Producer
of the moment Adrian Younge has succeeded in creating the most unexpected (yet
welcome) comeback of the year. Teaming
up with a couple of the surviving members of The Delfonics (especially William
Hart who dominates here), he has crafted a fantastic musical throwback around their
aching, emotional, urgent vocals.
As I
wrote not too long ago here http://www.rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-motown-sound-vs-philadelphia-sound.html, the Philadelphia sound distinguished itself with a rich
sound full of strings, perfect harmonies, and hook driven songs. What Younge has created here builds on that
by slicing it up into powerful short snippets of focused pop. The end result reminds me not just of Philly
soul but of the album Elvis Costello made with Burt Bacharach PAINTED FROM MEMORY.
Like
MEMORY, the generous and sumptuous arrangements follow the vocals hanging on
every word. Little musical touches are
like oil paints filling in the gaps of a painting – a fuzz guitar on Enemies, a
sitar on Life Never Ends. To call this
music old fashioned is to admit what a great loss it is that there are not more
tunes like this being released now.
Hopefully, this will start a trend.
Would the remaining members of The Stylistics consider getting back
together in the studio?
Every
song is a classic. My faves so far – Stop
and Look (And You Have Found Love), Silently, Party’s Over, Life Never Ends.
2 comments:
Greetings R.D.,
It's been about 30 years Brother, since I knew of your whereabouts or activities. Admittedly I haven't made much effort to contact anyone we both knew from Ukiah though I did see Clayton Gardner about 15 years ago. I think he later moved to Minnesota. I also saw Chris Holden once about 20 years ago and I don't know where he ended up. You're the one who got away! I can't tell you how much I admire you for leaving the U.S. for a life in Malaysia. Some Americans dream of leaving, giving it all up & starting a new life in another country but few actually do it. I guess one would need to have been a “pat” to later become an expat but I personally have never been very patriotic. I lived in England for a while in the early 90's. My mother's from Manchester and I stayed with her. I was in another phase where I didn't know WTF to do with my life. I like England and I've been going there since I was a child but it's too cold so I came back to Berkeley where I've lived for many moons until I recently moved to Oakland. I married late in life. My wife is African and we have a year old baby.
Strangely, and maybe hard to believe, I went to Malaysia in 2000 and almost stayed to live & work there. At the time I was working a representative for a French company. I didn't like my bullshit job, was all burned out & wanted to take a break for a few weeks. I didn't even know where I wanted to go. I was on the East Coast and connected with a friend's friend in NYC for lunch. David, the friend's friend, a Malaysian, suggested Malaysia. I think he was a little surprised when I went there on his recommendation. It's a really unique country & stunningly beautiful. I didn't know about Ipoh, though I wish I'd gone there. I spent time in Penang, KL & Malacca. I especially liked Malacca. When I was in KL I met a professional couple about to launch a lighting & design showroom and they asked me if I had interest in working with them. I thought about the offer, went home, thought more, then got cold feet & flaked out. I sometimes wonder how my life would be I'd accepted the position and stayed in Malaysia.
I dig your blog Raj. You always had a way with words and it seems you didn't lose your focus along the way, which was and is to keep writing. You're a brilliant writer and it's good you're still at it. Tell me about your life in Malaysia. How is Ipoh to live & work? How was your time in KL? Reading your blog is inspiring me to start reading & listening to music again as I've been going through a period of book & music boredom. Keep on keeping on R.D.
Johnathan Rosales
Greetings R.D.,
It's been about 30 years Brother, since I knew of your whereabouts or activities. Admittedly I haven't made much effort to contact anyone we both knew from Ukiah though I did see Clayton Gardner about 15 years ago. I think he later moved to Minnesota. I also saw Chris Holden once about 20 years ago and I don't know where he ended up. You're the one who got away! I can't tell you how much I admire you for leaving the U.S. for a life in Malaysia. Some Americans dream of leaving, giving it all up & starting a new life in another country but few actually do it. I guess one would need to have been a “pat” to later become an expat but I personally have never been very patriotic. I lived in England for a while in the early 90's. My mother's from Manchester and I stayed with her. I was in another phase where I didn't know WTF to do with my life. I like England and I've been going there since I was a child but it's too cold so I came back to Berkeley where I've lived for many moons until I recently moved to Oakland. I married late in life. My wife is African and we have a year old baby.
Strangely, and maybe hard to believe, I went to Malaysia in 2000 and almost stayed to live & work there. At the time I was working a representative for a French company. I didn't like my bullshit job, was all burned out & wanted to take a break for a few weeks. I didn't even know where I wanted to go. I was on the East Coast and connected with a friend's friend in NYC for lunch. David, the friend's friend, a Malaysian, suggested Malaysia. I think he was a little surprised when I went there on his recommendation. It's a really unique country & stunningly beautiful. I didn't know about Ipoh, though I wish I'd gone there. I spent time in Penang, KL & Malacca. I especially liked Malacca. When I was in KL I met a professional couple about to launch a lighting & design showroom and they asked me if I had interest in working with them. I thought about the offer, went home, thought more, then got cold feet & flaked out. I sometimes wonder how my life would be I'd accepted the position and stayed in Malaysia.
I dig your blog Raj. You always had a way with words and it seems you didn't lose your focus along the way, which was and is to keep writing. You're a brilliant writer and it's good you're still at it. Tell me about your life in Malaysia. How is Ipoh to live & work? How was your time in KL? Reading your blog is inspiring me to start reading & listening to music again as I've been going through a period of book & music boredom. Keep on keeping on R.D.
Johnathan Rosales
Post a Comment