WAI - PROUD

'The music of Wellington-based group Wai is a key to unlocking both the past and the future of Maori destiny. If that sounds like a rather large claim, consider this. On their album "100%", WAI create a uniquely organic sound that looks both backwards and forwards at the same time, while sounding utterly unlike any other sound on this blue planet. Add Mina's richly expressive, sad and unassuming, almost meditative, vocals, all sung in her native Maori tongue, and you have one of the only "world music" albums that actually speaks honestly and meaningfully of our place in the universe. It'll take you a couple of listens to fully appreciate the depth and beauty of Wai's creation, so different is it from anything else around. But the sounds are seductive. This is the stuff of life itself,
and Wai do their subject proud, with a direct-from-the-heart approach.

• article submitted by: Mina Ripia, Minaaka Limited