Posted on Ephemera

What Does It All Mean?: Matthew Sweet – Someone To Pull The Trigger

MatthewSweet

During the interview with Matthew Sweet we discussed what I believe to be the best song that he’s ever written, “Someone To Pull The Trigger.” Though he’s most associated with “Girlfriend,” which is a truly perfect pop song, “Trigger” still holds the top spot because of it’s utter uniqueness. Like so many of the songs Sweet has written, “Trigger” is a love song, but it’s a VERY unconventional one. If taken literally, this is a love song about a person who wants someone else to shoot them, to help them end it all, because they can’t do it on their own. As I remember quite a lot of critics took this song literally which gives it a much darker edge than perhaps the song deserves (despite Sweet’s admission in the interview that the song came from a “very dark place”).

It could just be the crazy, depressive, dark side of me speaking, but I find this to be a thoroughly romantic song. Love as assisted suicide is not generally the way we think of “romance,” but I think it remains apt for this song. This is clearly not a song about sweet, unproblematic, idealized love. No, this is a song about the realities of love for many of us, that love while it may lift us and gladden our hearts, does not always end well. When the person you love leaves you, it crushes us, destroys us and often leaves us for dead. But this song is not about the despair of heartbreak throughout your life. In fact it’s about the opposite. That’s why it seems like such a romantic song to me. This is a song about a person who has lost at love again and again and again and again, but they still haven’t given up. Consider how the song begins:

Well I’m loaded, ready, call me holdin’ steady,
Looking for a sign to show me when,
Now I’m waiting, willing, the clarity is chilling,
And I’m not turning back and neither can you

Here we have a person who is desperate to be loved and believe that they may have found “the right one,” but they cannot find it in themselves to take the first step. They need that other person to “pull the trigger” and take the lead.  When you consider the song like this it clarifies the chorus in particular ways:

I need someone to pull the trigger,
Is this hole in my heart getting bigger,
Everything I’ll ever be I’ve been,
And I need someone to pull the trigger,
So if you’re what I think you’ll be,
If you’re who I think I see,
Shoot

This person needs someone else to pull the trigger, they can’t do it themselves. They’ve been hurt by love so many times that they just can’t put themselves out there like that again. But they also realize that a life alone is no life at all. If they’re going to survive in this world, they need another person to give them a reason to live and a reason to make something of themselves. That “everything I’ll ever be I’ve been” line in particular seems to ground that point home. We often think we are capable of great things when we strike out on our own path. Some people do succeed, but many of us fail. Failure is tough when you’re in love, it’s absolutely devastating when you are alone. Once you’ve begun to fail, if you’re going to get better, be better, do better you need someone else to give you that push to be more than you’ve been. This is especially the case when you try and try and yet fail repeatedly. There’s nothing worse than the slow realization that you simply never had “it.” With a new love however, we can emerge stronger than before.  There remains that chance.

Which brings us to perhaps the best lines of the entire song:

So hold me and love me,
Tie me up and drug me,
‘Cause I’m not gonna beg you for my life

Again, this is a VERY desperate person. This is not a wide-eyed teenager full of idealized notions of romantic love. This is a person who has lived in the world and lost. They are at their wit’s end and are ready to give up. But they also want a love that is complete, total and even perhaps dominating over all aspects of their life. Here is a person completely and totally committed to the idea of giving over yourself to the person you love no matter the costs. No matter what you want to do with me, no matter what you do to me, just love me.

Now, I’m not saying the plea for co-dependence or the notion of love as suicide is a particularly healthy way of going about it, but it remains for me deeply romantic. What do you think…

Matthew Sweet – “Someone To Pull The Trigger” from Altered Beast (1993)

Well I’m loaded, ready, call me holdin’ steady,
Looking for a sign to show me when,
Now I’m waiting, willing, the clarity is chilling,
And I’m not turning back and neither can you

I need someone to pull the trigger,
Is this hole in my heart getting bigger,
Everything I’ll ever be I’ve been,
And I need someone to pull the trigger,
So if you’re what I think you’ll be,
If you’re who I think I see,
Shoot

So hold me and love me,
Tie me up and drug me,
‘Cause I’m not gonna beg you for my life

I need someone to pull the trigger,
Is this hole in my heart getting bigger,
Everything I’ll ever be I’ve been,
And I need someone to pull the trigger,
If you’re what I think you’ll be,
If you’re who I think I see,
Shoot (4X)

Posted on Radio

Be Our Guest: Matthew Sweet on KPFK’s Melting Pot!!!

