Phil’s Final Music Picks of 2011

Adrian Younge with Venice Dawn | Something About April (2011)

If you are unfamiliar with Adrian Younge, you may want to get yourself acquainted with his works. In ‘98 he was coming into his own as a prominent hip-hop producer, but the desire to take his art further and explore his influences of Italian soundtracks meant teaching himself various instruments. The result was a a limited pressing of his Venice Dawn project, a plunge into depths of sound textures and atmospheres of the Italian soundtrack genre with a soulful/almost psychedelic twist.

In 2008 he found himself producing the soundtrack for the film Black Dynamite, a film he also edited. Now in 2011, just before the new year, he gives us Something About April, which is, in my opinion, a marriage of elements from both the work he did for Black Dynamite and Venice Dawn. The outcome is pure soul… Not neo-soul… I’m talking rare groove, random white label 45 soul. This is an album with real emotion, one that invites you to drape a beaded curtain over your doorway and dust off your lava lamp. Zone out, or invite your lady friend over, turn on a red light and take the telephone off the hook… Two of my personal favorites off this album are “Midnight Blue,” a groovy instrumental trac, and  “Two Hearts Combine,” a ballad that lays against the backdrop of church organs and a killer electric guitar lead. This comes highly recommended if you are looking for something to play from beginning to end before the end of the year.

Mingus Murray | Mingus (2011)

Who is Mingus Murray? Well, he is the son of jazz musician David Murray, who has played alongside many legendary jazz musicians. Mingus is Murray’s first album, and is in no way a jazz album (so don't start listening expecting to hear jazz). What you should expect is a blend of new wave synth work, accompanied by hip-hop beats with afro-punk/soul vocal stylings... So, I honestly will not even attempt to classify and offend.

What I can say, though, is that despite being unfamiliar with any of his pre-Mingus work,  you can tell that he put his heart and soul into this project, without putting all of his eggs into one basket. Songs like “Switching Positions” will draw you in, its seductive beat chugging through as you're taken away by the airy synth leads, finally bringing you back to middle ground by the distorted vocals.

Murray shows his diversity on his guitar solo track, “It Must Be All About the Hang.” At only a minute long, it will make you want more—I guarantee it. At the end of it all, what you're getting is a half hour of something gritty… heartfelt with an edge. Fans of bands like Cut Copy, The Eternals and The Rapture should find this album enjoyable, and as a free download, you can’t afford not to at least give this a chance.

Sun and Sidearm | Cloudeater (2011)

Since 2009, Cloudeater, a 5-piece ensemble consisting of Sam Dew (vocals), Daniel Friedman (guitar/keys) Chris Hunt (drums) Nolan Kramer (fx and synthesizer) have been making their mark in Atlanta, GA. They have been gaining exposure by playing locally and opening for recognized bands such as N.E.R.D., Girl Talk, Cody Chesnutt and Little Dragon, and in 2010 released their first full-length, Greatest Tragedy, that showed the promise of this band's possible future.

Now, a year later the band has released their second LP, Sun and Sidearm, a much more mature and cohesive showcase of their work. I could be mistaken, but there is definitely something more emotional and personal with this offering—something that captures your attention to observe the possible direction each song takes, all the while still delivering one message. Songs to watch out for are "The Dive"—a progressive build up of layers of bass and guitar with a powerful drum arrangement until 1:50 mark when there is a break and Sam Dew lets his vocals soar against the backdrop of muffled horn section and creeping cold synths. This is my personal favorite from the band. Well, this and "Decades from Greatest Tragedy."

The other song to take notice of would be the heartfelt title track "Sun and Sidearm," an acoustic ballad that still has some electronic atmospheres that seem to stem from the reverb effect on Dew’s voice, which paints the picture of a sun setting and an acceptance of fate. Then, at around the 4-minute mark, they bring in the drums to bring it all to a close. This album will definitely give the band the recognition they deserve to go further; they still have a long way to go, but they're much farther than most, and it shows.