The story goes that Ann Arbor native , a DJ/producer and member of and , began recording tunes as a little side project for friends and family, layering in all the instruments himself, then singing all the vocal parts, and then mixing the tracks with a spare and lightly funky breakbeat sensibility. The result of all this was a simply stunning re-imagining of the classic sounds of the late '60s and early '70s, so well executed that , head of the L.A. label , initially thought he was listening to remixes of obscure old singles when he first heard 's demos. signed , who was now billing himself as (combining his middle name and the name of his hometown street), to a recording contract on the strength of songs like which sounds like a long-lost track lightly reassembled for the 21st century -- and all this from a sort of nerdy looking white kid from Ann Arbor. It makes for a great story, but it makes for an even better story when you hear this stuff. They call it these days, and for once, the label is exactly right. is exactly what does. And he does it in stunning style. His debut album as , , is a wonderful, joyous delight from start to finish, managing to be both a nostalgic-sounding facsimile and a fresh urban retro dance listen all in one package. is here, along with other jaw-dropping gems like the -like (it's hard to believe it isn't doing this song), the (with its aching echoes of ) and (which sounds like a haunting, wry, and simply gorgeous lost track). wrote all but one song here, played most of the instruments, and then mixed everything with an ear to delivering a refreshingly spare sound, with even the horn arrangements stripped to the bone, giving these tracks an odd, muted sharpness. Then there are the vocals. They're extraordinary, as if were channeling , et al., through his own middle to high tenor. It's all really quite astounding. . Yep. That's what this is. And it's damn good. , neo or not, is , and this guy has it. ~ Steve Leggett