Matthew Sweet (6)

This year has really been good to me. Here’s another interview from an artist who had a major impact on my youth and influenced how how I hear music and pushed me to discover a variety of artists that I wouldn’t have sought out if not for the work they did with him. Matthew Sweet ‘s Girlfriend came out when I was 16 and a Junior in High School, Altered Beast was released just as I graduated and was about to enroll at GSU. I’ve worn out CDs and cassette copies of both of these records over the past 20 years, they’ve been required listening on road trips all over the country and been the soundtracks for new love and heartbreaks alike. These records also led me to other cherished groups that included the featured gutarists Robert Quine, Richard Lloyd and Ivan Julian, such as Richard Hell & the Voidoids, Television and John Zorn, as well as cementing my great love of harmony and in the process opened up my musical tastes in ways I’m not sure I even fully grasp.

I’d tried valiantly to bring Matthew Sweet into our studios in 2011 when his breakthrough album Girlfriend was celebrating it’s 20th anniversary. With another anniversary for the equally fantastic album Altered Beast slated for 2013, I reached out to his people and this time the stars aligned and we were able to set things up. Matthew performed four songs acoustically, two each from these classic albums (“I’ve Been Waiting” and “Winona” from Girlfriend plus “Ugly Truth” and “Time Capsule” from Altered Beast), along with his friend Paul Chastain on harmony vocals. From almost two hours chatting together about his career we have these two hour-long interviews, filled with music and stories from both albums with part one primarily focused on Girlfriend and part two focused on Altered Beast (this is the uncensored version that includes a few words I had to clean up for broadcast because of those sensitive ears over at the FCC). I hope you enjoy hearing this as much as I enjoyed putting it together, this was truly one of the highlights of my entire radio career. Big thanks to Joe Stahl and Rebecca Cayce for setting things up, Stan Misraje for his sound engineering and most of all to Matthew Sweet for his candor and generosity in sharing his time and all of his music with us.

Matthew Sweet on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 07-10-2013 Part 1
Matthew Sweet on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 07-10-2013 Part 2

Posted on Radio

Breakdown: July 21st on KPFK’s Melting Pot

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Despite the fact that it’s been almost 18 years since she left this world, just about the entire time I’ve spent in radio, there have been very few times where I’ve hosted a show on my mother’s birthday, which was this Sunday. As such, I paid tribute to her playing a song from Otis Redding, a favored artist of her’s and mine (all because of her). “That’s How Strong My Love Is” is meant to be a romantic soul ballad, but it’s striking how much the lyrics of the song fit with a mother’s love. We go in a variety of places from there in the first hour, including tunes from Soundsci (sampling Mike James Kirkland), KING, Adam Franklin, Rhye, The Heavy, Bosq, Adrian Younge and Alpha. In the second hour we continue our interview with Matthew Sweet, this week focusing more on his follow-up to 1991’s Girlfriend, 1993’s Altered Beast (separate post to follow featuring both parts of the interview). Next week we’ll have another guest, perhaps two, for our end of the month all vinyl show, Ruben Molina of the Southern Soul Spinners and as you might guess, we’ll be all focused on that East Side sound.

Melting Pot on KPFK #135: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #135: Second Hour

Playlist: 7-21-2013
{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

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Otis Redding – That’s How Strong My Love Is – The Definitive Otis Redding (Rhino)
The Soul Superiors – Faith – Good God: Apocryphal Hymns (Numero)
T. Hardy Morris – HardStuff – Audition Tapes (Dangerbird)
Adam Franklin & Bolts Of Melody – When I Love You (I Love You All The While) – Black Horses (Goodnight Records)
Gaslamp Killer – Nissim – Breakthrough (Branfeeder)

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King – The Story – The Story EP (Self-Released)
Alpha – Firefly – Come From Heaven (Melankolic)
Los Girls – Somewhere – Los Girls EP (Plug Research)
Rhye – Verse – Woman (Innovative Leisure)
Adrian Younge and Venice Dawn – Reverie – Something About April (Wax Poetics)

