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A Strange Arrangement
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A Strange Arrangement
Current price: $33.99
Barnes and Noble
A Strange Arrangement
Current price: $33.99
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The story goes that Ann Arbor native
Andrew Cohen
, a DJ/producer and member of
Athletic Mic League
and
Now On
, began recording
neo-soul
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
soul
Motown
sounds of the late '60s and early '70s, so well executed that
Peanut Butter Wolf
, head of the L.A.
hip-hop
label
Stones Throw
, initially thought he was listening to remixes of obscure old
singles when he first heard
Cohen
's demos.
Wolf
signed
, who was now billing himself as
Mayer Hawthorne
(combining his middle name and the name of his hometown street), to a recording contract on the strength of songs like
"Just Ain't Gonna Work Out,"
which sounds like a long-lost
Al Green
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.
Neo-soul
is exactly what
does. And he does it in stunning style. His debut album as
,
A Strange Arrangement
, 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.
"Just Ain't Gonna Work Out"
is here, along with other jaw-dropping gems like the
-like
"Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'"
(it's hard to believe it isn't
the Temptations
doing this song), the
quiet storm
"One Track Mind"
(with its aching echoes of
Smokey Robinson
) and
"The Ills"
(which sounds like a haunting, wry, and simply gorgeous lost
Curtis Mayfield
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
David Ruffin
, 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.
Soul
, neo or not, is
, and this guy has it. ~ Steve Leggett
Andrew Cohen
, a DJ/producer and member of
Athletic Mic League
and
Now On
, began recording
neo-soul
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
soul
Motown
sounds of the late '60s and early '70s, so well executed that
Peanut Butter Wolf
, head of the L.A.
hip-hop
label
Stones Throw
, initially thought he was listening to remixes of obscure old
singles when he first heard
Cohen
's demos.
Wolf
signed
, who was now billing himself as
Mayer Hawthorne
(combining his middle name and the name of his hometown street), to a recording contract on the strength of songs like
"Just Ain't Gonna Work Out,"
which sounds like a long-lost
Al Green
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.
Neo-soul
is exactly what
does. And he does it in stunning style. His debut album as
,
A Strange Arrangement
, 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.
"Just Ain't Gonna Work Out"
is here, along with other jaw-dropping gems like the
-like
"Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'"
(it's hard to believe it isn't
the Temptations
doing this song), the
quiet storm
"One Track Mind"
(with its aching echoes of
Smokey Robinson
) and
"The Ills"
(which sounds like a haunting, wry, and simply gorgeous lost
Curtis Mayfield
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
David Ruffin
, 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.
Soul
, neo or not, is
, and this guy has it. ~ Steve Leggett
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