As you probably know I’m no stranger to retro soul sounds, so when Soul Sides wrote (twice) about Little Jackie–a group made of Imani Coppola as songwriter and Adam Pallin as producer–I paid attention.

What I found when I listened to some songs and eventually the album, the Stoop, was catchy melodies over some retro soul music–akin to some of the girl group production from the 60s but undeniably updated. There re also some hip hopish vocals and some other quirks to it. Though this is undoubtedly a mainstream release, it is far from being generic or stamped out by a hit factory. It’s got a lot of style to it.

In a way, the Stoop overall reminds me a Sean Kingston ditty you may remember from last year. Both have retro charms. And both are extremely catchy and fun, and are suitable for light summertime listening. It’s yet to be seen but I feel like the Stoop has more depth than the Kingston song and will stand up to more listens.

“One Love” has got some great production and melodies at every turn. The part that I find really intriguing is the vocals in the 3rd verse, where Imani doesn’t really sing (but isn’t quite rapping in a conventional sense either). They have a heavy swing and lots of style to them.

Little Jackie - One Love (mp3)

For a few more days, you can stream the whole album at Spinner (update: you can still stream the album, but it’s been moved to here. You can pick the record up at insound.

On Friday I saw James Hunter (myspace) at Bimbo’s 365 Club. I wrote about Hunter being a class act (and about loving his new album the Hard Way) back in May.

Upon arriving at Bimbo’s, I knew it would be different than the normal fare I see there: the age bracket was much wider as was the style bracket–people were in hoodies and people were in suits and fedoras. There was already a good crowd on the dance floor near the end of the opener’s set. People (some of whom didn’t go to a lot of shows) were out at a show; things were jovial; drinks were flowing.

Bimbo’s seemed like an appropriate venue for the show. The 1930s-era venue would have already been anachronistic by the ’50s and ’60s–the time and music which James Hunter draws his inspiration–but oddly the style seems more appropriate. People were still going to supper clubs in the ’50s to see the Sam Cookes of the world.

Hunter came on applause after a drawn out break after the opener. Dressed in a jacket and shirt and wearing his sunburst Les Paul low around his neck, Hunter, from the get go, was obviously someone who was comfortable on stage and knew how to perform.

I’ve seen some shows where the performer has the audience in the palm of his hand and will follow his every turn. Friday was a different type of performance, though: Hunter is a showman. His band is tight and his between-song banter in his Essex accent was loose but in its own way just as precise. He’d do his band introductions, do a quick one liner (”This song is so romantic, Tommy [the drummer] has to take off his wedding ring.”), make sure the audience was having fun, etc. He also did some old school call-and-response with the audience that ended in him doing some vocal acrobatics that the audience couldn’t follow.

I realize I haven’t talked much about his music yet; I’m not putting it off for dramatic effect. They played really well. The band, as I mentioned, was tight and Hunter sang and played well. They compiled a solid setlist of great tunes mostly off of their last two albums, like “the Hard Way”, “Hand It Over”, “Don’t Do Me Any Favours”, “Carina”, “She’s Got a Way”, “Jacqueline”, “Class Act”, “No Smoke Without Fire”, “Riot in My Heart” and “Talkin’ About My Love”. They also did a couple great covers, like the Five Royals’ “Don’t Do It”.

All in all, it was a fun, fun show.

It really seems like there’s a ridiculous amount of music out there for people to listen to these days. Perhaps the shift to this new business model people are talking about is well underway?

• Adele 19 (stream it here) Some good songs, a good voice and a nice overall sound but not as engaging as I wanted it to be.
• My Morning Jacket Evil Urges (stream it here) I don’t like classic rock.
• Beach Boys U.S. Singles Collection (stream it here) Some of the ol’ favorites on here but there’s also some really goofy gems and some so-so filler on here.
• James Hunter the Hard Way (stream it here) I love this guy and I love this album. I really recommend it if you’re into soul, the early R&B sound or oldies at all.
• the Hold Steady Stay Positive (stream it here) Hold Steady has always taken me a while to get into, mostly because the lyrics are what does it for me and I don’t find their music terribly enthralling overall. That said, I’m not sure if this album will grab me on later listens or not.
• Sigur Ros með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (stream it here) I liked it from the get-go!

Only marginally late with this one.