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The Heavy – Blood, Dirt, Love, Stop – The Glorious Dead (Counter)
Soundsci – Understand The Message – Soundsational (Ubiquity)
Danny Schloss – In A Dream – Dreams And Illusions (Verve Forecast)
The Latinaires – Camel Walk – Camel Walk (Fania)
Boogaloo Assassins – No No No – Old Love Dies Hard (Sicario)
Bosq – Get Involved – Bosq y Orquesta De La Madera (Ubiquity)

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Matthew Sweet – Interview and Performance Part 2 – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)

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Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)

Posted on Dig Deep

Dig Deep: The Latinaires – Camel Walk – Fania (1968)

Latinaires

The Latinaires – Camel Walk
The Latinaires – Guajira
The Latinaires – Creation

Had a lot going on over here, which is why I’ve been so delinquent with the anniversary mix (promise it’ll be up next week). But in the meantime, time marches on and so here’s a truly top shelf Latin record for your listening pleasure. Being on the west coast since the last century has meant that it’s really rare that I run into choice Latin albums when I’m out and about. Most of the Latin sounds I love, especially the late 60s Boogaloo and Latin Soul were based out of NYC and most of those records are more easily found out there. For whatever reason though 2013 has been good to me. After never running into a single gold label Fania record, I ran into two in the span of a couple of months, Ray Barretto’s Acid over at Gimme Gimme Records in Highland Park and this gem at the PCC Swap Meet. Gold label Fania records are a bit rare, sometimes they can run between $100-$200 a piece, I was lucky to get them both for less than that. I’d originally even thought about about flipping them since they are so rare, but all it took was one drop of the needle to know this record wasn’t going anywhere.

The Latinaires were a group out of the Bronx (that I’d originally confused with Little Joe & the Latinaires, who are a totally different group from Tejas), with a real distinctive sound. Unlike a host of other Latin bands of the time and later on, their horn section consisted of nothing but reeds, no trumpets and no trombones, soon to be staples of the Salsa sound. On “Camel Walk” there’s also the addition of some almost psychedelic organ playing that doesn’t sound like anything else from this period. With all of the talent on display here (and I’m sure also on their second record release a couple years later on Cotique) it’s a shame this group didn’t record much mroe than they did. But that’s a shame shared by many out of this period of time. We should just be thankful that they made music at a period of time where labels like Fania were interested in being the voice of a community documenting what we now recognize as a monumental change. I’m just thankful I ran into this one and that I can share it with you.

Cheers,

Michael

Posted on Ephemera

In Heavy Rotation: Bosq of Whiskey Barons – Bosq Y Orquesta De Madera – Ubiquity

bosq

Bosq feat. Mendee Ichikawa – Never Feel Cold

While 2013 has been notable for the wealth of great music already released, something has been sorely lacking…tracks with handclaps. At various times I’ve mentioned my affinity and great weakness for a well placed soul clap, but in a year where it seems every single “retro” soul act has or will put out a record, soul claps have been mighty scarce. Filling that gap, and then some, is this offering from Boston’s Bosq of the Whiskey Barons production team. I’d first been drawn to this album because it features one of my favorite current vocalists Tita Lima, but once I finally made my way past her track (“Paciencia De Jo” which is truly stellar), I feel in love with this summertime stunner featuring sugary sweet vocals from Mendee Ichikawa (herself a part of the Long Beach collective Free Moral Agents) and soul claps for days and days and days and days.

Posted on Ephemera

Giveaway: Matthew Sweet performs “Girlfriend” @ the Gibson Amphitheatre July 20th!

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foto © abandonedcouches.com

{Please note this show has been moved to the Wiltern!}

On the heels of our interview with Matthew Sweet discussing Girlfriend, we also have a couple of pairs of passes to see Matthew Sweet perform the entire album, start to finish, with a few extras likely thrown in this Saturday at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. This is part of what is called the LP Tour, that also features Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Soul Asylum and members of the Wailers each performing a classic album. If you’d like to go courtesy of Melting Pot, be sure to e-mail me at michael[at]meltingpotblog.com by Thursday at 6pm. Good luck!

