Pokey LaFarge is a youngish guy whose music Spotify occasionally serves up to me. His sound has evolved over the years from really old timey (like the Squirrel Nut Zippers) to old timey (like J.D. McPherson) to his latest album Rhumba Country which inspired this post. It's not fair to say it sounds like a Beck album, because those are big shoes to fill, but like Beck he melds a bunch of different musical styles together and I dig it.
The first Pokey song I heard was End of My Rope which is one of his more moderately old timey jams from a few albums ago, Rock Bottom Rhapsody.
Here's the title track from his first album. You'll see what I mean about the Zippers.
He made a handful of albums with this general sound, gradually adding more background musicians and improving production quality.
Then in 2020 he released Rock Bottom Rhapsody. I guess the pandemic gave him the opportunity to listen to music that wasn't originally recorded on a wax cylinder and he did some songs like this.
In 2021 he released In the Blossom of Their Shade, probably after listening to a few reggae and surf records. See what I mean?
Continuing his southward musical journey, Rhumba Country includes a few Latin influenced songs. I'm particularly fond of One You, One Me and its nominal hiphop lyrical flow at the beginning.
The rest sounds like something you would get from Dan Auerbach's solo stuff. You know how much I enjoy pseudo-soul jams like this.
All this is a long-winded way of saying I like Pokey LaFarge's new album and encourage you to listen to it.
Just in time to comply with rob's plea for content, I got two new blue-eyed soul albums. This is right in my wheelhouse (as opposed to this wheelhouse, which has been celebrating the Tribe's football playoff appearance for almost a year now). Reviews are in order.
Mayer Hawthorne's new album, "How Do You Do," is a bit more diverse than his first one. This isn't always a good thing. A few tracks are typical MH, neo-vintage soul with clever lyrics and toe-tapping tunes. Like "The Walk":
As you can tell from the production quality of this video, MH left Stone's Throw and signed with Universal, so now he has some serious money behind him to pimp his ride.
Other songs, like "A Long Time," sound like Steely Dan. Others, like "Stick Around," sound like The Foundations. "Henny & Gingerale" (which may be good for Igor's hangovers) sounds like Marvin Gaye. Still others, like "No Strings," sound downright modern.
The only clunker on the album is "Can't Stop," featuring Snoop Dogg. The track suffers from all the problems of current popular hiphop -- the music is plodding, simplistic, and hamfistedly unsuccessfully dramatic. The lyrics have the same issues. In contrast with MH's usual playfully smart flow, "Can't Stop" actually features the line "let me hit it from behind." Someone needs to tell Snoop that Biggie said that shit 17 years ago.
But I can't get too mad at Mayer. I know this is a stretch, but if I were to put myself in the shoes of a thirty-something white guy named Andrew who grew up listening to hiphop and Motown and who rocks chunky tortoiseshell glasses and a stodgy 1950's haircut, I would be completely blown away to have Snoop Dogg on my album and I'd let him do whatever the hell he wanted. Again, this is a stretch for me, but that's my hunch.
I suspect that MH knows that "Can't Stop" sucks because the next song, "Dreaming," is brilliant. As I listen to the intro I expect to hear Nat King Cole, but then it morphs into a peppy Beach Boys/"Beatles For Sale"-vintage-Beatles sounding song about, of all things, the destruction of California featuring the words "restitution" and "detrimental," perhaps in an effort to make up for the preceding "hit it from behind" embarrassment.
I like "How Do You Do". You should check it out.
Allen Stone's self-titled album is a bit more blues than soul but it's still soulful enough for purposes of this review. As I said before, Stone sounds vaguely like Stevie Wonder. This is unfortunate for him, a bit of a blessing and a curse. Here's why.
JayKay sounds a bit like Stevie Wonder, and this is good for him because Jamiroquai made decent music.
Allen Stone falls somewhere between Jay Kay and Eddie. The net result is a forced/contrived album with about as much depth as something from Maroon 5.
I really wanted to like this album. I want to root for a dude who can simultaneously look this goofy while making these fantastic sounds:
But in the end I'm just not feeling it. Maybe a better producer could get more out of Allen Stone. And yes, those are my grandmother's glasses.
As a coda, I'd like to encourage everyone to revisit Amy Winehouse's (slim) discography. Until she died I never realized how important she was (and still is) with the 24-to-30-year-old set. I first heard about her on various music blogs and listened to a track or two but never bought an album. Then zsister gave me both albums and told me I had to listen to them. This is huge because zsister doesn't listen to music. I guess people her age grew up listening to girl power acts like the Spice Girls and Britney Spears and at some point they realized that this music is bogus and then found Amy Winehouse who could back up all the swagger and bravado that goes with girl power. And they could tell their parents that they were listening to a "real musician" and their parents would agree. I developed a little bit of a mancrush on her based on the picture of her CD collection on the liner notes to "Frank." She made two excellent albums that deserve another listen. Ghostface would agree.
