LUCIDMEDIA

Lals blast to take off their new album

Written by Lisa M. Knapp Thursday, 05 June 2008 08:34

After a long five years in the making with pre production and preparation for a masterpiece album, Deportation is defiantly something Lal can be proud of. Kazi and Murray have been friends over 10 years and have been making music together for just as long and kudos to them because they are great at it.

Lal had to wait and follow three amazing opening acts. It began with DJ duo Insider Mind, with a very puppet like performance, basically every song had a theme these two mimed to the theme of the song.

Hamilton’s own brilliant hip-hop artist John Staples was also there. He’s a regular at Pepper Jacks, performing and scatting on the spot for his fans and whoever else is in the audience. As well, the soft rock band QR5, for whom Lal is officially part of their tour, played a great set after which Lal was ready to move in and take the audience to a new level.

They played a lovely set of about six songs, most of which were from the new album including a couple that stood out in particular for me, “London Bridge” and “Erase Me.”Along with its sultry sounding down tempo beats and eclectic strumming of the piano, the sexy vocals of Kazi to make it all come together.

Personally I’ve never had the wonderful opportunity to see this band, nor had I heard of them until recently, but they have been coming to Hamilton for awhile now, playing regularly at Pepper Jacks. The activism role that they play in the community defiantly piqued my interest when reading about them before I attended the show. I noticed that they not only perform activism in a sense through their music and lyrics, but they defiantly believe in a few causes and act on them as well. Not many people can be proud enough to say that.

Brilliant orchestrated sounds moved the audience to their feet as Lal continued on its magical performance. The café’s patrons moved their bodies, people were smiling everywhere and grooving to the down tempo beats and poppy vibrations. Afterward, down tempo combines the likes of jazz, electronic, hip hop, and soul.

The warm bass sounds and clever percussion mixed in with the groove sounds of cleverly mixed electronic sounds are what make this music what it is: eclectic, futuristic, original, unique, and defiantly worth bouncing and grooving to. This music is what makes me continue on my search for new and is actually classified as “Trip-Hop” because of its trippy melodies and association with hip-hop. Hip-hop always has that mix of continuous beats, whereas trip hop mixes the beats up even more and adds melody.

Kazi owned the stage as she preformed, moving to the music and singing with her soul shining through. She danced to the beats and moved her body to the vibrations the music made. She sang even when she had no microphone in her hand, just feeling the music and making it her own in the moment.

Kazi is a master at echoing her own voice; the songs she sang were like listening to two or three of her. All the performers were completely into the music, into the moment and she was the forefront of it all. The performance was beautifully done and could not have been better.

I spoke to the two before the show and asked why the album is called Deportation? “My close friend got deported from Costa Ricca,” explains Kazi. “She was an artist and activist and got arrested on national women’s day. Deportation is about migration, being forced to leave, and our own stories put to music. It’s really shocking to know how many people get deported.”

Kazi is a strong believer in women’s rights and even works at the Toronto women’s book store, which is Lal’s main sponsor. The women’s book store, which is a non-profit that is dedicated to anti-oppression and feminist politics, can be found at 73 Harbord Street in Toronto.

Lal is more than just a band, they are a band with a purpose, with a cause, they want people to know about the different things they support and they want us to get involved, even if it’s in the smallest way.