Songs of the Week: Anthony Hamilton, Little Jackie, Mayer Hawthorne & MJ Cole

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Rob

Another one of those catch-up song of the week posts… here is what has been soothing my ears the last couple of weeks

Anthony Hamilton – You

This should be more like an album of the week.  The Soul E.P. is an amazing collection from Anthony Hamilton.  It oozes the essence of Neo-Soul music, with Anthony Hamilton’s vocals, the texture of warm toffee adding grace and texture.  The highlight is probably Nowhere, a slow songs about just that, going nowhere… however I chose You for song of the week, a more uptempo number produced by one of my favorite producers, Jack Splash (someone who needs to produce far more music).

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Little Jackie – The Pact

Little Jackie’s debut album was a fun slice of New York life with a self-indulgent tales of young life.  The sophomore album pretty much follows-on where they left on, only with our self-indulgent lead singer being a little older.  This is a perfect example of that, The Pact…” if we’re not married by 30″… think you know the rest!  Many a highlight on the album which is available through Bandcamp (below).

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Mayer Hawthorne – The Walk

I had no idea Mayer Hawthorne was prepping new music to be honest before stumbling across this by accident.  I literally ran to HMV to pick up the new album, How Do You Do.  This is one of the stand-out songs (and lead single), full of Mayer’s signature soul, like it was a record Berry Gordy lost when moving house and then rediscovered when cleaning up boxes from 1974!  Mayer Hawthorne has been blessed with a real ear for 70s soul.  Great song, and one of the best videos of the year.

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MJ Cole & Scrufizzer – Souther Electric

Some nice bouncy grime from MJ Cole and Scruffizzer.  Good to see MJ Cole back making music and lets hope this leads to a new album because it has been too many years too long without one!

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Soulside Funk charts: Week ending 04/09/2011

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Rob
  1. Ed Sheeran – Traktor (Live Lounge)
  2. The Drums – Money
  3. Charles Bradley – The Telephone Song
  4. Vince Guaraldi – Fly Me To The Moon
  5. LeToya – She Ain’t Got…
  6. Mayer Hawthorne – Work To Do
  7. Aruba Red – Take Me Down
  8. Hinda Hicks – Here For Life
  9. Ed Sheeran – Small Bump (Acoustic)
  10. Dionne Broomfield – Too Soon To Call It Love

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Soulside Funk Charts: Week ending 07/08/2011

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Rob
  1. Kelly Rowland – Motivation
  2. Michael Kiwanuka – I Need Your Company
  3. Kelly Rowland – Commander (US Album Version)
  4. Mayer Hawthorne – Don’t Turn The Lights On
  5. Hollie Cook – Used To Be
  6. Mayer Hawthorne – Work To Do
  7. Smokey Robinson – Baby Thats Backatcha
  8. Vintage Trouble – Not Alright By Me
  9. Ed Sheeran – Small Bump (Acoustic)
  10. Blood Orange – I’m Sorry We Lied

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Gig News: Motown, and Soul revival with guitar legend Dennis Coffey next week

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Rob

I don’t know how this one slipped by me.

Legendary guitarist Dennis Coffey is playing a show at XOYO in Shoreditch on Monday June 27th (so next Monday!).  It is in support of his latest album.  The thing to make this gig really stand out is the vocalists he will be playing alongside, which includes Mayer Hawthorne and Alice Russell.  It should be a show to remember as they all tackle and interpret some classic Motown, R&B, Rare Groove, Funk and Soul.

Tickets are £20 (+ the fees) and available from the XOYO website – http://www.xoyo.co.uk/events/gigdetails/27-jun-11-dennis-coffey-xoyo/

It was originally scheduled for to be at the Barbican, guess ticket sales were a little slow hence the much smaller venue.  A negative for the promoters, however a massive positive for gig goers as it will make for a much more intense and inclusive performance as only intimate venues can create.

