@@@ Joy Oladokun: jordan (Verve, 2021) I mean I shoulda known by the fact that it’s a NPR pick for 2021 and the record is out on Verve to see that this is gonna be some post hippie, macaroni and cheese comfort hippie typa thing. Chill organ, strummed clean electric guitar, and building our new promised land. I guess you can’t kill this aspirational yet slightly delusional viewpoint — my distaste is for the lack of creativity on the part of the musician and then a surrender to cheese by listeners who make this music a priority. I believe in recycling but not music.
@@@ Luke James & Nu Deco Ensemble, A Live Sensation (Culture Collective, 2021) Oy, the same thing, just with falsetto loverboy singer but swelling organ, aspirational sounds — in this case gospel with a twinge of classic rock. See above review for response. Also some New Age feels in the lyrics as it unfolds.
Deep In the Music 