Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Van Hunt

Last month I picked up Van Hunt's first album at Amoeba Records. Have to admit, it was one of those albums that didn't really do very much for me at first. Now that I've sat with it a while, I'm starting to see what makes this man's music so good. The record definitely falls under the category of retro-soul, but it sounds more "full" to me than most other retro-soul I'm used to hearing and that was popular in the 90s. As in, more complicated arrangements, more lush instrumentation, and, well, just a little weirder than I expected. Listen to that driving electric guitar on the upbeats on "Dust". It's just different. Three albums later, Van Hunt released the much weirder What Were You Hoping For? this year and it got a lot of good buzz. I have to go back and take a listen now that I have more of a foundation for his sound, but the funny thing is that what I remember most about that album was: LOUD ELECTRIC GUITARS. Dude's music clearly covers a wide spectrum. Listen to "North Hollywood" below and I'm sure you'll think of four or five superstar, multi-instrumentalist, genre-bending artists that have made their mark on his sound. I'll leave it up to you. If you visit the official site you'll see a new live album is about to be released. Looking forward to hearing it and hopefully catching him on tour!

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