Remember that cash-in "Hawaiian Luau" exploitation tape your grandparents bought in a souvenir shop on their vacation to Maui in the '70s played by an unknown group? Although the nod is there, this is certainly not that tape. What this tape is rather is the debut album by musical super-talent, Yohei Shikano & co. under the project name, My Hawaii. As My Hawaii, the truly eclectic Shikano skillfully shifts perfectly from genre to genre, with numerous instruments (harps, banjo, marimbas, steel guitars, theramin, and prepared piano), creating 13 playful, moody, beautiful, sweet, dreamy, completely charming, pop music gems. MY Hawaii also have a 7" vinyl EP release on the Community Music Group label (Edward Sharpe & the Zero's). When asked about the recording process, Shikano said "What usually happened with the songs on this album was this: I'd invite my friends over, share it my basic idea with them, we'd start on it, break for beers, BBQ, and then finish it up." The friends he is referring to are primarily Jens Kuross (keyboards & drums), Justin Deming (guitar, woodwinds, mixing), Miles Senzaki (drums, engineering), Keith Karman (bass, steel guitar). The album contains six instrumentals, studio chatter, and 3 excellent covers including Radiohead's "Videotape", Tom Petty's "American Girl" & the Harold Arlen Great American Songbook Classic "Over The Rainbow" from "The Wizard Of Oz". Influences like Tortoise, Van Dyke Parks, The Beatles, Phil Spector, The Concretes, Billy Strange, The Beach Boys, and even early Weezer are all obvious, but My Hawaii make music all their own. All of which simply puts a smile on your face. Artwork by Grant Lovelace.