Adrian Younge | Something About April II

I don't know if this guy is a genius. It has been said. I'm disinclined to agree just on general principle. I mean, maybe we're being a little loose with that term these days? Or perhaps when they call him genius they are referring to his work as an entertainment law professor. I suppose he could be a devastating force in that arena.

I can tell you this though, he produces super-cool tunes.

This latest offering – Something About April II – is my favorite of his releases so far.

If you're not familiar with his work he has cultivated a very distinctive style. It's for sure not RnB; nor is it Hip Hop; both of which most of his contemporaries in the LA music production scene are inhabiting. It's not Soul or Funk. His sound would not be out of place in say The Thomas Crowne Affair (the original version with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway). It's a pre-Motown sound but only by a handful of years. It's a post-exotica attitude, but only by a fraction. It's Minnie Ripperton but with balls. It's Lalo Schifrin or Morricone with better company and a little weed. Nostalgia doesn't get any stronger than this.

It's all analogue so the whole album has the rick, warm depth to it. The tracks are more accessible than the previous album and it has a slightly less deranged undercurrent than his Delfonics album (not that I wouldn't recommend checking out either of those releases).

There's a brightness to it and a darkness. It's at once a sunny spring day driving with the top down and an evening in with a maudlin European countess. He's enlisted vocal talents of Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier, Bilal, Raphael Saadiq, Loren Oden and Israeli star, Karolina. The compositions are tight and the sound is consistent. It's flawless actually but let's not start with the whole genius thing again.