You can download the zip file with the following:
1. mp3s of the songs
2. liner notes (pdf)
3. playlist files (iTunes txt file and an m3u file)

(for the iTunes file, simply import all the songs to your library and then go to File->import and then select the song list (the txt file). you should now have the 2008may playlist in your iTunes with all the songs in the correct order).

If you want to read the liner notes before downloading the whole thing, they’re here. This one was pretty easy to put together–just sort of made sense. There’s a number of soul tracks I’ve been enjoying by people like Sam Cooke and Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd St. Band. There’s also a handful of indie tunes from old favorites (Low, Mogwai), newish favorites (Fanfarlo, the Morning Benders) and a few that are pretty new to me (Lykke Li). Enjoy!

Adrian’s May 2008 mix tape (rapidshare link [1])

If you like the artists or songs, I suggest supporting them by buying their music, going to a show, buying merchandise from them or at least telling other people about them.

[1] If you’re having trouble with the rapidshare link, here’s what you do, step-by-step. 1) Click on the link. 2) scroll down and click “FREE” 3) wait till the counter gets to zero 4) enter the letters in their graphic into the box 5) click “download”

No, not James “Catfish” Hunter

For those familiar with my tastes, it was no surprise I was quickly obsessed with James Hunter (myspace). I grew up on a steady diet of oldies radio and I’ve come back to a lot of that music in the last few years, especially soul, Motown, Phil Spector, Sam Cooke, girl groups and other early R&B groups.

James Hunter, promo shot by Chris Ramirez

I got Hunter’s the Hard Way, out June 10 on Hear Music[1], a few weeks ago now and I keep coming back to his blue-eyed soul and liking it as much as on the first listen. The album is made of old-sounding songs hearkening back to the ’50s and ’60s, but within that sort of broad categorization, it’s actually pretty eclectic. Some songs are latin-influenced pop, with sounds like those Phil Spector employed frequently. Others have a very old-school R&B sound to them, like Big Maybelle. There are moments that remind me of Sam Cooke and others that remind me of some non-soul oldies.

It’s an album with a breadth of songs but they are also of consistently really high quality. The songwriting, orchestration and singing are great across the board.

One of the songs on the Hard Way is “Class Act” with the unsurprising chorus line “You’re a real class act”. Excellent song. I was listening to it the other day and it dawned on my that James Hunter is a real class act. While you could call his sound a gimmick, these are not cheap thrills he’s offering here. For a couple decades he’s been making music like this; he’s not some young kid appropriating sounds of a different time or place for profit. And the music he’s making is so right: put this in line with his influences and you could easily mistake it for something from that time period. But this is not merely some good and accurate imitation, but rather something that is itself imitable.

James Hunter - Hand It Over (mp3, from the forthcoming the Hard Way)

James Hunter - Talkin’ ’bout My Love (mp3, from People Gonna Talk)

Tickets are on sale now for his July date in San Francisco (I’ve bought mine):

7/11 James Hunter @ Bimbo’s, 9pm, $18, 21+

The rest of his tour dates can be after the jump.

Pre-order the Hard Way at amazon. People Gonna Talk is already available.

[1] I got this CD in the mail and immediately saw Hear Music and groaned. Hear Music is the Starbucks music label (though, right around that time Starbucks handed over creative control to its partner) and there was no way I was going to promote a Starbucks CD. Well, I put it in and, to my chagrin, I quickly realized that it was too good not to talk about.

Tour dates and a live video below.

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Oliver, over at Soul Sides has posted some tracks off of a Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band album that he wrote the liner notes for. They’re pretty awesome.

For background, Oliver says:

Here’s the super-condensed history behind this recording: back in the mid-60s, Wright and his band, The Wright Sounds (which would morph into the Watts 103rd Band) had a regular gig at the Haunted House in Hollywood (see this great photo of the Haunted House’s stage). At their shows, they would mostly play a medley of Top 40 R&B hits (especially since the group itself didn’t have much original material recorded at this point). One of the things that makes this live show taping so important, in particular, is that edits from it ended up as songs on Together, the first “real” Watts 103rd Band album.

One track, “We’re a Winner”, is repeatedly making me very happy. It’s a great great groove and the horns and band are really tight, but what really gets me is the vocals when the band briefly goes into “People Get Ready”.

Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - We’re a Winner/I Can’t Turn You Loose (Link to Soul Sides. Download there.)

It’s really a rare day when I say, go over to this other blog and download a tune now, but that’s what I’m saying now. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

I was at Amoeba the other day and I was going through the oldies collections they had. They had a small section on “songwriter” collections, and as I love some producer/ songwriter-focused sets, I decided to flip through and check out what they had. I found Double Trouble: the Pomus and Shuman Story and checked out the track listing. I knew and liked some of these songs–”A Teenager in Love”, “Save the Last Dance”–and I knew many of the artists–Bobby Darin, Del Shannon, Elvis, Gary “US” Bonds, Barrett Strong, Ben E. King. Also there was a song called “I Ain’t Sharin’ Sharon”. I mean, with songs like that, how could I pass it up?

When I bought it, I didn’t know that Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman were a team of songwriters that were in the famous Brill Building[1].

I’ve been listening to the CD a lot and it’s really solid. There are some great familiar songs and some hidden gems (including that “I Ain’t Sharin’ Sharon”, “Angel Face” and the teenage-boy-giggle-inducing “All You Gotta Do Is Touch Me”). I’d thoroughly recommend it[2].

“(Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame” is one of those songs that sounds familiar even if it isn’t; it’s feels comfortable with a classic sound. The guitar riff is classic, the vocals and solid and a bit endearingly showy and the keyboard is fun.

Del Shannon - (Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame (mp3)

Elvis also recorded a version of “His Latest Flame”, but apparently Del Shannon’s version was recorded 5 days before Elvis’.

You can buy it at insound.

[1] The Brill Building was a building in NYC that housed many music publishing companies, songwriters and other music industry ventures. I wouldn’t normally point this out, but I’ve talked to some serious music nerds that didn’t know what the Brill Building was.

[2] But after you get Phil Spector: Back to Mono which is the must-have oldies/ early R&B set.

This is the February 2008 mixtape. It’s even almost on time!

You can download the zip file with the following:
1. mp3s of the songs
2. liner notes (pdf)
3. playlist files (iTunes txt file and an m3u file)

(for the iTunes file, simply import all the songs to your library and then go to File->import and then select the song list (the txt file). you should now have the 2008february playlist in your iTunes with all the songs in the correct order).

If you want to read the liner notes before downloading the whole thing, they’re here. This one is really making me smile. I’m pretty happy with it. Great local stuff by bands like Two Sheds, Geographer and the Ian Fays plus some new and old stuff by (inter)national bands like Chris Walla, Basia Bulat, Pedro the Lion and Cat Power.

Adrian’s February 2008 mix tape (rapidshare link [1])

If you like the artists or songs, I suggest supporting them by buying their music, going to a show, buying merchandise from them or at least telling other people about them.

[1] If you’re having trouble with the rapidshare link, here’s what you do, step-by-step. 1) Click on the link. 2) scroll down and click “FREE” 3) chose a mirror (or you can leave it) 4) input the number/ letters they show in the graphic into the box 5) click on “download via…”

Jon Wilde at the Guardian throws down and challenges you to come up with your favorite 10 songs in 60 seconds, no pre-thought or cheating. I thought I’d give it a try.

Actually, this took me about 3.5 minutes, so I guess I lose; I simply couldn’t think quickly enough to get down 10 songs in 60 seconds. Also, I’m not sure this would be my final order or even final song list if I had a lot longer to think about it, but I’m not allowing any revisionism or second guessing.

All descriptions came after the original list was down and time was up.

10. Beatles “For No One” This has long been my favorite Beatles song: it’s a simple song with interesting instrumentation (piano/ harpsichord/ french horn) and a nice melody.

9. Horton Barker “Two Sisters” This is a field recording of an Anglo-American ballad from Tennessee (I believe). One thing about these hundreds-of-year-old tunes is that the melodies have been honed down to near perfection. This version of “Twa Sisters” has a lovely refrain and Horton Barker has a very pure voice.

8. Beirut “Postcards from Italy” I can’t help but smile when I hear this song. It’s the song that made people love this band, it’s the song that made me love this band.

7. Mark Kozelek “Bad Boy Boogie” (from Rock N Roll Singer) I’ve honestly never heard the AC/DC version, but Mark Kozelek makes this song amazing—a crushingly beautiful ballad.

