morcheeba, Tricky and 3 Generations Walking.
Warm Belly High Power is divided in four parts following the seasons starting with the fall and ending with the summer. And it’s one of these albums that works best as a whole with its releaxed and calm grooves and beats that provides the perfect chill out background and yet offer food for thought if you listen carefully to Rosina’s political lyrics.
Nevertheless let me pick a few songs besides the already praised Brown Eyed Warrior and Dancing The Same. Orange is a great starter for the album with its warm and slow beats softly caressing Rosina’s ethereal and melancholic voice.
Two of the songs paying tribute to Rosina’s Asian roots are Pale and Creep with their sitars and tablas and Indian sound at the beginning. For maximum Mid-Eastern sounds listen to the last part of the Bonus B.E.W., Bloodlines.
To sum it up Warm Belly High Power is a very good and interesting album with its blend of different music styles and its subtle melancholy.

Tracklisting of Warm Belly High Power: 1. Orange/ 2. Brown Eyed Warrior/ 3. Forget to Say/ 4. Pale/ 5. Creep/ 6. Saturn/ 7. Raindrops/ 8. Faithful/ 9. Musty City/ 10. Shallow Water/ 11. Dancing the same/ 12. Invincible/ 13. B.E.W. Epilogue .. Think .. Bloodlines | released September 26, 2005 Public Tranist Records

For more infos visit ptrmusic.com, lalforest.com and grooveattack.com.

[If you want to discuss LAL’s music, you can leave your comment below and also use the forum]