"Inner City Blues"
I read news like this and it reminds me of Marvin Gaye's incredible album What's Going On. Believe it or not, I had never sat down and listened to the entire album in one sitting until a few weeks ago ...
Of all the gems on that record -- from the title track to "God Is Love" -- the one that grabs me the most is "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler). The bass drum starts out pumping like a heartbeat, then gives way to a slogging, chain gang groove. On top of that, you've got those sad, slinking strings and Gaye's soft, teary falsetto. The song smolders but never really explodes.
The craziest part is the sound quality -- it's crystal clear. What a masterpiece. So is this video, by Hughes Brothers.
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
a classic album! There are so many different sounds and instruments used and the lyrics are top notch. What made you listen to it now?
Posted by: Level Headed | June 19, 2009 2:26 PM
When I was a camp counselor one of my kids was a huge Marvin Gaye fan. Ever since I've been promising myself I would buy this album. Think today I might have to make a Soundgarden run for this and Metric. (Yeah, yeah, I'm way behind the curve on that second one. But at least I still buy CDs, you goldang whippersnappers.)
Posted by: Patchen | June 19, 2009 2:33 PM
awwww....CDs! TOO cute!
Posted by: redman | June 19, 2009 4:09 PM
redman,
Some of CD buyers have the hearing to appreciate the better audio quality.
There are bands that complain that the sound of downloads of their records.
"Be clear on this point: we're not fans of the download audio market as currently constituted...
It is intensely frustrating to hear sound that we've spent months meticulously constructing being reduced to a dog's dinner with lousy encoding ratios." - David Thomas (Pere Ubu)*
Liner notes can be informative addition as well, but if you're only buying the hits, you probably don't care about the background recording information or who's else is playing on it.
* http://www.hearpen.com/
Posted by: GDA | June 19, 2009 7:20 PM
Level Headed, to be honest, I'm not sure. It could have been because I was listening to Gaye in the car recently and thought about this album. But I'm not entirely sure.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | June 20, 2009 11:04 AM