If you’ve never seen it, as a fan you need to see this performance on the old Dennis Miller show featuring the one and only Robert Quine, “the most unassuming guitar god” who ever existed:

Here’s a more recent appearance with Matthew and his band performing “I’ve Been Waiting”:

Posted on Radio

Breakdown: July 14th on KPFK’s Melting Pot

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Had a show all planned out Friday night, then news broke late Saturday that George Zimmerman was found “Not Guilty” in the death of Trayvon Martin. Like a number of people, particularly black men who grew up in the South, the case was a stark reminder that race remains a major way how people will perceive you as “normal,” “regular” or a “suspect.” I couldn’t figure out a good track to play for Trayvon and his family until fairly close to broadcast. “A Tree Never Grown” was recorded in the wake of the Diallo shooting (which also ended in an acquittal), but the lyrics of most of the rappers were specifically about police brutality and that didn’t fit this case. But Mos Def’s chorus for the song still seemed to fit, so I used the instrumental to make a quick edit that took out the rhymes but kept the chorus. From there we moved on to other things, with a few new tracks from Bosq, The Mantles, Spectrals plus classic tracks from Television, Fela Kuti and Richard Hell. The 2nd hour is given over to the first part of an interview/performance with Matthew Sweet. This section focuses on his classic album Girlfriend, next week’s second part focuses on the follow-up Altered Beast.

Melting Pot on KPFK #134: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #134: Second Hour

Playlist: 07-14-2013
{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

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Hip-Hop For Respect feat. Mos Def (Yasiin Bey) – A Tree Never Grown – Hip-Hop For Respect 12” (Rawkus)
Television – Guiding Light – Marquee Moon (Elektra)

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Jungle Fire – Comencemos – 7” (Colemine)
Bosq feat. Mendee Ichi – Never Feel Cold – Bosq y Orquesta De Madera (Ubiquity)
Fela Kuti – Mr. Follow Follow – Everything Scatter (Knitting Factory)

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The Mantles – Bad Design – Long Enough To Leave (Slumberland)
Myron & E – Cold Game – Broadway (Stones Throw)
The Spectrals – Milky Way – SOB Story (Slumberland)
Richard Hell & the Voidoids – Betrayal Takes Two – Blank Generation (Sire)
Demon Fuzz – Past, Present & Future – Afreaka! (Janus)

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Matthew Sweet – Interview and Performance – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)

Posted on Dig Deep

Dig Deep: Miguel De Deus – Black Soul Brothers – Underground (1977)

MiguelDeus

Miguel De Deus – Black Soul Brothers
Miguel De Deus – Flaca Louca
Miguel De Deus – Fabrica De Papeis

Our first dig deep of year #5 is a big of heavyweight funk out of Brazil. I’ve never been able to find out much information on Miguel De Deus. MiguelDeus2 I know that he was a member of Os Brazões, who backed Gal Costa for a period of time. But that group doesn’t appear to have recorded much beyond their debut. A lot of time passes from 1969 to 1977 when this LP is released. I’m sure I’ve missed some credits from Deus during that period of time, but even still there’s a lot to be discovered and rediscoverd about Brazil music in the 1970s. Black Soul Brothers is a somewhat strange kind of record. Virtually every song on the album doesn’t really have any lyrical structure, it’s more a phrase or a chant. It sounds as if Deus invited all his friends into the studio, without any actual songs, and just cut loose and messed around. Aside from “Fabrica De Papeis” songs have at best 2 lines of lyrics, sometimes even less. “Black Soul Brothers” only real line is “Black Soul Brothers,” either spoken or sung by the female back-up dancers. All the minimal songwriting aside, this IS a mighty funky record. I love “Black Soul Brothers” so much I was thinking of making it my ringtone. I mean that beginning where dude screams out “Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, Shaka Du Shaka Du Shaka Shaka Du Shaka Du Shaka…UUUh!” before some B-Boyrific drums kick in is just too cool. In addition to the title cut, “Mister Funk” and “Cinco Anos” have also been comped to death on Funky Brazil collections. Every track basically follows the same template, band plays funky, a gaggle of voices join in and things strut and slink to an eventual fade out. As much as I might like some actual songs here, it’s hard to complain when the result is so darn funky.

