Devotion #3

I hate everything. But it’s not hate in the customary sense. It’s hate in the musical sense. And it’s not even “hate,” but more like a feeling of apathy towards much of what other people consider to be good music. Unfortunately, if you don’t like something nowadays – or just don’t have an opinion either way – you’re branded a “hater,” which really puts a music critic in a tough spot. In fact, we might as well stop using the words “music critic” and refer to ourselves as “music haters,” because by these new rules, that’s what most of us are.

Personally, I’m learning not to put the blame entirely on the artists and their work. It’s often a matter of my own musical maturity and changing tastes. I can’t be expected to like the same things at 22 as I did at 12 or the same things at 32 as I did at 22. The music isn’t the same, the business models aren’t the same, and I’m definitely not the same. So I always try and look at the glass as half full. If your music stinks, I’m at least going to try and understand why your music stinks. It’s only fair.

And a lot of the time, I’m not the only crooked eye in the crowd. Your music really does stink.

In the end, to paraphrase a disco classic: I don’t want to be a hater but I just can’t help myself. More often than not, it’s justified.

With that being said, here are two songs that I absolutely love right now…











Eugene Blacknell – “I’m So Thankful” – We Can’t Take Life For Granted (Luv N’ Haight 2007)










Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra – “Hey Ya!” – Hits The Hits (Ubiquity 2007)

Which makes today Luv N’ Haight/Ubiquity day. This cover of Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” is a must-hear collaboration with renowned pianist Mick Talbot (Style Council, Dexy’s Midnight Runners) that “sounds like vintage Ramsey Lewis,” according to the label. It’s an accurate description, but what Ubiquity fails to mention is the harmonica that colors the track in place of the chorus vocals, which makes this an off- but still on-beat rendition and a rave-up of the highest order. Somewhere, Magic Dick is smiling.

For a long time, all that most people knew about the late Eugene Blacknell was this retarded open break in the intro to his “Gettin’ Down” single. Thanks to Ubiquity, however, it’s time for the Oakland guitar master to be known to the world. I can’t say enough about Blacknell and his work. He was an activist, business pioneer, and a prodigy as a musician, becoming the youngest Bay Area artist to play the legendary Apollo Theater in New York. Throughout his almost 30-year career, his style ran the gamut of popular black music – from prototype R&B and funk to sleek ‘70s soul and disco – and by all accounts, he was just as wonderful a person as he was a performer.

We Can’t Take Life For Granted is Blacknell’s painfully overdue official debut. And remember, I don’t like anything. But this album hit me like a Joe Louis left hook, and so did this YouTubage.














Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings – “Nobody’s Baby” – 100 Days, 100 Nights (Daptone 2007)

I recently wrote a review of the new album from Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, 100 Days, 100 Nights, and promised Jones that I wouldn’t mention the name of the Dap-Kings “other” lead singer anywhere in it. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to mention Amy Winehouse here. It’s funny how things work out. Almost a year or so ago, I was talking to a colleague who works closely with Daptone Records about the effect that this most recent British invasion was having on Jones, who had been down with the Dap-Kings since day one. It seemed as if it had taken Winehouse just months to achieve what Jones and her boys had been chasing for the past ten years. There were awards, tours, platinum albums, magazine covers, and Late Show with David Letterman appearances, all the while Miss Sharon sat on the sidelines, watching.

Now, the tide has turned a bit. As Winehouse deals with problems of a personal nature, Jones and the Dap-Kings are back on track with an upcoming Rolling Stone feature, some MTV love, 100 Days, 100 Nights set for release in October, and a world tour to follow, including a night at the Apollo on October 6. In the end, the Amy Winehouse phenomenon turned out to be a blessing in disguise for everyone involved but Amy Winehouse.

I talked to Jones recently, and it was interesting to hear her take on the situation and how the “competition” between the two is being played up in the media.

“People compare me to some singers that I’ve never even heard – blues singers, R&B singers – but Amy, that’s a child. She’s just 23 years old. I’m old enough to be her mother. I ain’t got no time to be playing around. And don’t compare me to no child. What’s wrong with you? She’s just a baby, and I think the record label and the guys managing her are taking her through that. And the poor thing is out here with the drinking and drug thing. I pray for her… I pray that she gets to be my age.”