Because new music can be intoxicating.
And people sometimes call me Drunk.
Showing posts with label Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
New Music Roundup, 4/16/13
Ghostface Killah - Twelve Reasons to Die
There was a 0% chance I wasn't going to like this. Combining one of the most inventive rappers working today with the bombast of Adrian Younge, the producer behind the Black Dynamite soundtrack and the previously covered Delfonics album, is a strategy that just works. This album is actually the first concept album Ghostface has ever done, and the hyperviolent story of a mobster who returns from the grave to exact revenge upon his murderers is given a grimy, grindhouse-influenced aural backdrop by Younge. Here's hoping these two continue working together.
Lest I be accused of solely focusing solely on Justin Timberlake's album, an album that everyone was likely going to listen to anyway, here's some other interesting recent releases:
The Delfonics - Adrian Younge Presents the Delfonics
Adrian Younge is a fascinating guy, something of a Renaissance man. Back in 2009 he helped edit the incredibly underrated blaxploitation send-up Black Dynamite while also handling producing duties on the film's soundtrack. An instrumentalist himself, he formed the group Venice Dawn, which released an album in 2011 titled Something About April that was primarily inspired by psychedelic soul of the 60's (for the record, both the Black Dynamite soundtrack and Something About April are totally awesome).
Sometime after this, Younge became enamored with the idea of combining early 90's RZA type hip hop production with the sweet Philadelphia Soul sound of the 70's characterized by the Delfonics. He struck up a friendship with William Hart, the Delfonics' lead singer and primary songwriter, and the two began to collaborate together.
This album is the result of that collaboration. Though I think it highly unlikely any true Delfonics fan is going to read this review, it is important to note that Younge changes the Delfonics sound fairly significantly. The Delfonics made their bones on multipart harmonies and smooth sweeping orchestral arrangements that melded 60's soul with 70's funk. This album has much sparer production, and Hart is the only member of the Delfonics to participate, so Hart's falsetto if featured far more often on this album than it was on traditional Delfonics ones.
Nevertheless, the combination of Younge and Hart produces some absolutely fantastic soul music, and Younge really is able to capture the sound of some other early 70's soul acts. Had I not been aware of it being new before listening, I would have likely placed the recording date to be sometime between 1970-1972 but by some obscure soul act I had never heard before.
Selections
Stop and Look (And You Have Found Love)