6. Sigur Ros “Njosnavelin (Nothing Song)” I’d heard Sigur Ros before this song but I never really got them until I heard this song. I’m still not sure how I’m so enamored with vocals in a made up language.

5. Sufjan Stevens “Romulus” This is just amazing songwriting—putting in exactly all the right details with a compelling melody and good instrumentation.

4. Amelda Riddle “Bury Me Beneath the Willow” This is another field recording of melancholy ballad from the American South (see #9). Amelda Riddle is sort of an iconic voice for songs like this and the melody (like #9) seems like it couldn’t be better, while the story seems as melancholy as it can be without being cheesy.

3. Sam Cooke “Cupid” Sam Cooke’s voice is among my favorites ever and this is among my favorites of his songs. No one could sing the word “Cupid” better.

2. Bob Dylan “Girl from North Country” A classic sounding song with roots back to traditional British ballads (via Martin McCarthy’s version of Scarborough Faire). Great melody and a compelling story line.

1. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles “Tracks of My Tears” I heard this song again for the first time a couple years ago and I’ve been in love with it since. As I said then: “I don’t think I’ve heard another song from that era with as much tortured-soul emotion in it.” Smokey’s voice is a wail, a cry during this song.

For a limited time, I’ve put up all the songs as a zip file:

Download my top 10 (in 60 seconds) songs (rapidshare link with zip file)

Give it a try. What are your 10? You have 60 seconds starting…now.

The other day I started looking at old gospel performances on youtube, mostly because of ArchieB9876’s great vintage gospel videos. I decided that I’d have to hand pick 10 and share them. There’s some really great music and performances in here. Classic gospel is linked to modern rock n roll through “soul” and “R&B”. A lot of the white rockers and country stars grew up singing gospel tunes from the country side of things.

1. Soul Stirrers - Listen To The Angels Sing

The Soul Stirrers were the group Sam Cooke came out of (they kept going, this is after he left), but you can hear a lot of that same sound. This is a great mid-tempo number with a lot of soul.

2. Inez Andrews And The Andrewettes - There Must Be A God Somewhere

This is a medium slow song in 6/8 with an odd swing and with great vocals. Also, the complex-rhythmed clapping near the end is a nice touch.

3. Five Blind Boys Of Alabama - Something Got A Hold On Me

The sound quality of this is fairly distorted, but, man, this group just tears into this song. I love the raw guitar tone (even if the distortion is due to an old tape or bad encoding). I can’t believe the other people in the video are just sort of standing there.

4. James Cleveland - Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus

Rev. James Cleveland is a forbearer of modern mass gospel choirs. This is a clip from maybe the 70s in that style (choir call-and-response with a leader out front). It should also be noted that the scene in Blues Brothers where James Brown is singing gospel is with Cleveland and his choir.

5. Emmylou Harris & Johnny Cash - Where the Soul of Man Never Dies (+ a quick rendition of “Harvest Moon”)

Oh man, those are two very classic and awesome voices and they go together very well.

6. Drinkard Singers - Lift Him Up

Starts simmering and then–bam–it’s full-on. I love the quality the lead singer gets on her voice.

the rest after the jump
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I made my first trip to Record Man in Redwood City today.

Do you know about this place? Have you been there? It’s ridiculous! They have a million records. One…million…records.

You go in there and it’s floor to ceiling record racks. The Beatles rack has maybe 50 copies of the White Album in various conditions and origins. The Elvis section had a dozen copies of an album that I can’t even find references to online (either than or I’m completely misremembering the title of it…). It’s that sort of place.

I was completely overwhelmed. I didn’t even know where to start, so I just looked through a few small parts of the ‘Soul’ section.

Purchases:

• Sam Cooke At the Copa: Live Sam Cooke, including his interesting take on Blowing in the Wind (video, iffy sound quality). Live Sam Cooke >> studio Sam Cooke >> pretty much everything else ever.
• Sam Cooke Mr. Soul: An import of a rare Sam Cooke album. I didn’t recognize most of the songs on this, so I bought it.
• The Temptations with the the Supremes Together: These two big Motown groups together singing a bunch of covers, like “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)”, and even a version of “My Guy/ My Girl” by the two groups. (This has now been reissued as Joined Together)

It’s not exactly cheap, but the selection and quality of stuff they have is pretty amazing. I think I need to do some serious research before going back. Apparently there’s a parking lot sale every September where they put out 500 boxes of LPs for $1 each.

