Playlist for June 2006

Anti-pop edition

by j. brotherlove

With all this blog talk about new tunes from Janet, Christina and Beyonce’, it’s easy to forget that some of us listen to music other than pop and hip hop. Inspired by Jason’s Sunday Random Ten: Missing Album Art Edition and Nova’s What I’m Listenting To, here are 10 of my favorite songs of 2006 to date.

1. "Nowhere" by Clara Hill. Typical mellow, jazzy fabulousness. Can’t wait for her full CD to drop.
2. "Who Cares?" by Gnarls Barkley. It took me a minute to warm up to this project. I’m still not on their bandwagon but there are several tracks I enjoy, like this one. It helps that all their songs average three minutes.
3. "Another Rocket" by Joi. I have to agree with One Soulful Negro that Tennessee Slim Is The Bomb "may be her best effort to date".
4. "Golden Rough" by The Bamboos. Eat this funk from the group’s Step It Up disc.
5. "Closer To You" by Cassandra Wilson. From the Grammy-bound Thunderbird CD.
6. "Unanswered Question" by Amel Larrieux. Overall, Larrieux’s Morning CD is all over the place to me. But I do like this track.
7. "Morph The Cat" by Donald Fagan. Steely coolness defined on this title track.
8. "You’re My Flame" by Zero 7. I haven’t given The Garden a solid listen but this track became a favorite when it popped up on random.
9. "Priest Or Police" by Van Hunt. Although I recently demoted my rating for Van Hunt’s On The Jungle Floor to a B+, this track is my current favorite.
10. "Love Is A State Of Mind" by Jhelisa. Saving the best for last, this track is my favorite song this year. Lyrics, music and vocals showcase Jhelisa in top form. Taken from her overdue and complex A Primitive Guide to ‘Being There’.

Take a listen: brotherlounge vol vi - favorites: 06/2006.

I’m going to have to get up on that Cassandra Wilson and Joi.

I really like “Who Cares” as well but I’ve been bumping “Transformer” a lot. The 3 minute song structure on their album is very helpful.

Amel’s album hasn’t stuck with me. Nice enough but not very memorable.

Jhelisa has an album out?! I have everything BUT that one. I’m with JT on the Amel one. Ain’t feeling it.

Oops! I’m having technical difficulties with the radio.blog. Should be corrected soon.

Looks like it’s working and flowing quite nicely.

I am feeling a lot of your selections. I keep telling myself to give Joi at try. The Amel is lukewarm at best for me. And Van Hunt still won’t stick. :) But mostly everything else, gets a major thumbs-up from me.