Adrian Younge is literally trying to rule 2020, lol...

I don't know anything about Loren Oden but I'd been following the singles as they dropped over the last few months, and gave this a spin this morning. I liked it a lot on first listen -- aside from a tune near the top that felt like a Marvin ripoff -- and Younge's production is, as normal, top-notch.

That said, I sometimes feel with his stuff that there often isn't a standout track or an arc to the albums he produces. Everything is always really good, always *sounds* super rich and right, but I rarely walk away humming something, or with something really stuck in my head. (The Spotify version of the album has instrumentals for the whole release which are super nice.)

I do think there's some stronger songs here though and I have a feeling over time they'll show themselves.

For those keeping track, in 2020 Younge's already released three JID albums (the anthology, Ayers, Valle) with another on the way (Azymuth), this Loren Oden record, an Angela Munoz lp I haven't checked yet, and a soundtrack with Ali Shaheed Muhammad (Run This Town). I haven't been buying them yet, might just wait until the end of the year and then do one giant sweep to properly support.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~