Cheers,

Michael

Posted on Ephemera

In Heavy Rotation: V/A – Good God!: Apocryphal Hymns – Numero Group

The Many Covers Of Numero’s Latest Gospel Collection

The Gospel Clouds – Let Us Pray

The latest in the Good God series, features even deeper soulful gospel sounds from the 1960s and 1970s. Virtually all of these songs have a more “sweet soul” or “sweet funk” sound to them, rarely getting too upbeat and instead keeping things mighty mellow for the Lord. “Let Us Pray” was a standout track on Matthew Africa (RIP) and B. Cause’s now legendary Soul Boulders 2 and  I was more than happy to find it here.  But there are sooooooooooo many standout tracks here that I could have posted up virtually every track on the collection. Highly recommended soul music for your soul.

Posted on Radio

Breakdown: July 7th on KPFK’s Melting Pot…Best So Far Of 2013!

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First six months or so of 2013 have packed in more than enough good music for the whole year. There’s been a particularly strong bumper crop of retro soul this year, in truth “soul” music in general has been nicely represented and that is certainly reflected in the show. Really looking forward to what the rest of 2013 has in store for us, we’ll start finding out next week, but until then enjoy the show!

Melting Pot on KPFK #133: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #133: Second Hour

Playlist: 07-07-2013
{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – 7” (Stax)

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Adrian Younge & William Hart of the Delfonics – Stop and Look – Adrian Younge Presents The Delfonics (Wax Poetics)
Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band – Strictly Reserved For You – Victim Of Love (Dunham/Daptone)
The Black Opera feat. Mayer Hawthorne – Queen of Hearts – Libretto: Of King Legend (Mellow Music)
Jose James – Trouble – No Beginning, No End (Blue Note)
Rhye – Last Dance – Woman (Innovative Leisure)
Jungle Fire – Chalupa – 7” (Colemine)

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Myron & E with the Soul Investigators – I Can’t Let You Go Away – Broadway (Stones Throw)
The Summer Twins – I’m No Good – Forget Me EP (Burger Records)
Lady – Money – Lady (Truth & Soul)
Golden Grrrls – Older Today – Golden Grrrls (Slumberland)
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou – A Oo Ida – Vol. 3: The Skeletal Essence of Afro-Funk 1969-1980 (Analog Africa)
Svenska Kaputt – Happy Ending – Svenska Kaputt (Moserobie)

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The Amazing – Flashlight – Gentle Stream (Partisan)
The Pastels – Secret Music – Slow Summits (Domino)
King – In The Meantime – Single (Self-Released)
Shuggie Otis – Things We Like To Do – Inspiration Information/Wings Of Love (Legacy)
Heliocentrics – Collateral Damage – 13 Degrees Of Reality (Now-Again)

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Toro Y Moi – So Many Details – Anything In Return (Carpark)
Bomba Estereo – Mozo – Elegancia Tropical (Soundway)
Ilaiyaraaja feat. P. Susheela – Poo Poo Kkum – Ilectro (Finders Keepers)
Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge – The Sure Shot Parts 1 & 2 – 12 Reasons To Die (Soul Temple)
Jimi Hendrix – Inside Out – People, Hell & Angels (Experience)

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Jimi Hendrix – Izabella – People, Hell & Angels (Experience)
Shannon & the Clams – Into A Dream – Dreams In The Rathouse (Hardly Art)
Nicole Willis & the Soul Investigators – Best Days Of Our Lives – Tortured Soul (Timmion)
Amatorski – Come Home – TBC / Same Stars We Shared (Crammed Discs)
The Gospel Chords – Let Us Pray – Good God!: Apocryphal Hymns (Numero)
Vieux Farka Toure – Peace – Mon Pays (Six Degrees)

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Quadron – Neverland –Avalanche (Vested In Culture)
Alice Russell – Twin Peaks – To Dust (Tru Thoughts)
Dom La Nena – O Vento – Ela (Six Degrees)
Jaimeo Brown – This World Ain’t My Home – Transcendence (Motema)
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Mermaids – Push The Sky Away (Bad Seeds LTD.)

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The Pastels – Slow Summits – Slow Summits (Domino)

Posted on About Melting Pot

Melting Pot: Four Down…Movin’ On Up To Year #5

YearFour

Hard to believe a whole ‘nuther year has passed but we’re still kicking after 4 years of steady bloggin’. This past year was especially fantastic on the radio end with a number of great interviews/performances (from Shuggie Otis, King, Dom La Nena and Lady just to name a few) and exclusive Guest DJ sets from Kenny Dope, Spinna, Frane and E Da Boss. I have no idea what year number five will have in store for the blog or the radio show, but I sincerely thank all of you who have supported this blog, from checking out the posts and music to actually throwing a little money my way to keep everything up and running. Vol. 4 of our anniversary mix might be a little late this year, but that will be coming up soon…onwards and upwards!

