Already out in England and garnering the praise usually reserved for a boy child Manchu Emperor, Michael Kiwanuka's debut "Home Again" just might be all that.
Early reviews and hype put me off. Hype always puts me off. (The "new" Adele?) But I gave in once the record became available to me. I listened and could not stop listening. Too early, I know, to call this my fave of the year, but not too early to say, this will be in my Top Ten.
The comparisons to Bill Withers seem rather lazy. Yes he's a black man with an acoustic guitar, but that's really about it, at least to my ears. What I'm hearing is Paul Simon, Taj Mahal, Richie Havens and a much more positive Nick Drake.
Kiwanuka is wonderfully musical, and the production on "Home Again" is dead-on, recalling mid to late 60's folk and psychedelia. At the risk of gushing to the point of turning YOU off with hype, and doing the opposite of what I am here to do, please just listen to this record. The U.S. release has changed a number of times and it now sits at "unavailable." Amazon says the U.K. edition will be available on 4/3, but they're wrong. It's available now.
Here's a head-start.
9 comments:
I'm interested. You pushed all the right buttons.
Me too. Looking for the download right now. I'm Getting Ready is a killer. Refreshing out of the blue post.
"Tell me a Tale" reminds me a bit of Kenny Rankin (see the "The Kenny Rankin" produced by Don Costa album gem from 1976).
This might be a pick up.
Thanks Sal.
I've heard him recently, and I love the vibe...hit's my sweet spot, very soulful. Tell me a Tale reminds me at first of...Traffic, Stevie Winwood, Eric Burdon (thats good!)...need to listen to the rest...sounds like a score....
@ Anon, yea I can hear the Kenny Rankin too. Good stuff..Thanks Sal
I like him, but I'm not getting the Taj/Richie Havens connection. What I am hearing is the strong influence of 70's folk/pop. My favorite is "Always Waiting," which does sound like it could have been written by Paul Simon. Nice call!
I hear Richie all over "Tell Me A Tale," and Taj particularly on "Home Again."
@Big Jim
I knew he was from Uganda. I simply wanted to say, "the comparisons to Withers stop at black man with an acoustic guitar," but I did too much overthinking and just blew it.
Thanks for doing the work for me.
(This comment was a third draft, by the way.)
Thought it was hype Sal, so ignored him completely.
You've set me straight and are of course right, but don't tell anyone I said that.
Post a Comment