By Odeisel

With technology comes a distancing from the analog ways and music is another victim of that evolution. You don’t often hear modern music with the depth and soul of decades past with the advent of digital production. Aloe Blacc, formerly of the group Emanon, has taken it upon himself to bring that soul back along with producer Truth+Soul on his latest release Good Things. The album is awash in soul and rich music, to the enrichment of rapper-turned-singer Blacc.

That soul is most evident on “Green Lights,” which exposes the weakness in Aloe vocally, but the song’s chopped up organ arrangements, background vocal arrangement, the bass and intermittent trumpet give the track a rich soul feel. You wish it was Anthony Hamilton singing on this though. Or Otis Redding.

Organs and a rich bass line bring “Life So Hard” to melancholy with emotionally drawn out Isaac Hayes-like background string arrangements ramping up drama. The multiple electric guitars stir up tumult and capture the difficulty or being wide away trying to capture the American Dream. “Take Me Back,” about a guy caught up in some shit and wishing he can go back and do it all over again, picks up the pace with triangles and peripheral guitars and a jumping bridge and vibraphones on the extended break.

The Motown-styled, feel-good “You Make Me Smile” is an old school ballad complete with semi-soliloquy “Hey girl” ad libs and the funky guitar and vocal arrangements. The soulful simmer of “If I,” with soft drums, stabbing organ keys and pulsing string plucks in the vein (no pun intended) of James Browns’ classic “King Heroin” furthers Aloe’s adventures in soul.

James Brown-“King Heroin”

JAMES BROWN KING HEROIN

The album also dallies in modern soul, beginning with the opening cut “I Need A Dollar,” where Aloe deals with the recession and medication via alcohol over a stabbing keys and trumpets introduced on the breaks. He offers his story and music in exchange for that dollar hence the exercise of this album.

A large portion of the album deals with relationships, beginning with “Hey Brother,” a cautionary tale that speaks to those guys smiling while their girls are on the prowl. The brass and the wah-wah guitars provide slickster theme music appropriate to chronicle how this woman is playing this guy for a fool. “Miss Fortune” is even more creative, personifying fortune as a female and framing a warning  against how she effects people differently. Be careful what you wish for, you just may get it. The song is allegory for people who don’t do well with success and change.

“Femme Fatale,” with miminalist intro organ, Memphis guitar and the simple drum with brass backing. chronicles a dangerous woman that chews up men like Oreos, no matter how much of a player they are. The fast paced “Loving You is Killing Me” deals with a woman that he’s devoting himself to who is unappreciative of his effort. “Good Things”  continues the love gone awry tone of this section of the album, but once he got her out of his life, things have been looking up. In that note, there is progression and not the same lament that happens on these albums where the guy is bitching throughout(ahem Maroon 5).

“Momma Hold My Hand” is a piano powered bass line buttressed track that pays homage to Momma. The minimalist track puts the onus on Aloe to deliver all the emotion and he is effective at that conveyance. The album comes to a close with trumpets, distorted electric guitars and kick drums with “Politican (Reprise).” The instrumental track features an extended guitar solo and some light, soft wailing but not much else.

Good Things is new millennium Blues mixed with Soul, Funk, and Jazz. There are layers and strings and organs that recall the halcyon days of Stax and other soul hallmarks. The one glaring issue is that Aloe Blacc doesn’t have the vocal chops to take this album where it could have gone.With a more accomplished vocalist, this would have been epic. As is, it’s a great housecleaning album with Aloe’s adequate but unspectacular voice providing words to sing along.

Aloe Blacc-“I Need A Dollar”

I Need A Dollar
Out of 5

Follow Us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/planetill

Follow Odeisel on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/odeisel

Join Us on the Planet Ill Facebook Group for more discussion

Follow us on Networked Blogs