Two posts, One day

I've been on a bit of a music kick lately, and I thought I'd share. There seems to be a lot of neo soul/funk stuff making its way into the audiosphere and I have to say that it tickles my fancy a bit. I would say it was a neo-soul movement, but that happened a few years back when the likes of D'Angelo, Anthony Hamilton, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill etc were in their hayday. This stuff has a bit more retro vibe. Think throw back quality. Less r&b/hip hop and more doo wop/funk.

Here are a few examples that have been making their way through my iTunes lately.

Janelle Monae



How cute is she? Seriously, and it only gets better when you see her dance!

Take a listen here:



or download: Sincerely Jane

Next up we have my boy Raphael Saadiq. I'd known about Raphael for a while, but I hadn't given him ample time until recently. He is a former member of Toni Tony Tone. I think his album The Way I See It was one of the best of the year.



Take a listen here:



or download here: Big Easy

So then in a game of six degrees of separation, I give you a familiar name in Q-tip. This year, Q-tip (formerly of a Tribe Called Quest) released his album The Renaissance which employed the talents of such previously mentioned artists as D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq and the odd choice of Nora Jones... which reminds me of that track she did with Andre 3000 which I quite liked. Anyway, The Rennaissance is a fantastic piece of uplifting hip hop. I don't know that I've heard a hip hop album in a while that I thought was quite so engaging.



Take a listen here:



or download here: We Fight We Love

Finally, I want to take us on a bit of a real throw back journey with my recent obsession, Andy Bey. I think this is one of the more unique and special voices I have come across... part Billie Holiday, part Barry White, part Antony and the Johnsons... all amazing. It seems that Andy recorded this kind of trippy psychedelic called Experience and Judgement which I kind of enjoy in its obvious Seventies ness, but he also recorded all of these jazz standards that I just can't stop gushing over.



I want to share two wonderful examples, so listen here:







and/or download here: Prelude to a Kiss or Aint Necessarily So

I think he is a gem.

Hopefully this will sugar coat your ears on this sunny afternoon. Yum.