Should be a good’un

Rob

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Soulside Funk Charts: Week Ending 22/05/2011

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Rob

  1. Mayer Hawthorne – Work To Do
  2. Ed Sheeran – She
  3. Plan B – Love Goes Down
  4. Mamas Gun – On A String
  5. Those Dancing Days – When We Fade Away
  6. Kings of Leon – Pyro
  7. Yuck – Shook Down
  8. Elzhi – One Love
  9. Musiq Soulchild – Do We Have To
  10. Mayer Hawthorne – You’ve Got The Makings of a Lover

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Song of the Week: All You Ever Knew

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Rob

Now On – All You Ever Knew

Really liking this tune form LA Hip Hop troupe Now On.  It’s really chilled, and a has a laid back vibe reminiscent of Dilla.

And, yes… the pale looking dude in the middle is DJ Haircut, aka Mayer Hawthorne.   Before he became a soulful crooner, he used to make hip-hop records.  Small world.

Enjoy this one.  Fairly dope video too (dope (???) I sound my age, lol).

Soulside Funk

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Gig review and pictures: Mayer Hawthorne at ULU, London (25/05/2010)

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Rob

Since I first heard A Strange Arrangement towards the end of last year Mayer Hawthorne has pretty much been on constant repeat; in the car, on the iPod, in the bedroom, his tunes have provided a a soundtrack to the last nine months or so, so catching him live in London Town was not to scoffed at.

The former hip-hop DJ/producer turned purveyor of heavily Mowtown influenced soul (see Plan B’s not the only one) is a rather strange looking fella, kinda like a hip-hop version of Michael Bubble complete with standard issue tailored suit and black skinny tie (and he likes like a spitting image of that dude from Heroes!).

His band, in matching white shirts took the stage and out popped a Mayer Hawthorne looking identical to the CD cover with a little glint in his eye that gave away the fun that was to be had during the set.  The show kicked off with real pace; Maybe So, Maybe No, One Track Mind, Make Her Mine, I Wish It Would Rain (complete with crowd participatory raindrop creation).  During a relentless 25 minutes pretty much all the bangers were played and it seemed like he had nowhere to go…

…then he went and sang Fly or Die by N*E*R*D better than I’ve ever heard Pharrell & Co. sing it themselves! For a soul band they really rocked out on it taking the show up a gear when everyone was merrily jamming in fourth.

Mayer definitely likes playing with crowd and encourages crowd participation – not in a clichéd way however, more in a demanding way and you feel like a bit of a dunce if you don’t join in.  The mixture of full-on fans who knew every word to every song and curious newbies made for a nice vibe, pockets of random excitement encased by seas calm bopping.

After an extremely elongated rendition of Love Is Alright, The Ills made the night.  For me the song was almost therapeutic, the energy flowing through it let me (if for only a minute) wash away all the stresses and troubles from a pretty tough past six weeks – the words resonating even more than they ever have, giving the song new meaning.

After teasing with talk of Rock, Jazz and even DubStep it would have been nice to see Mayer and the band remix one of the album tracks for the show and whilst sounding good, sometimes it sounded a little too polished; more Lionel Ritchie than Curtis Mayfield.

He closed out with a cover of the Isley Brothers Work To Do, which was very fitting because Mayer Hawthorne definitely put in a good shift on Tuesday night.  If he would have played A Strange Arrangement (easily the best song on the album) it would have been a great shift (maybe shift of the year so far)… however for not doing so I think I might go abuse him on twitter… damn Michael Bubble Heroes look-a-like poor man’s Plan B mother f****r!!!

Soulside Funk

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MAyer Hawthorne at ULU, LondonMAyer Hawthorne at ULU, LondonMAyer Hawthorne at ULU, LondonMAyer Hawthorne at ULU, LondonMAyer Hawthorne at ULU, London

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Song of the Week: A Strange Arrangement

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Rob

Mayer Hawthorne – A Strange Arrangement

This is the title track from potentially one of the best releases this year.  Don’t let Mayer’s geeky looks put you off, this is a classic-feeling soul record that gets better with each listen.

Formatting

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