“Grin, even when you’re at your lowest, grin,” implores Mackey Feary on the opening track of his 1978 solo album Mackey Feary Band. “You’re Young” is all sun and breeze, making it near-impossible to suppress the requested grin. It’s languid yet funky, with shimmering guitars, wending saxophone, and sweet female background voices adding to the luster. As a founding member of Kalapana, Feary had been at the vanguard of Hawaiian pop in the 1970s; alongside such artists as Cecilio and Kapono and Keola and Kapono Beamer, Kalapana delivered a rich, smooth style…
Release Round-Up: Week of November 30
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Neil Diamond, 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition (Capitol/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Neil Diamond revisits a 50+-year career with a new 6-CD, 115-song retrospective box set featuring hits, rarities, and 15 previously unreleased tracks including the original demos of “America” and “I Am…I Said.” Everything is packaged within a deluxe hardcover book-style format. 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition expands upon 2017’s 3-CD 50th Anniversary set and is the first comprehensive Diamond career overview in more than 20 years. Read the track listing here, and…
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Naturally: Manifesto Collects ’70s Soft Rock Sounds of Hawaii’s Kalapana
Black Sand: The Best of Kalapana, a 20-track anthology from the Hawaiian band drawn from the years 1975-1983, presents a vivid portrait of the group that, despite various personnel changes, has been playing to sold-out crowds for 45 years now. Yet one question lingers: how has Kalapana languished in obscurity on the American mainland for so long? Malani Bilyeu, D.J. Pratt, Kirk Thompson, and Mackey Feary came together to make music in 1973. All but Pratt were born in Honolulu; the lead guitarist had his roots in Kapahulu. The name “Kalapana” came…
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention
September 25, 2026
