After a trip to Hawaii several years ago, one of my uncles came home with a newfound and significant appreciation of the island’s ethnic music, a unique brand of instrumentation and vocals if I have ever heard it. Of course, this does not imply that Hawaii has a prototypical musical style throughout its ethnic offerings, but some similarities tend to intersperse most artists due to a collective artistic upbringing.

There is no recording company that better understands Hawaiian music than The Mountain Apple Company, whose releases feature all Hawaiian music, all the time. Mountain Apple has built an artist roster to include more than two dozen regular contributors, along with a catalogue of tracks that have made for some beautiful compilation CD’s in recent months.

Indeed, not only has Mountain Apple continuously bolstered Hawaii’s music scene, but it now has designs on the visual experience with a series of DVD music videos and concert releases that are sure to supplement the aural experience with hot-selling DVD releases as well.

One can hardly go wrong with any one of Mountain Apple’s recent releases as an introduction to the unique brand of Hawaiian music. There is much diversity in the bunch, but like my uncle several years ago, there is a very good chance that you could be seduced by the styling of a host of talented performers and song-writers hailing from the Island state.

Na Leo Pilimehana - Local Boys

2004 marks the 20th birthday of Na Leo's Local Boys release, and the 20th anniversary of their time together as a recording group. To celebrate this event, Na Leo is releasing the long out-of-print original recordings from the CD Local Boys, including 2 brand new bonus tracks.