Music for the Airport by Aloha Got Soul Responds to the Airport’s AI Songs
The new record album compiles human-made music from Hawai‘i as a rebuttal to the AI selection played at the airport.
Photo: Courtesy of Aloha Got Soul
Did you know the Honolulu airport plays AI-generated music? Upon learning that from a Civil Beat article published earlier this year, record label Aloha Got Soul compiled a rebuttal in vinyl form, Music for the Airport, with 17 local, human-made songs pulled from its catalog of unreleased, licensed music.
Roger Bong, owner of Aloha Got Soul, selected many of the songs from the CD era of the ’90s and early 2000s, so the collection “gives people a nice slice of what Hawai‘i sounded like during this snapshot in time.” Having been recorded during the transitional period from analog to digital, the songs also represent a time when artists’ creativity grew with technological progress rather than being replaced or hindered by it. Ballads, instrumentals, contemporary Hawaiian mele, folksy ditties and jazzy tunes are arranged to flow and make you want to hit play again when the last track ends.
The number of songs was chosen intentionally to fill in for the 17 AI pieces if the airport ever decides to make a change. Hawai‘i Department of Transportation spokesperson Shelly Kunishige says the airport does play licensed Hawaiian music in addition to AI, and that it might consider utilizing the Aloha Got Soul album if its budget allows for it.
The 2LP vinyl is slated to release in September when it will also be available on all streaming platforms. You can pre-order the record online and stream it on Bandcamp pre-release.
$40, alohagotsoul.com, @alohagotsoul
Andrea Lee is the digital editor of HONOLULU Magazine.
