8. D’Angelo And The Vanguard – Black Messiah
Yes, I know this came out Dec 15, 2014, but my daughter got me this for Christmas, well after I had posted last year’s Top 10, so there! I had barely heard of him before this – I just remember he had some video with no shirt years ago and figured it was your basic hip hop/ R&B stuff. This is way weirder than that. First, it’s all played by humans with high level chops and proudly recorded to tape. Okay. But what is the music about? It is this blurry, murky stuff where nothing sticks out most of the time. No corners and time intentionally drifts. Things appear and leave randomly. Double tracked vocals slip and slide through. Now you might think that sounds less-than-pop for a guy that gets compared to Prince. Well it is, but it is pretty damn cool. I’m still figuring it out a year later and I think that’s ok.
Northwest Underground rock 1980 'til the End of Time
- Tom's Rant