I met the owners as well. Nice people. One of them was saying that most of their business is through amazon marketplace these days. That’s how the industry is changing, I guess.

While I’m on the topic of vinyl, any recommendations on turntables? I’m currently without.

This is a fifth edition of this column. Song obsessions are those songs that we listen to on repeat. I noticed that my obsessions are often a week long. I also thought that other people might have similar obsessions. I’ve collected a panel of a few like-minded individuals and gotten their “song obsessions of the week.” Maybe you’ll become obsessed with one of these.

–

Adrian (me):
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Oh How I’d Miss You (mp3) (buy)

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell were an unbeatable duet team. I’m always amazed by their stuff. This is basically a standard ballad but they put such soul and style into it.

–

Natalie:
Bjork - Earth Intruders (mp3) (buy)

its definitely been my song obsession for the week because when i saw bjork last saturday she was AMAZING and the song has been haunting me since then

–

Scott (the ever watchful):
The Goslings - Sanibel (mp3) (buy)

i’ve been listening a lot to ’sanibel’ by the goslings, off of last year’s ‘grandeur of hair’. finally a lullaby brutal enough to purge the unpleasant worries from one’s bothered head.

–

Rob
I’m from Barcelona - Treehouse (mp3) (buy)

My song obsession this week is “Treehouse” by I’m From Barcelona, which, incidentally, I was introduced to through your show. And what you said about it at the time has proven correct — it is just that perfect shade short of over the top and too-poorly-rhymed that gets it instantly stuck in my head. Look what you’ve done!

–

Dave:
Andrew Bird - Plasticities (mp3) (buy)

I really was obsessed with this song this week, listening to it every time I put on my headphones. Aside from having a super catchy chorus, I love the up/down, compression/release arrangement of it. The instrumentation is also outstanding. All around, this one had me hooked.

–

Andy:
Wilco - I am Trying to Break Your Heart (demo) (mp3) (from That Truncheon Thing, buy the original)

I’ve listened to this track a bunch of times since I downloaded it. At first, I really thought it was great—I’m often interested in alternate versions of songs. The more I listened, though, the more I realized how bad this take is. The individual parts are good, but they don’t add up to a good song. The parts wander, never really coming together. There’s no build and release—just static verse after static verse. Eventually, it limps to a close and is done. And yet, I’ve listened to it no less than 10 times this week. It’s really a fantastic look a the creative process, and how something mediocre, can, through much effort, become part of a career defining album.

–

Yet another eclectic and interesting set of tunes.

One of the best box sets I have is the Phil Spector Back to Mono set. It is just packed with great oldies/ r&b/ girl group songs like “Be My Baby”, “Spanish Harlem”, “He’s a Rebel”, “Da Do Ron Ron”, “Uptown” “Then He Kissed Me” and I could go on. It has some of the best pop songs ever written on it.

It was a steal when I got it for $45, but today I saw it at Amoeba for $18.99. For 4 CDs!

It seems that they’re not the only ones on crazy pills because insound and amazon both have it at this price too.

Any two CDs in the set would be worth while for that price.

It’s been floating around the internets. It’s worth a watch if you haven’t seen it yet.

It’s a bit odd that this came my way today because just a little earlier in the day, I was telling someone that the drum beginning to Stevie Wonder’s “Music Talk” is one of the best I’ve heard.

Here’s a quick Easter mix, or at least songs with tenuous references to bunnies/ rabbits/ Easter or the like.

Elvis Perkins - Good Friday (mp3)

Sufjan Stevens - Year of the Dog (mp3, off of Enjoy Your Rabbit)

Lunasa - Sean in the Fog: Easter Sunday/ Come Back with My Bloody Car/ Sean sa Cheo (mp3, traditional-style Irish air, reels)

Bunny Paul - I’m Hooked (mp3, Motown)

The Magnetic Fields - Let’s Pretend We’re Bunny Rabbits (mp3)

Fionn Regan - Hey Rabbit (mp3)

Jim Herd - Rabbit, Where’s Your Mammy? (mp3, old-timey)

John Vanderslice - Angela (mp3, acoustic version from Suddenly It All Went Dark: Pixel Revolt Live to 2-Track)

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