stevenkinsey
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I've been making monthly mixes for friends and made a few extra of my August version. The theme is funky and a mix of current artists (Nicole Willis, Alice Russell, Quantic, Prefuse 73) and more rare groove (Spider Harrison, Marion Black, etc). If you are looking for an hour of funky stuff I would love to pass on a copy...just let me know.
A friend of mine has recently hipped me to the lala.com trading site. I was a tad skeptical at first but gradually I have become more and more addicted. Here's the scoop on how it works. When you sign up you enter a list of cds that you are willing to trade and a list of cds you want. lala sends you a package of postage paid envelopes and cases (think netflix), then when someone requests a cd you have listed you mail it to them. When someone lists a cd that you want then the process works the same as before and you get the disc. The cost: $1.75 per cd you receive. No promos, or burns just the disc and artwork.
The stream of discs to my home as been overwhelming. It tends to be more of older releases but has been a great way for me to get rid of junk and replace those with classic, or soon to be classic albums. On the way right now, I have Bjork, Willie Nelson, Dave Holland and Hoagy Carmichel...so the selection is fairly diverse.
I think it is in beta phase right now but i still have plenty of invites to give out. If you are interested send me a mogmail.
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Okay, I'll start with somewhat of a confession. I don't really dig neo soul. I love soul music but my tolerance for neo soul is fairly low. It sounds like hip hop (which I dig) with soul trappings draped on top. I craved a sound that was true to the classic soul stylings but yet did not sound retro, that sounded like soul/funk music kept evolving for the past 20 years instead of it getting overwhelmed by hip hop. The closest sound I've discovered to this is in the UK, mainly through the Tru Thoughts label.
Tru Thoughts has had some crossover in the states, with Quantic and Nostalgia 77 both being released on Ubiquity Records (and both worth being checked out). However, the secret weapon of the label is Alice Russell. A white, blond british girl who sounds nothing like Joss Stone. Quick digression to help illuminate my point: Modern R & B and soul singers all seem to be falling into the same trap. They are the successors of Whitney and Mariah, who have great voices and lots of range, but in my opinion are missing something. The rough edges have been smoothed out and the grittiness of the blues has been removed. The modern singer is afraid to let their voice truly "break" with emotion. (the only exception I can think of is Mary J. Blige). That is the difference between Joss and Alice. Although Joss sings in a classic soul mode her voice is utterly smooth and void of rough edges. Alice on the other hand is not afraid to push her voice to the breaking point. Also, not only is her voice great Tru Thoughts have done an excellent job of finding interesting production to go behind her. Again, it sounds like soul music but not retro and not neo soul...it's its own creature.
Check out this video for Hurry on Now.
Unfortunately, Tru Thoughts does not have a full scale American distrubution, but the good folks at my favorite store, www.dustygroove.com sell all import titles for extremely reasonable prices.
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My BF is a fan of Russell (he's always preachin' the blue eyed soul) so he'd appreciate this post. The video / song is nice. I think your point abt R&B vocalists is valid. I think Lauren Hill is an exception. Some other women w/ a "smoother" sound who have also side stepped the "Mariah trap" would be Anita Baker, Angie Stone and Jill Scott.
Kudos on the True Thoughts write up. However I'm not sure if all the material you got grouped under neo soul is actually neo soul. Direct from Wiki:
"Neo soul (also known as nu soul) is a musical genre that fuses contemporary R&B, 1970s style soul, and hip hop, and jazz. It is the third major sub-genre of contemporary R&B, after the new jack swing of the late 1980s/ early 1990s and the hip hop soul of the early to mid 1990s. The "neo soul" term, originated by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late-1990s, is sometimes looked upon with disdain as nothing more than a marketing specialization of contemporary R&B instead of an honest revival of soul music. This is because most of the people who record in the genre and listen to it tend to be anti-mainstream preferring that the music favor underground credibility and soulfulness over mainstream popularity."
As exemplified by D'Angelo's 1995 "Brown Sugar", Erykah Badu's Baduizm and L Boogie's "Miseducation..."
good point, dennis. I was more or less referring to the hip hop soul of the 90's. I dug Badu, L Hill, D'Angelo etc. I just got burned out on it. It didin't seem to evolve, but then again it's main contributors (or maybe the ones with the most talent/potential) have been relunctant to release albums. One album from L Boogie and 2 from D'Angelo...
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Didja include Budos Band and Bamboos? That's the two new plates in my crate which went over quite well in my dusty set tonight.
I had the bamboos on the last mix. Do you spin in Chicago? If so, when's the next gig?