Get On Past it

The best I can say about Brand New Heavies’ latest, “Get Used to It” is that it’s a good 90s-acid-jazz-”throwback” CD. I know I’m in the minority, but I really dug Siedah Garrett voice more than N’dea’s and this CD reminds me of why I still feel that way. Plus, there’s no Jan Kincaid lead vocal here. What’s that about?

Most of all, it doesn’t flow like I expect a live band CD to flow. With some exceptions (“Let’s Do It Again”, “We’ve Got”) it’s a bit too weighed down in 21st century-production gloss. For example, “Music” and “I Just Realized” sound more like remixes than original studio cuts.

For me, file it under “It’ll do in a pinch”.

Truly “worth”something

Georgia Anne Muldrow‘s EP, “Worthnothings”, has been running through the fun corners of my mind all week. The blend of all-encompassing vocals, guitar, keys, and beats makes for a kaleidascopic and introspective first statement from this 22-year old artist.

Originally self-released in 2004, the seven-song work receives new shelf-life via Stones Throw Records and Caroline Distribution, and rightly so. The song, “Nothingness”, present hip-hop at its most melodic, with lyrics that express a comfort in one’s skin, even with all its troubles:

“Cool with this nothingness/ I’m on my way I guess/ Freedom in emptiness/ Glad to be own my own….I was only seven years old, envisioned my death and prayed for the day to rest my soul / The ways of the world made me heart cold/ Already attempted suicide so that idea’s played and so…”

The track, “Lo Mein”, is as groovy and light as the relationship that Georgia wishes to have: “Just kiss me on a cold day, and that will be enough / Let’s call this sweet nothing, and let breathe because…you’re so lo (mein)tantnance..” Fun, fun, fun.

Thanks, Georgia, for bringing music for alternative/r&b/hip-hop sweet teeth like mine.

Stoned, hooked

So, a friend played an older cut by Lewis Taylor in his podcast, right? I was like, “Uh, who is this and WHY am I just finding now?!?!”. Thus began my search for all things Lewis Taylor, which led me to his American debut, if you will: the re-released version of Stoned. So what were my findings once I found this CD?

From the opening harmonies of the title track I was HOOKED. However, the track didn’t survive several listens for me. Marvin Gaye straight-up invaded “Positively Beautiful”, however it didn’t stay in my mind like the next cut, “Lewis IV”. I don’t know if it was the honest yearing in his voice (which has the most striking blend of male vulnerability and power) or his honest lyricism that won me, but I was indeed won over. The Stylistics’ cover, “Stop, Look, Listen to your Heart” is a nice surprise and well-produced. Then, “Lovelight” comes on and vocally reminds me of the best musical pop moments of Michael Jackson. Not that he sounds like him; it’s just that the groove just works.

While it’s kinda sad that this records is esentially four years old and just coming to us in the states (some bullshit about not knowing how to market him — PUHlease, Elton’s “Bennie and the Jets” wouldn’t have been a hit without American black radio), I’m glad the music is here for us to enjoy affordably.

Jammin’ the Jungle Floor

Van Hunt‘s latest, On the Jungle Floor, gives a wink and a nod more to the musical expressions of Bobby Womack and Curtis Mayfield as much as he does “the Purple One”. However, the lyrics are what raised this reviewer’s eyebrow. Check these verses from “Character”, one of my favorite tracks:

“You wanted to draw a picture / but your relationship could never hold a pose / and you’re left with a room full of sketches / that only hint at the love you wanted to know”

Other tracks that just plain “work” are “Hot Stage Lights”, “Being A Girl”, and “Thrill of this Love”. The song, “Mean Sleep”, is what actually prompted me to buy this disc, remembering that it’s a co-write with Cree Summer (and was performed on her 1998 disc, Street Fairie). This version here is good, however Cree Summer and Lenny Kravitz really delivered this song so it’s hard to compare. It’s kind of like listening to Leon Russell sing “A Song For You” after hearing Donny Hathaway–it just doesn’t work for me.

Place gently in player, then spin..on the jungle floor.