Category: R&B

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps best known as a member of Karen, The Late Late Show with James Corden house band fronted by Reggie Watts and a weekly residency with Watts at El Cid, drummer and vocalist Guillermo E. Brown’s solo musical project Pegasus Warning has received musical industry nods through collaborations with an impressive list of artists including Twin Shadow, Das Racist, Gordon Voidwell, Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor, Saul Williams, Mocky, Spoek Mathambo and others.

“Come Close” Brown’s latest single is about longing, “that oh-so-human feeling of missing someone to the brink of collapse like singing in the rain in the desert,” as Brown explains in press notes, and as a result his vocals possesses an urgent and plaintive need and an aching vulnerability. Paired with cascades of shimmering synths and a sinuous bass line, the single is both ethereal and undeniably sensual — and in fact, manages to channel Quiet Storm-era R&B. Or simply put, you should play this the next time you plan to have a romantic evening of naughty fun with that someone special.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Up-and-coming, Los Angeles, CA-based alternative R&B/electro pop artist Brooke Aulani has already worked with an impressive array of music industry heavyweights as a student at USC’s Popular Music Program including — multi-Grammy Award-winning producer and Grammy Foundation Chairman Emeritus Jimmy Jam and Grammy-nominated artist Daniel Bedingfield, who has praised the young artist’s vocal range and stage presence, saying in press notes “Brooke has the power to take a room of people and make them focus on her, and draw them into where she wants to be. Whatever she sings, I’m blown away.” Aulani has also opened for Tony Award-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth at USC’s annual Widney Gala, performed for Chaka Khan, sang accompaniment for David Foster and has been a backup vocalist for the legendary John Fogerty.

“Shame,” the second single off the Los Angeles-based artist’s debut EP will likely cement her already burgeoning local and regional reputation for a sound that possesses elements of contemporary and old school R&B, soul and experimental pop — and for her effortlessly soulful and sultry, pop-belter vocals. In fact, “Shame” pairs Aulani’s vocals with a slickly modern and seductive production consisting of bluesy guitar chords played with subtle reverb, skittering drum programming and swirling electronics in a song about lust, dishonesty and betrayal going both ways in a sexually charged and confusing relationship — a relationship that the song’s narrator has a difficult time leaving.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Initially starting her career as the frontwoman of Toronto, ON-based band The Wayo, Charlotte Day Wilson is a 23 year old classically trained singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, who has since emerged out of her hometown’s  jazz, soul, and R&B as a solo artist of note, adding herself to a list of growing artists including friends and collaborators BADBADNOTGOOD and River Tiber. Wilson’s debut single “After All” is reportedly about re-socializing after spending some time inside cocooning while also suggesting the freedom of embarking towards new endeavors, and sonically the song pairs Wilson’s husky and effortlessly soulful vocals with an ethereal production — which consists of staccato stabs of organ, warm blasts of horn, skittering drum programming, gently swirling electronics. Interestingly, Wilson’s vocals and the song reminds me quite a bit of The Brand New Heavies “Never Stop” but breezier and moodier.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Old School Sound Sound of San Diego’s Rebecca Jade

Two time San Diego Music Award-winning soul/pop/R&B artist Rebecca Jade can trace the origins of her music career to growing up in an extremely musical home — her mother, was a professional jazz singer in Puerto […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings Soulful and Joyous Hanukkah-Inspired Original

If you’ve been frequenting this site, you’d know that Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings‘ latest effort, Holiday Soul Party was released last month to critical praise from the likes of Rolling Stone and The Guardian. And that shouldn’t be terribly […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Check Out M&M’s Funky, Club Banging Remix of Tuxedo’s “The Right Time”

Tuxedo is the collaborative project of Mayer Hawthorne, one of this era’s shamefully unheralded vocalists and  Jake One, a Grammy nominated artist and producer. The collaboration can trace its origins back to 2006 when the duo started to exchange […]