I finally have to admit it. I hate R&B music, not in that annoying former Phish fan now classic soul fanboy sort of way where they hate all the “current” shit but love the classic soul sound. Where I really couldnt give a fuck about what artist is using autotune and making a song with tired sexual metaphors for the jr. high set. No, No my blood boils with contempt for the soul revivalists. Don’t get me wrong, I have put in time, played the roll, etc. I used to make the 90 minute mix tapes in college that had a well placed Jodeci song for, if timed correctly, finishing up with the woman i was making love on. I got those best of Al Green CDs when I used to scam music from the Columbia Record Club. I have listened to the orginals versions of the songs that were sampled to make great rap songs. I got the soundtracks to the blaxplotation era movies, I even tried my hand at the new soul revival acts and you know what, I just dont like them. They are talented as shit, no question but they make some contrived ass bullshit, that sounds dated as fuck in the same way Big Bopper, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Jimi Hendrix do.

The content sucks dick and gets even sadder when you consider that almost all of these people are in their late 30s/early 40s and still upset that their man is a dog, or is constantly checking out some other chick. Really? you havent figured this out yet? Howsabout you shut the fuck up and either date the nerd fuck at your office that will placate your oversized ego, or just grow the fuck up and realize that guys like to look at women, no matter their age, just as the get older they act on it less because lets face it, most women are major fucking headaches. Also where do you get off with the whole “you let a good thing go” routine? Apparently every guy or gal you date makes the same call. My guess is the problem’s with you, so take a long hard look in the mirror and maybe write a song called “I’m only good for having sex on for a short period of time because I have a grating personality” Catchy title right? The funniest occurance is when they write a song about their family not liking their current significant other, well as we see from the tracklist and your track record you have shitty taste, so maybe check in with what they are saying and try a new direction you moron.

Anyway, despite my hatred of all things R&B, I am reviewing this new Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings because I know a lot of people like this shit. Please note that the above rant was completely inspired by the insipid content on this fuck of an album.

Sharon Jones & Co have a new album coming out in May called I Learned The Hard Way. I believe the song below will be the first single, and it’s pretty damn good. If this is any indication the album will follow the same formula they’ve used before, making Stax-inspired retro soul. Whatever works…

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – I learned the hard way

Read on for the press release

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are already well known as one of the most exciting acts in the nation for both their explosive live shows and their prolific output of gritty studio recordings. Their breakout release, 100 Days, 100 Nights, sold over 150,000 copies worldwide. On Jones’ birthday this year, the band will release I Learned the Hard Way, their fourth full-length on Brooklyn’s independent Daptone Records. The record marks a bold step forward for a band who almost singlehandedly stewarded today’s return of soul music to its more traditional sound.

‘I Learned the Hard Way’ was produced by Bosco Mann and recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine by Gabriel Roth in Daptone Records’ House of Soul studios, the record drips with a warmth and spontaneity rarely found since the golden days of Muscle Shoals and Stax. Sharon’s raw power, rhythmic swagger, moaning soulfulness, and melodic command set her firmly alongside Tina Turner, James Brown, Mavis Staples, and Aretha as a fixture in the canon of soul music. From the lush Philly-Soul fanfare that ushers in “The Game Gets Old” at the top of the record, to the stripped down Sam Cooke-style “Mama Don’t Like My Man” at the tail, the Dap-Kings dance seamlessly through both the most crafted and simple arrangements with subtlety and discipline. I Learned the Hard Way is the “Daptone Sound” at its finest.

Official site for the band HERE

Daptone recently released Daptone Gold, a collection combining some of their biggest hits with obscurities and unreleased material. The compilation is up to the high standard set by previous releases, however devout followers of the label likely already have a good amount of material presented. By the same token it’s also good way for neophytes to get familiar with some of the more notable items in their catalog.

Here are a few of the tracks that caught my ear (keep in mind that this whole collection is solid, what I’m posting is more skewed to my personal preferences)

Lee Fields with Sugarman and Co. – Stand Up

Lee Fields’ My World is by far my favorite album of this year, so I was glad to see several tracks from him included in this release. This one is probably my favorite of them.

Sugarman And Co. – Down To It

The group that backs Lee Fields on Stand Up comes through with an instrumental soul/funk excursion with a mood so dangerously sleazy it could be used to soundtrack an orgy of Bob Guccioni vs multiple hookers happening in the middle of 42st street in NY circa 1972 while pimps stab tourists with pearl-handled stilettos.

Cynthia Langston & the Gospel Queens – I need you to hold my hand

This one is a sweet gospel soul number, religiously themed and firmly on the opposite end of the moral specter from the Sugarman and Co. track.

Binky Griptite and the Mellomatics – The Stroll part 2

A b-side from a single released by the Dap-Kings’s guitarist/emcee earlier this year. Straight up instrumental funk with dueling guitar solos, good stuff.

And here’s something a little extra for the holidays. A free track by Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings called Ain’t No Chimneys In The Projects. A decidedly un-maudlin tune which is way more Cold World than Oh Tannenbaum.

Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings – Aint No Chimneys In The Projects