Maui by Kava Kava

Kava Kava has already been heard on Showtime series "Weeds" and has been spun by Nic Harcourt on noncommercial KCRW Los Angeles" BILLBOARD MAGAZINE

"Kava Kava has created a musical chimera that is equal parts P-Funk and Roxy Music, as indebted to Stax soul and the Philly sound as it is to the Manchester beat and Brian Eno. Maui is a strong antidote to the bland, lifeless music you'll hear on the radio, an energetic blend of heart and soul that will have you shuffling your feet in spite of your bad self" ALT.CULTURE.GUIDE

"What sets Kava Kava apart from other trancey, vibey electronica is the vocals of Pat Fulgoni. He's got a soulful, powerful voice that is also pretty hypnotic on its own" COSMIK DEBRIS

"Every song in this collection has a nice clean club sound that is distinct and different from anything else on the market. Definitely the hottest dance album in quite some time" STYLUS

"If you're in the mood for social commentary or introspection, keep searching. But if you dig on pretty sounds and funky beats (and I think you do), look no further." SPLENDID

"...intense dance-music (intense as in Junior-Senior, not the 300bpm dance marathon tracks)...rich instrumentation and solid production ensure for a tremendous experience" NEUFUTUR

"Cool grooves, phat beats, funky sounds. Awesome feel-good music...Funky, heavy synth, Brit R&B Hip-Hop dance vibe." HYBRID MAGAZINE.COM

"...a funky, soulful, bluesy feel with a dance house (almost break beat) rhythm. Kava Kava really raises the bar on dance music with 'Maui.' The energy level is through the roof." 1340 MAG

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Some UK press for 70 minute CD album "Maui" :

DJ MAGAZINE "........should be on every funk and disco playlist, period!...........Love it!" (4.5/5)

BLUES AND SOUL "It's not often that a debut artist album grips me on first listening but the organic vibe, inspired songwriting and impeccable production of "Maui" is a jaw-dropping phenomenon"

(5/5)

M8 MAGAZINE "A bit of an undiscovered gem, this album has a glut of deep soulful grooves and funk-driven songs with a vinyl album sampler to suit many different moods. Already gaining a great deal of attention from (UK) Radio One dj's Giles Peterson and Rob da Bank, so why not check this out for your more laid back gatherings and some essential summer listening." (M7/M8)

FUTURE MUSIC "the future of dance .......... you can hear why they are an essential live experience...."

BLUES AND SOUL 'one of the more distinctive and funky albums of the year"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

KAVA KAVA "MAUI" - description by Nicky Trax (phuture trax pr)

the new album "MAUI"....the music reaches out to me

Where Northern soul collides with electronica in a funked up stylee, there's even more amazing soundscapes on Kava Kava's hotly anticipated new album "Maui". With diverse fans such as Mary Anne Hobbs, Freddy Fresh, Capoeira Twins, Rob Da Bank (Sunday Best) through to Simon Mu (Back To Basics), Kava Kava are exploding as a kick ass band with more festival credentials under their belt than even Pete Tong! The new album sampler contains the big dancefloor number, "Don't Stop The Music" and the Cienna Remix of "Maui", and Kava Kava are hotting floors up with their heady mix of French -styled funked up disco, electro sounds, raw live acoustic soulful ensemble playing and some greats beats.

Impossible to pin down musically...they combine souped-up baggy beats and 80's atmospherics with richly melodic grooves, led by Fulgoni's crisp and uplifting Northen Soul vocals:...

Kicking off the album is the unashamed feel good "Don't Stop The Music" already getting the San Fran thumbs up, and set to be remixed for even wider appeal. "Space People" unleashes an upbeat breaks excursion with trumpets and strings, and another album highlight. Squelchy skanking Ram Jam Band sounds rocks "Terrorists" as Pat Fulgoni's strong vocal presence runs through. Then electro opens the irrepressible wah wah funk ridin' groove, "Sicfuck". The title track "Maui" unfolds in soft vocal n strings style as the breaks push this soundscape out into trippy terrain.

And then KK turn it up on the rockin leftfielder beats n guitar thrash, "Bank Job". "Swans" is a soundtrack style interlude before KK then spin back in time with their chirpy, breaky first single, "Funked Up And Freaked Out". "Beats For Cheats" adds a rave flava with Eastern sounds meshing with nasal beats and nagging keys that then breaks into funk...mad stuff. "Tic" is a more acoustic eastern "Beatles" styled jaunt and then more leftfield musical arcadia can be found on "nfa" alongside the closing instrumental oddity "Faith".

Funky with guitars, soulful and squelchy and you can dance to Kava Kava's music which mixes it all up with live musicianship, electronica, samples and beats. A bit Polyphonic, nu Talking Heads..it's one of this year's more out there album sets and all the better for it.

"Terrorists" would have fitted on 'Screamadelica". It's a soul shaking, chunky funking live mash up!" YEP

HISTORY

Surprisingly Kava Kava hail from Yorkshire, UK and were originally a 4 piece experimental live psychedelic funk outfit with heavy George Clinton influences! Comprising Pat Fulgoni as Singer, plus playing squelchy keyboards and trumpet; Matt Bond on guitars; Jason Riley on bass and electronica and Mick Reed on drums, KK cut their teeth through the underground festival/party scene, with NME describing the band's "You Can Live Here" album as "gorgeous new psychedelic funk".

As independent experimental dance exploded (labels such as Mowax, Skint and Ninja Tune) Kava Kava started messing around with new technologies and the "Freedom" single "Supalube" album saw the band expand accordingly into a cutting edge live dance outfit - turbo-charged 6 piece space funk monster with brass section, big beats and full live funk ensemble.

Kava Kava are a great live band. They have funked up clubs and festivals right across France, Holland, Belgium, Hungary, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Poland, Italy and of course the UK (including Glastonbury). Their 2001 EP "Funked Up and Freaked Out" rose to No 1 in the NME Club Guide Chart and revealed a timely fix of old school soul influences, over washes of lush bleeps, big beats, rocked out live funk and ass kicking underground grooves. New album 'Maui' takes the band's groove through the roof nailing their unique turbo charged live disco/funk/rock style and peppered with the distinctive soulful vocals of Pat alongside some outrageous guitars, electronica, brass, strings and beats.

LABEL

Yorkshire saying: "as much use as a chocolate fireguard". Chocolate Fireguard Music Ltd is an eclectic Huddersfield based independent label run by Kava Kava front man Pat Fulgoni, with various distribution deals worldwide.

Currently concentrating on developing hot new club acts The Bluefoot Project, Kava Kava, French hip hop outfit La Cedille, Practical Headz and girl punk rockers Mary-Jane, the new compilation 'Interesting Flavours' and acclaimed "Taster...Sounds From The Funky Underground" compilation series, the second volume of which was one of 8 import titles chosen for "Best of British" Virgin Megastores USA, Chocolate Fireguard are also names to watch for with their heady eclectic mix.

For vinyl junkies there's limited edition samplers of both "Funked Up and Freaked Out" and "Maui" available......

Average Customer Review: