True soul...

I haven't shared anything recently, partly because I've been a little caught up in the grind, but also because nothing has really grabbed me in a while...enter Charles Bradley. I slept on this for a minute.





After listening to those, you might feel compelled to read his story, and perhaps even support his artistic endeavors. Peace.

Thanks to Mil for the put on.

Great songwriting...

Van Hunt's self-titled LP released in 2004 is some of the best songwriting that I have heard in a very long time. Like if David Ryan Harris, Curtis Mayfield, Prince and Jimi Hendrix had a music-baby...that's what it sounds like. His second album, On The Jungle Floor, not really my cup of tea., but he is definitely a talented dude.



That track, What Can I Say (For Millicent), I liked a lot, so I learned the piano parts on guitar and Ruthie and I learned to sing the harmonies together. Then we sang it together in Nicaragua with Manu, JT and the fellas on the balcony overlooking the streets of San Juan del Sur during a late night acoustic jammie-jam. There were some questionable lyric interpretations, but it didn't matter. Maybe someone has figured them out by now...she walks with me on pillows enstoned...and stone? Not sure.

Perfect collision...

Here is a great example of two genres being blended tastefully together, and not just an obvious rapper cameo in an R&B song. I love this beat; simple, but smoking. J Cole is on point, also.

ATL to Spain...

Just finished recording a couple of CE drops for SoulCall radio show in Spain. Jonay and Julio Perez host the show, and play some really dope hip-hop and soul music. We were honored when Jonay hit us up and asked for a drop. He told us they were playing Collective Efforts and their listeners were loving it! We sent him a couple drops and some CE tracks with SoulCall shouts at the beginning. We are sending out a package this week with stickers, the full catalog of music in mp3 form, and a copy of the new record. I can't express enough how much I would like to travel to Spain to rock a show, even if had to come out of pocket...at this point, it would still be a dream come true just to be there. Anyway, enough rambling, I was checking out their last podcasts - available HERE - and noticed that in addition to non-stop dope music, all of the other drops were from artists I respect (and some that I know personally). I definitely recommend checking them out, as their podcast put me on to some shit I was sleeping on from last year, Jet Audio, and the track "Stand Alone" from the album Stand Alone Complex. Check it out below, and support the artists.



I found the whole album HERE, haven't peeped it yet...plan to soon.

[Revision: I did get the chance to check the full album out, and although there are some good tracks on it, some of the MCs lyrics are little suspect to me (corny). That's just a personal taste issue, but on a purely sonic level it is overall a great project. There's a few skippers, but I'm feeling Che Grand's joint, "Bookmark the Style" and of course the title track.]

Once again, thanks to my homies Jonay and Julio Perez at SoulCall for supporting independent artists! Please support these brothers and click the logo below to check their podcasts. Peace and respect...

Esthero's voice...

...is like butter and silk. I'm not really sure what that is, but I can't think of any other way to describe it right now. It's soft and smooth, but thick and sultry. She's one of my favorites. Go Canada!









More info:

www.nearlycivilized.com
Esthero on Wiki

One of the greats is back!

Gil Scott-Heron has been a huge influence on soul and rap music, and is a wonderful poet and revolutionary musician who I am glad to see is still putting out new music. One of my most memorable shows was Live On Arrival at The Cotton Club (the old one off Peachtree & 10th) opening for Gil Scott-Heron. It was amazing to see how he was able to captivate the crowd, even just him on piano, talking, wise-cracking...quite a character, I'm happy to see him doing his thing. You can play the whole album from the embedded player below which accompanies the release push. What a great idea, all you have to do is click on the song you want to hear, and click it again to stop it, or just play the whole record which I'm sure is worth at the very least one full listen.

The album is appropriately entitled "I'm New Here" and you can go support him on his website. While you are there, you can listen to (and read) a short recorded message from Gil about how to maximize your enjoyment of this and any new record that you decide to check out.

So far I have only heard the first 3 songs, but I really love how he's all over the place stylistically. Check it out below.

Coming with that soul...

Leave it to Maxwell...showing some range on this one, too. Using more of his low voice than the usual falsetto where you can barely understand the words. I love how the beat starts out real simple with the MPC clap, and then turns into a thick live drum beat, with the rolling hats and the tight snare and kick variations. Nice track...and excellent work Maxwell.

You can click the picture below to check it on Youtube, but I felt like the soul came across more without the video, so I embedded the uncut version from Grooveshark:



Notice how it starts out a lot like "This Woman's Work," which is another classic of his...

Water and a flame...

The new album by Daniel Merriweather is actually pretty decent. There are a few skippers, but I love soul singers with some pain in their voice. If anything, it was the song selection - a little sleepy-time, some poor choices. I personally wanted to hear more of those funky upbeat soul jams, but I'm sure the album will grow on me if I give it chance.

Anyway, he's doin' his thing for sure. Currently residing in Manhattan, originally from Melbourne, Australia, dude is a perfect match to rock this duet with UK born "blue-eyed soul" sensation Adele (see previous post about her HERE). Nice ballad, check it out below.



Check out Adele TV, her site. She's one of the greats.

This track with Wale is an example of the upbeat side of the album, which was unfortunately limited:

Birthday jams...

Quantic Soul Vibes...

Discovered this producer named Quantic today at work while using up 8 of our freshly renewed Pandora hours...

(I knew it wouldn't be free for long, now they only offer 40 hours a MONTH, then you have to pay or upgrade your account. Laaaaame... I've slowly been trying to build a catalog on Grooveshark, which is cool but you have to work it, make your own playlists, delete the duplicates and incorrect files people uploaded. The good thing is you can listen to song after song of one artist at a time, and it even lists similar songs if you look closely at the track details...but since it is not a radio, nor intuitive like Pandora, it hasn't really been helpful in discovering new artists. You kind of have to know what you are looking for... Slacker Personal Radio is another alternative, more along the lines of Pandora, but I just couldn't stand the ads, they pop-up every couple songs, sometimes two in a row.)

Anyway, on to the actual inspiration for the post...the song I happened to hear on Pandora was by The Quantic Soul Orchestra called "Conspirator (Main Theme)". Here is a tubed version:



Here is an instrumental by Quantic, aka Will Holland:



...and a song featuring Alice Russell (see previous post about her HERE).

Soul has no color...

Adele is such a gem...it is fascinating the number of brilliant female singers that are coming out of the UK lately. I'm sure that they have always been there, but it is nice to see some of them finally getting more attention in the states. I am thoroughly impressed and becoming more and more intrigued with each new song I hear. Who would have thought that some British white girls would come busting out of the woodwork to help save soul music and fill the void created by the ever too prevalent "autotune" fad. It is enough to easily justify an entire month of posts, but for now, let's check out a couple stand-outs.

Here's the one and only Adele doing her thing:



Alice Russell is another of England's well kept "blue-eyed soul" secrets...been around for a minute.



Here she is at a live show in Paris...flawless voice, and quite the personality as well!

I was reading reviews and searching around for music, when I stumbled upon a great little post/discussion about Alice Russell that spawned from one person's awakening to her own prejudices and preconceived notions about how soul should "look". Mtume ya Salaam starts off revealing her shock in discovering Alice's race: "At first, I’m embarrassed to say, I started hearing Alice’s records a little differently. I’d hear a little something in this note or that one which ‘betrayed’ her whiteness. I’d imagine that some lyric or the other ‘revealed’ that she was actually from Suffolk, England as opposed to Detroit, Michigan or Memphis, Tennessee. Basically (although I didn’t see it then) I was exposing my own prejudices. In retrospect, it was a fairly sad and pitiful experience." It continues on, if you are interested in reading it, you can find it here. I thought it was very insightful and honest.

Anyway, enjoy...here are these ladies' respective websites, go and get all of their music!

www.alicerussell.com
www.adele.tv

A Night Out With Pops...

So I had gotten tickets to see David Sedaris with Ruthie last night, and around noon yesterday I get a call...Ruthie has a horrible sore throat, stomach ache, etc. and is being sent home from work! She says she will try to rest for a while and then see if she feels well enough to go, but tells me to go ahead and get a back-up plan ready. I can’t think of any good friends who even know who David Sedaris is, much less one I would want to roll solo with to Cobb Energy Center to see him...not that going alone with another dude would be weird...but maybe -- what a minute, Pops!! So I head over to pick him up after work - he has just finished getting his and Judy’s taxes ready to mail out (the last possible day, last possible minute, of course) and it ends up working out perfectly. We ride out in the mini-van, and after conquering a couple confusing direction details, we park about a mile down the road (we get tricked by a parking attendant who forgets to tell us there is on-site parking for the same price). We get inside, Dad buys me a couple Sweetwaters, and I scarf down some chicken fingers while he makes small talk with one of the ushers. Finally, they let us in and we climb up to the nose-bleeds, I mean literally the last possible row, and settle in to our seats.



Aside from the fact that we can barely see him, it ends up being a great show. He read a couple of new stories he has been working on while on the road, and then read a few journal entries. He was very funny, and kept us laughing pretty much the whole time. He told a great story called the Kookaburra or something, about some experiences in Australia...it was my favorite. Actually, now that I think about it, the shorter diary entries were the ones that really had me rolling. Anyway, great night, glad I got the chance to go see it with Pops, since he didn’t quite know who David Sedaris was either. It was definitely right up his alley, in terms of sense of humor...My only regret is that Root didn’t get to see him, since she was the real fan, and has read all of his stuff (I just knew of him from an audio-book Matt Weiss burned us for one of our 6 hour Kentucky drives). Now, I am definitely a fan.

Oh, well, I hope she feels better by Saturday...I can't wait, the Smith's show is going to be dope! We need the redemption after that show in Charlotte...ouch!

Right now, I can't stop listening to this track they posted on soul-sides.com yesterday. One of my favorite blogs, always some great funk, soul and world music, old and new, to sink my teeth into...

soul-sides.com

Great music!