Cheers,

Michael

Posted on Dig Deep

Dig Deep: Poe – Up Through The Spiral – UNI (1971)

Poe

Poe – There Is A River / Your Prayers Have Been Answered / What Do You Want To Do / I Want To Heal The Sick (Medley)
Poe – You’ve Got To Try
Poe – Tune In
Poe – Sons Of Belial

For our final post of year four (tomorrow will mark exactly four full years since I began this blog!) I’ve pulled out this interesting psych record from out of Texas circa 1971. Ran into this at the beginning of the year at Burbank’s Atomic Records. I’m always on the look out for interesting psych records and I’ve found that material on UNI rarely disappoints, particularly when I know nothing about the group. In this case, Poe was a five-piece band from McAllen, Texas. I knew this band had to be from McAllen, even before I learned anything about them because they recorded this album in McAllen and there is absolutely NO reason for anyone to record anything in McAllen unless they were actually from there (Sorry those of you reading from Texas, spent a summer there with my wife while she was interning…I’m sure you’d agree there really isn’t any reason for anyone to stay in McAllen). Turns out the band used to be called the Playboys Of Edinburg, which would make you think they were from the UK or something but actually that’s another town near McAllen. For reasons unknown to me, the band shortened their name to simply Poe and released this album, which is a complex psuedo-concept album.

You might imagine that the name change to Poe might have led them (or had it suggested to them) to create a concept record based on Edgar Allen Poe’s writings, but no. The concept here is focused on a completely different Edgar, Edgar Cayce, a psychic, mystic or charlatan depending on who you believe, who perhaps is most famously remembered for his “visions” of Atlantis. The guys in Poe must have really been into his work, not only to dedicate an entire album to Cayce, but to even include a glossary of terms associated with him and the address of Cayce’s Association For Research and Enlightenment. It’s quite possible that the album was even commissioned by the A.R.E., but only the band members could answer that. The music is really sensational, often heavy, psychedelic rock. For a guy who listens to most everything through Hip-Hop ears I’d wish there was a instrumental version of this record. Just great guitar throughout and snappy drums too. A nice one to end our fourth year here at Melting Pot.

Cheers,

Michael

Posted on Ephemera

In Heavy Rotation: Myron & E with the Soul Investigators – Broadway – Stones Throw

MyronEBroadway

Myron & E with the Soul Investigators – Turn Back

A lot of times you say “I’ve been waiting years for this to come out,” and it’s a figure of speech. In this case, it’s seriously literal as those of us in the know were convinced Myron & E’s debut would be released in 2010…or 2011…or 2012. But no matter, Broadway has been finally released and all of the promise of the various singles released by the group has been fulfilled. It’s interesting having spent time with some of this music for a long period of time, it’s easier for me to hear the progression of the group over the years, in contrast to newer listeners who pick this up as just a “debut.” In some ways there have been multiple debuts for this group, some of their earliest sounds are here with “Cold Game,” “I Can’t Let You Get Away,” and “Broadway.” On these tracks the vocals are much more straight forward and while they blend nicely with later ones, there is a stark contrast in terms of how the band’s sound has progressed. It’s in the tracks that have been recorded more recently that the special talents of Myron & E really come to bear, in the layering of their vocal harmonies as well as mixing in their distinctive high/low voices, particularly on “If I Gave You My Love” and the track I’ve chosen to share here “Turn Back.” It goes without saying (especially since “On Broadway” was one of my favorite tracks of 2010), that this will be near the top of my list at the end of what has been a really exceptional year for Soul music. Now that Broadway is finally out, I can’t help but want even more, as I’m sure you will as well once you hear this debut.

…As mentioned in the interview with Myron & E, the band has been embraced by the “Oldies” crowd here in Cali, and for the video for the song “If I Gave You My Love” they paid tribute to that support, along with the DJ crew, the Southern Soul Spinners at one of their events in the City of Industry: