approach - 'ultra proteus'
fed up with current radio sanctioned hip hop soul stuff, but you still want a funky groove with a rap sensibility?
then this album release on coup detat may be the answer to all your dreams. the vibes is cool and downright funky without ever drifting off into weak ballad sh*t, which makes a nice change, though 'alright' gets close to an easy radio crossover pop hit it holds its own with it deft wordplay and lack of thug/booty cliches. throughout the album the musical backing is like an old school jazz funk band with excessive appearances by wah wah guitars, horns, hammond organ, hand claps, and even glockenspiels ! in fact this sounds like the people making this had a seriously fine party with approach being the band leader and keeping the flow going. luckily though there is a lack of jazz indulgence, no off the wall soloing, making the music tight and just right. with wonderfully innocent declarations of 'throwing your hands in the air' in the albums title track. which follows a track which is called 'David Maxelrod Interlude' so, you know exactly what type of groove is being spun in approaches pad.
yes there are times it feels like a demo album, but, give me this honest true to self soul music with a slice of 70's funk jams thrown in for good times any time.
the lp flows and grows with each subsequent listen and follows in the same path as macy gray once promised with such passion, in as much that this is excellently paced funk fronted hip hop music with few concessions to the current hip hop trends. ending with a set of remixes (ohno, rondo bros, nasa) which add more ounce to the bounce, especially the automato version of 'slide back'.