Artist: Year Of The Monkey, Album: 68, Song: Disaster Strikes Back

"Now disaster can always strike."  Year Of The Monkey are the production team of Ron Lopata and JK Kanakis.  Both men were members of the Juno award winning R&B band, Jacksoul.  They have also worked with many artists in the Canadian music industry as session players, co-writers as well as producers.  In 2007, they decided to combine their talents under the moniker, Year Of The Monkey.  The name stemmed from the fact that they were both born in the years associated with the Chinese horoscope sign of the monkey.  They also invited some musicians along that they both had worked with in the past.  Names like the late, Haydain Neale from Jacksoul, Tomi Swick, Tara Slone (Joydrop), Lindi Ortega, Jully Black, Andy Stochansky and Lindy (see blog 11/26/10).  It is a very cool collaborative effort with some wonderful songs.  The clear favourite for myself is a track by a songstress named, Simon Wilcox (http://simonwilcox.com/).  She is actually the daughter of famed Canadian musician, David Wilcox (see blog 9/12/10).  She has a few albums to date and actually has released the same track, Disaster Strikes, on her own 2007 release entitled, The Charm And The Strange.  The version recorded with Year Of The Monkey retains the haunting quality of the song but it isn't as delicate sounding.  You can check out the tune on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDp0paVlILY&list=UUppSJ2-WmKhVgELd07MXO3w&index=2&feature=plcp).  You can read about the band, Year Of The Monkey at http://www.yearofthemonkey68.com/.  Tragedy struck Ron and JK when they lost their band mate from Jacksoul, Haydain Neale, to lung cancer in 2009.  Haydain was actually involved in a serious traffic accident just prior to his death in 2007 (the year of this release) which had placed him in a coma.  Ron Lopata has his own production company called, Keen Music, and you can follow him at http://www.ronlopata.com/.  The album, 68, is available for download from Itunes.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!