*** SPECIAL BONUS REVIEW ***
FOG:TB Squeaky suggested that I listen to the new We Were Promised Jetpacks album, "In the Pit of the Stomach". The buzzy RS preview is accurate -- it's good. Sometimes it sounds (musically, not vocally) like Franz Ferdinand, other times like Death Cab For Cutie, still other times like Alice in Chains or Neurosonic. All these different sounds are unified by a complex percussion section (I can't imagine they have just one guy hitting all those drums) and the lead singer's unique voice. Every song feels like a surging wave of sound and angst. You should give it a spin.
I'm tired of looking at, hearing, and reading about LeBron's decision to get a new job. Even when a photo of rob is involved. I am accordingly bumping yesterday's post. Maybe this will get me fired.
Here's Aloe Blacc's soulful take (in 3/4 waltz time?!) on the Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale."
G:TB silent reader Juan Carlos and I headed uptown to catch SJDK at the (surprisingly small) Apollo on Saturday. As Ice Cube would put it, they tore that mothafucka up. I was completely unprepared for their energy and musicianship. Here's a brief sample of Saturday's show:
This wasn't a fluke. Here's some of what they did the night before:
Sharon Jones claimed to be four-foot-eleven, making her the little guy here today. The Dap-Kings towered behind her, 15 musicians strong. Not a typo. She had a 15-piece band including Neal Sugarman of the Sugarman 3 on tenor sax and hypeman/guitarist Binky Griptite, yes, that Binky Griptite, as in Binky Griptite's Ghetto Funk Power Hour. She also had a four-piece string section, a bongo/congo player, and a timpanist. On top of that she had three backup singers. So 19 people groovin on stage. Jones said she's 54 years old but she sang and danced her ass off for two hours straight.
According to a recent NYT interview, Jones attributes her on-stage energy to her pre-show ritual:
Q. What do you do to prepare to go onstage? You consistently have such amazing energy.
SHARON JONES Right before the stage I’m into a little Jameson.
NEAL SUGARMAN [making the sign for a joint] And a little something to smoke.
JONES Don’t write that! Not much. I can’t do that too much. I don’t want to go out there, like, are my eyes all red?
You're probably nodding your head in approval. Jones was a prison guard at Rikers Island before her music career took off. Then she was a backup singer for Lee Fields. Now she's appearing in theaters near you. So mark your calendars:
Richmond May 6 Norfolk May 9 Boston May 27 (looking at you Dooger) Elmer NJ June 5
SJDK are on now my list of acts to see every time they're in town. If you check them out they'll probably end up on yours as well.
Tangentially, I bummed a cigarette off a Swedish tourist after the show and I told him that I saw "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and I asked if Sweden's really that messed up and he said "No" but I'm not sure I believe him, he's probably biased.
Even more tangentially, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is very much on my list of acts to ignore. I saw them last month in Boston and they were either too banged up from their previous night in Toronto, bitter about the 6:30 start time, over-produced and not that talented, or some combination of the foregoing. Save your money and stick with their studio stuff.
It's supposed to be music month here at G:TB. But I haven't seen much about music. And the music-related stuff is pretty, well, soulless. So I'm dropping four relatively new vintage-style soul albums for you to go cop via whatever means it is you cop your music.
This blog appears to consist primarily of youtube clips and jokes about Geoff's sexual orientation. So I pasted four youtubes below. There was a fifth youtube, in which Geoff admits that he wishes he was either Richard Gere's pet gerbil or Butch Coolidge's gold watch, but I didn't include it because I don't want to out Geoff on the internet.
1. Mayer Hawthorne, "A Strange Arrangement"
I told you to go get this before it came out, and now it's out so you should go get it. Some upbeat, happy, soulful joy. The coolest breakup song ever. Ambivalent love songs. Ballads weighing the pros and cons of dating greedy bitches. Who doesn't want to see some of this?
2. Lee Fields and The Expressions, "My World"
Lee Fields has been around forever. I don't know when he picked up The Expressions, but it works. This album has sad songs, a funky instrumental, and music to make love to your old lady by.
3. Raphael Saadiq, "The Way I See It"
Remember Tony! Toni! Tone!? Well one of those Tony/i/e muhfuggas is really named Raphael Saadiq. He uses an old-school sound with new-school lyrics and swagger. It works, as long as you can block the whole Tony! Toni! Tone! thing out of your head.
4. Daptone 7 Inch Singles Collection Vol. 2
Geoff will be excited to see that there's a "volume 2" to "7 Inch Singles," because he loved the first volume on DVD. But in this case, it's a reference to records that are 7 inches in diameter, not a movie about single guys with 7 inch members. Sorry Geoff .
Daptone Records is a label you should get to know. It's how I discovered Lee Fields. This album has songs of heartbreak, Meters-inspired instrumentals, and something called "Che Che Cole" by Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra that I can't categorize. It's all good.
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