Reviews

After visiting Hawaii, we wanted to buy our grand-daughter a grass skirt as a gift. This is a nice one with an elastic waistband and plenty of grass to do it justice. She loved her grass skirt as much as we had hoped.

Reviews

Grass Skirt Records' inaugural cd is a rousing success! Collecting all but one of Sam's sides that I know of (the other is on Hawaiian Steel Guitar Classics on the Arhoolie label), this disc is a dream come true for fans of acoustic Hawaiian steel guitar from the 1920s and '30s. Aside from the several tracks that have shown up on previous compilation cds, I'd never heard any of this stuff. This disc has hardly left my player since I received it a week-and-a-half ago. I've heard it 2 times per day, minimum, since it arrived. Sam's reputation (for youngins of my generation) as one of the best National Tricone players is cemented with the release of this disc. Sweet Georgia Brown is one of those tracks that make people think guys like Sam or Bob Brozman must use some sort of pick-ups/effects, given the sounds they coax out of these great instruments, and the way they seem to be able to control the speed at which slow rolls of sound leave the guitar. Nope, no pick-ups folks, just magic fingers. I guess, like me before I owned this, you may be wondering how does Sam compare/contrast to the Sol Hoopii Volumes 1 and 2 you own. So far I must say I think Sol was the better of the 2 overall. I think Sol had a more dynamic sense of touch. The way he entered, shaped and exited notes seems without peer. Someday Sweetheart here shows that. Also I think you'll notice Sam has the occasional moment of rhythmic clunkiness, particularly on the lowest notes/phrases he'd play, as on part of Memphis Blues. Sol didn't seem to ever have that, at least not on cd-released sides I've heard. To jump cds, you really should hear my favorite version of Memphis Blues. It's by the Mobile Strugglers on the great Violin, Sing the Blues For me disc. What I think Sam may have had over Sol is his ability to make the National seem to be a magical box of beautiful sounds. Sam can certainly make this instrument sing and shimmer! He's capable of great, slow, meditative beauty. I give this four stars only because I gave Sol Hoopii Volume 1 five stars, and I still think most anyone would consider Sol to be the all-around better guitarist. Then again, if you're in the mood for less (as in zero) kitsch than you'll get on Sol Hoopii Volume 2, or from King Bennie Nawahi, Sam right here is your man. Lots of beautiful stuff here. If you prefer Kalama's Quartet's regal quality over Sol Hoopii volume 2, King Bennie or the Cheapsuit Serenaders, this Sam Ku West disc is the one for you. A sizeable chunk of liner-notes which certainly told me more than I ever knew of Sam's life, as well as some fine pictures and a discography that only omits some repeated issues, makes this a 5-star, class-act tribute to a great musician. Thank You to the collectors and Grass Skirt for making this fantastic collection possible!

An awesome collection of rare recordings from Hawaiian steel guitarist Sam Ku West, with informative liner notes and great sound quality on the digital transfers. If you enjoy Sol Hoopii, Tau Moe, Gabby Pahinui and other wizards of the style, then this disc is for you... Get it while you can!

Reviews

This is a wonderful collection which gathers the oldest recordings of Sol Hoopii, one of the legendary pioneers of Hawaiian steel guitar. These tracks are taken from of rare 78s recorded in 1925 for the microscopic Los Angeles-based indie, Hollywood Records. They are among the rarest West Coast 78s, and highly sought-after by vintage vinyl uber-collectors. More importantly, the music is stunning: these recordings capture Hoopii early in his career and show how advanced his technique and style were, and how seamlessly he fused Hawaiian elements with the jazz and pop of the day. The sound quality is excellent -- Grass Skirt Records, which also has put out a wonderful collection of Sam Ku West, and did a stellar job remastering the music. Also included are several other rare Hawaiian 78s, also released by Hollywood, featuring Dave Mahuka & The Coppock's Hawaiian Quartet, Charles Frederick's Honolulu Syncopators, and guitarist Charles Diamond, whose instrumental "Sleep" is one of the most alluring steel guitar tunes I've ever heard. These records are all extremely rare, and one track, Charles Frederick's "Hello, Aloha, How Are You?", is actually taken from a 78-RPM test acetate... the only known copy. Pick this collection up while you can... you'll be glad you did! (DJ Joe Sixpack - Slipcue music reviews)

Reviews

I bought these lights, the patio string lights and the faux pearl and these are the cutest (pearl next up). They cast a great stripey shadow. My only complaint would be that I found them at Target a few weeks later for only 19.99!

I HAVE THESE LIGHTS IN MY BATHROOM; TIKI HUT THEMED... AND NOT ONLY DO THEY CAST A BEACHY, TIKI BAR FEEL THEY HAVE BEEN ON FOR TWO YEARS... NO KIDDING... MAYBE EVEN LONGER. I WISH EVERYTHING WORKED THIS WELL. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A SUMMER, TIKI-FEEL ATMOSPHERE, BUY THESE LIGHTS. FOR A TIP: TRY STRINGING THESE LIGHTS IN FRONT OF A COLORED, THEMED TAPESTRY, SHOWER CURTAIN, WALLPAPER... WHATEVER! YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!

Really cute! We used them as Sukkah lights/decorations. They're smaller than we expected, but cute decorations!

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This looked great around our cake table at our birthday party luau. It held up well. I would buy it again!

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Used in a photo shoot and it preformed very well. Nice size and photographed well, moved well and when using a fan on it is blew just like a regular skirt would.

Reviews

At a recent pool party with a polynesian theme I wanted a grass hula skirt that would look as close to the real thing as possible. This is not a high end item by any measns and one skirt alone may not provode what you want in a hula skirt - it is very visible what you are wearing underneath - so I decided to order a second skirt and combine them which resulted in a fantastic grass-like skirt that got many compliments. It rained later in the evening and the skirt(s) held up and are wearable again for the next party.

This is not a toy, it is a grass skirt. My wife wore it to a luau a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed receiving many compliments.

We had an Hawaiian Luau party and requested everyone to dress in Hawaiian outfits. Most people wore Hawaiian shirts. But the Grass skirt was the hit of the party! It's plenty big, and looked great! Don't hesitate buing this one!

Reviews

So in this electronics-driven, PlayStation/Wii/Xbox manipulated world, why would any children find fun with rubber duckies??? Well, not if you just play with the duckies! We recently purchased in iPhone game called "Ducky Derbies", and it is one of the most child-innocence games you could found on earth. In a nutshell, you dump like 40-50 rubber duckies into city sewer, river, etc, and you would use throw all kind of things into the water to make your favourite ducky to win the race out of that 40-50 duckies. So our sons wanna play the real thing instead of the virtual one on iPhone. So we get those duckies, and build some simple course in our pool and in our bathtub. We even use the Aquaduct (by Brios). Just superb fun with lessons of physics and strategies.

I got married in Hawaii and used these as a funky little decoration in the restrooms of the reception venue. The guests loved them, the little duckies had all been kidnapped by the end of the night :)