Tag: r&b

the time album cover
Vinyl

The Time: The Time (1981)

We’re writing when the feeling is right, not on the daily #mayvinylchallenge schedule. Couple that with taking care of a sick teenager all weekend and I needed a break. Thankfully Day 8 of the challenge asks for a record that makes you move or dance, is really just an excuse to break out the eponymous debut from The Time. Whether you take it as an extension of Prince’s prodigious output or a thing on its own, you can’t deny the slinky, funk pop fun The Time is able to dole out time and time again.

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curtis mayfield - superfly
Vinyl

Curtis Mayfield: Superfly OST (1972)

Day 23 of the #mayvinylchallenge (which was yesterday, I know) asked for a soundtrack. I was considering the other amazing 1972 soundtrack album by a titan of r&b and soul, but while doing yardwork that opening riff to “Pusherman” came on and I really had no choice. So let’s spend a few minutes talking about Curtis Mayfield and how the soundtrack to Super Fly is not only one fo the best soundtracks of all time, but one of the best albums, period.

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thundercat - drunk
Vinyl

Thundercat: Drunk (2017)

Day 10 of the #mayvinylchallenge is your favorite 10″, and that guideline makes it pretty easy for me, since I have only one 10″ in my record collection. It’s a doozy, though: the third full length from the Space Ace of Bass, Thundercat. Although I had heard his distinctive style of playing on projects from Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar, and even Suicidal Tendencies, Drunk was my first exposure to the man as a solo artist and composer, and it was on of those pivotal “aha!” discoveries on my musical journey.

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lauryn hill - the miseducation of lauryn hill
Vinyl

Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)

Day 5 of the #mayvinylchallenge had me twisted. Best side or solo project. What does that even mean? I was looking at the entries and got even more confused: do you count solo work after the original band broke up? What if the side project becomes the main project? I had a few things in the air, from Ty Segall’s Sabbath rooted Fuzz project to the one-off between Ginger Baker and Fela Kuti. But the minute I saw The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill sitting there on my shelf there wasn’t a second of hesitancy. This was my favorite album of 1998, and a sterling example of someone stepping out from the shadow of a popular outfit to blow the doors off the music world. Whatever you think of Lauryn Hill how, this album is incredible from start to finish.

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al green - the absolute best
CD

Al Green: The Absolute Best (2004)

If there are better songs in the discography of Al Green I’m unaware of them.  That’s not because I think The Absolute Best, a 2-disc compilation ranging the entirety of Green’s stay with Willie Mitchell at Hi Records contains all that is the pinnacle of the man’s career.  It’s really (and sadly) because it’s the only music I have from Al Green and everything I’ve heard elsewhere can be found on this compilation. Continue reading “Al Green: The Absolute Best (2004)”

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