I’m A Geek For Jamie and Janelle

09.17.08 | Music | Comments (1)

I’ve found I’m a big sucker for the whole Motown revival and tracing back the trend points to the Daptone Records; but as far as I can tell, the first out of the UK to notice wasn’t Amy Winehouse, but Jamie Lidell with “Multiply” a year before her “Back To Black“. The last “revival” album that I really geeked out over was Lidell’s “Jim” back in April.

Little Bit Of Feel Good - Jim:

In May, I saw that he was coming stateside and made sure that I caught him. The show was good, but not great. I feel a kinship to a dorky white guy who can’t help but express his honest love for soul music. What I didn’t like is that his backup band was a little thin to get the full effect I’d like for the sound: A single guy alternating between playing guitar and bass and a single sax player in the place of a horn section.

Good news/Bad news: He’s back for a second US tour. I was hoping that he’d grew in stature from his first “Jim” tour and now had a larger band, but it doesn’t appear so.

BUT, I just found out that his opening act is the *new* artist that I’m geeking out over: Janelle Monae. She’s part Outkast, part P-Funk, part electro-funk-punk, part Erykah Badu. Her recently re-released Fritz Lang inspired EP has been on HEAVY rotation anywhere I can play it.

Sincerely, Jane - Metropolis:

As much as Jamie is representing the past with a little bit of future, she’s representing the future with a little bit of past. They’ll be performing together October 3rd at the Showbox.