Adrian Younge feat. Loren Oden – Sandrine
While it’s been four years since Adrian Younge released the first volume of “Something About April,” you can forgive the man for taking that long on a sequel, because he has been a truly busy fellow. Multiple collaborations with Ghostface Killah, Bilal, Laetitia Sadier and others have graced our ears in the ensuing years between these albums, and in that time Younge’s music has taken on a very specific retro-funk sound, very specifically read through a Hip-Hop mindset. This has led to Younge being one of the few contemporary artists who music is routinely sampled in Hip-Hop. But you could make a case that Younge’s music is best when it is completely his own vision. Something About April II certainly seems to provide ample evidence to that assertion, with more than a few songs that sound nothing like anything that Younge has produced thus far. The particularities of his sound are all there, but when you hear “Sandrine,” or “La Ballade” you could be easily convinced that it is another artist’s work, that’s how new and fresh some of this music sounds. I don’t know if we’ll have to wait another four years for Part 3 (lately Younge has been busy getting ready to open up a new Artform Studio in Highland Park, which now I think will now bring the total to six of LA’s finest record stores being within 5 minutes of each other), but I sincerely hope he doesn’t wait that long to immerse us within his own personal musical world. This album is definitely a strong early contender for my “Best of 2016.”