Han Solo by Captain Stu

When I first spotted this track in the Free Music Archive‘s boundless index of digital recordings, I picked it solely because of the title. Little did I know this track had absolutely no relation to the sometimes egotistical and eccentric Rebel smuggler Han Solo nor was it written in homage to the Star Wars franchise (though in retrospect this should have quite been obvious). What it did have, however, was the kind of underlying complexity commonly found in the Star Wars series (whether this intricacy was present in the character transformation of Han Solo from “a loner who realizes the importance of being part of a group”, a ideological battle of good versus evil or the terrifyingly dismal state of a future shaped by slavery and robotic sentience). In the case of the song Han Solo, this complexity can be found in the form of atypical rhythmic figures, memorable melodies, edgy yet slick vocals, killer horn lines and some equally impressive bass lines.

Captain Stu, consisting of James Klopper on vocals and electric guitar, Ryan McArthur on electric bass, Jon Shaban on saxophone and guitar, Matt Willis on trombone and keyboard, and Ryk Otto on drums  is a South African Ska band notorious for juxtaposing jazzy and reggae sounds with native African influences to create an upbeat and refreshing sound. Immediately after stumbling upon Captain Stu, I was puzzled to discover that they had been listed in nearly 10 very different genres, ranging all the way from folk and blues to funk and jazz. The more I listened to their sole track, however, the more I began to understand the reasons behind their strangely broad classification. Much like with my last post on The Fulminate Trio, the track was very difficult to define. It’s an intensely interesting group unlike any other ska band I’ve ever heard. While their horn lines and rhythmic guitar parts are reminiscent of some of the more popular ska groups like Reel Big Fish and Catch 22, the bassist and drummer lay down a groove far more similar to that of a punk/funk hybrid. Even the vocals seem more closely tied to the rough and quick vocal delivery present in both hip-hop and rap.

All in all, I’d definitely recommend giving this song a bit of your time and some space on your hard drive.

Download and/or listen to the album here.

This song is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

This means you can have it, you can give it to everyone you know and/or don’t know, you can remix it, and everyone you know and/or don’t know can remix it.  You can’t make money off of it and you have to attribute the band with a link.  Finally, if you do remix it and you release it into the wild, you have to use the same license.

To read the full license, click here.