When good new music is getting scarce, you may have to look a lil longer back to get to the music you need. To help you with that, I'm starting a new category on the blog: Looking Back. It's exactly what it sounds like. I'll refresh your memory of some good music from earlier years.
It's tempting to start out with a classic, like something by Marvin or Stevie, but I'll start this with something newer than that. This neo soul favorite of mine is from '96, but sounds like it could've been way older than that.
Maxwell - Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite (1996)
I just realized that that 'thing' in the picture is a pair of shoes. I've never understood what it was. Feeling all kinds of stupid right now.
This is that type of album that you'd call solid. Maxwell's sky high voice has never met its match like this, neither before nor after. The album is stuffed with flavorful soul and jazz, creating a rich, not heavy, background for Maxwell's vocals. Pretty much every song is on point, something that's rare for albums now. Also, you feel that this is an album, not just a compilation of singles. All the tracks melt perfectly into each others beginnings and endings, and it's not even boring.Did I mention that Maxwell pulled this off without any featured artists? Now that's how you make a debut album into a lasting impression. A good one at that.
It's hard to choose which of the tracks are the best, but I have to rep for the first track, The Urban Theme. It's a soulful instrumental which makes you lose yourself completely in the layers of the music. Plug in some good speakers or your beats by dre headphones, cause you just can't listen to this with your raspy built-in laptop speakers. Other great tracks are the chilled-out Sumthin' Sumthin', Suitelady (The Proposal Jam) that is reminiscent of the '90s R&B, and the ending track, that ties the project into a complete album. Oh, and all the rest of the tracks.
Even though the Urban Hang Suite is truly a quality album, I still long for a little bass in the singers voice. But hey, it's Maxwell, probably the only guy that could pull off singing in the Mariah Carey key. If you're into the neo soul movement, and especially if you like Maxwell, this one should be a sure bet for you.
