Weekly mp3 #110: Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar

XLR8R again.

Upbeat, throwback soul number. But actually good. Piano-led, with a big horn section, but basically it's all about Mr Blacc singing the blues. His voice is fantastic, reminds me quite a bit of Bill Withers, but the driving beat's more energetic than any Withers track. Nothing in the track stops it from sounding like it's the 70s.

Maybe one of the things that has me really excited about this track is how pleasantly surprised I am to find myself hooked by it. I've thrashed it and am still not sick of it. Maybe there's a touch of cognitive dissonance afoot, too. Being all reverential about some past sound is a good recipe for being fucking boring, not to mention all the idealistic baggage about tastefulness and purity and nostalgia.

Aloe Blacc is from Orange County, California, USA, and went from rapping in the 90s to singing over electronic beats last decade, but has obviously pulled the full retro move here. You can hear him singing Sam Cooke on Youtube and stuff.