The Mot¡ves Project

Produced by Louie Fleck

Engineered at The Shack, NYC

Mastered by Alan Douches - West Westside Music

Highly recommended.

THE MOT!VES have been around in various configurations since 1998, and this is the band’s debut CD release.  Their three years of woodshedding and playing out have paid off handsomely: THE MOT!VES PROJECT's sound is an impressively well-developed hybrid of reggae, ska, funk and even country characterized by intricate, flowing basslines, beautifully arranged horn charts and better-than-average vocals.  Interestingly, the guest artists on So Much Moreinclude banjo legends Tony Trischka and Bela Fleck. Trischka contributes tasteful pedal steel guitar on Cat (a minor-key ska tune which continues the feline theme that dominates the album’s cover art), while Fleck plays nearly subliminal banjo on the similarly ska-flavored Someone Else’s Life and both banjo and guitar on A Friend In Need.  Most of the album stays more in a mainstream reggae vein -- not old-school roots-and-culture reggae for the most part, but modern reggae with dancehall sheen and a rootsy foundation.  Highlights include the excellent Cowboy and the even better Bubblin’ Pot, a dancehall workout featuring great interplay between singers Marcia Davis and Brian “Milo” Lowe.  Highly recommended.