For whatever reason, they had this disc at our library today. The cover features the six or seven hundred pound Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo`ole floating in a pool. It seemed worth giving a listen, particularly since our high temperature was negative 5 today.
It's hard to describe how ethereal he sounds, but if you're familiar with Ted Hawkins--whose The Next Hundred Years came out and brought him improbable popular notice just before he died--there's a similar quality here, which surely we must read into the music to some degree, of someone singing his farewells. Don't know about the tunes that are sung in Hawaiian, but In This Life and Starting All Over Again are like someone singing his own eulogy, but rather joyfully.
You can check out some samples here. It's quite beautiful.
