03-11-2019, 11:06
MICHAEL KIWANUKA ~ KIWANUKA
![[Image: 220px-Michael_Kiwanuka_-_Kiwanuka.png]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/03/Michael_Kiwanuka_-_Kiwanuka.png/220px-Michael_Kiwanuka_-_Kiwanuka.png)
Track listing:
1. You Ain’t the Problem
2. Rolling
3. I’ve Been Dazed
4. Piano Joint (This Kind of Love) Intro
5. Piano Joint (This Kind of Love)
6. Another Human Being (Interlude)
7. Living in Denial
8. Hero (Intro)
9. Hero
10. Hard to Say Goodbye
11. Final Days
12. Interlude (Loving the People)
13. Solid Ground
14. Light
It’s extremely difficult to categorise Michael Kiwanuka; he has an incredibly soulful voice and offers up a mostly successful combination of folk, soul, funk and jazz. He’s released three albums to date – the first was a lot simpler and cleaner (more folk oriented, but always with that touch of soul), which I really liked a lot (he was criticised for not having enough of an edge), then Love & Hate which was more complex, and now this. He’s also made a single with someone else fairly recently which I didn’t like at all, so it’s a relief to hear that he’s kept to his own path on this latest record, aside from the very clear interventions of his producer, that is! I have great respect for Danger Mouse (who was also responsible for producing Love & Hate), but he does tend to have his own definitive stamp which is generally quite cinematic with references to spaghetti westerns and an overall fuzzy, retro impression – something he uses a lot from what I can tell.
There is more orchestration and background vocal content on this one, less focus on individual instrumentation, and he’s chosen another interesting route too – brief intro segments for some of the tracks. It’s a flood of sound, and whether you’re inclined towards the juxtaposition of jazz/funk/soul/pop or not, at the very least it holds interest all the way through the substantial 51+ minutes.
One of those that I’ll need to listen to again – can’t be properly absorbed in one sitting. The glue that keeps it all together is that wonderful voice – steady, measured, clear, without pretension, and with such a rich, warm timbre - no doubt at all it’s the best instrument on the album. Not entirely convinced this is the perfect showcase for Mr Kiwanuka but at least he’s maintaining a certain standard. The whole album is up on YT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R71v8hde...dbE1b0bxIU
This is from his first album, Home Again - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEA5lCcga-s – checked to see who produced this one – it was Paul Butler (Bee Gees). Still has more appeal to me, personally …
From Love & Hate … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FngDSOuCNAA
And from this latest, “I’ve Been Dazed” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEqeRL4LRuE
Quintessential Kiwanuka IMHO – “Solid Ground” –
Track listing:
1. You Ain’t the Problem
2. Rolling
3. I’ve Been Dazed
4. Piano Joint (This Kind of Love) Intro
5. Piano Joint (This Kind of Love)
6. Another Human Being (Interlude)
7. Living in Denial
8. Hero (Intro)
9. Hero
10. Hard to Say Goodbye
11. Final Days
12. Interlude (Loving the People)
13. Solid Ground
14. Light
It’s extremely difficult to categorise Michael Kiwanuka; he has an incredibly soulful voice and offers up a mostly successful combination of folk, soul, funk and jazz. He’s released three albums to date – the first was a lot simpler and cleaner (more folk oriented, but always with that touch of soul), which I really liked a lot (he was criticised for not having enough of an edge), then Love & Hate which was more complex, and now this. He’s also made a single with someone else fairly recently which I didn’t like at all, so it’s a relief to hear that he’s kept to his own path on this latest record, aside from the very clear interventions of his producer, that is! I have great respect for Danger Mouse (who was also responsible for producing Love & Hate), but he does tend to have his own definitive stamp which is generally quite cinematic with references to spaghetti westerns and an overall fuzzy, retro impression – something he uses a lot from what I can tell.
There is more orchestration and background vocal content on this one, less focus on individual instrumentation, and he’s chosen another interesting route too – brief intro segments for some of the tracks. It’s a flood of sound, and whether you’re inclined towards the juxtaposition of jazz/funk/soul/pop or not, at the very least it holds interest all the way through the substantial 51+ minutes.
One of those that I’ll need to listen to again – can’t be properly absorbed in one sitting. The glue that keeps it all together is that wonderful voice – steady, measured, clear, without pretension, and with such a rich, warm timbre - no doubt at all it’s the best instrument on the album. Not entirely convinced this is the perfect showcase for Mr Kiwanuka but at least he’s maintaining a certain standard. The whole album is up on YT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R71v8hde...dbE1b0bxIU
This is from his first album, Home Again - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEA5lCcga-s – checked to see who produced this one – it was Paul Butler (Bee Gees). Still has more appeal to me, personally …
From Love & Hate … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FngDSOuCNAA
And from this latest, “I’ve Been Dazed” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEqeRL4LRuE
Quintessential Kiwanuka IMHO – “Solid Ground” –
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson
