Adrian Younge
Something About April
In the four years since Adrian Younge's Something About April album first appeared, the Los Angeles-based producer and multi-instrumentalist has become his own musical cottage industry. Not only has he collaborated with musical legends ranging from The Delfonics to Ghostface Killah, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and The Souls of Mischief; his work has also been sampled by such rap giants as 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Common. In an equally impressive twist, DJ Premier produced an entire album with Younge's work as his only source material (including multiple samples from April, of course): 2014's PRhyme, with MC Royce Da 5'9". Something About April is an album that flaunts all of the trademarks that have made Younge an in-demand name as a composer and sample source-point. His work oozes raw, analog soul and the primal sonic edge of psychedelic rock, sitting nicely alongside Ennio Morricone's best soundtrack work; Pink Floyd's early catalog and Parliament's Osmium. Younge's songwriting is what truly makes this album unique and keeps ears engaged. While many of his tunes are initially vamp-driven, there are changes and aural twists that lurk around every corner, as evidenced on stand-out cuts including: The intense, deep groove and stripped-down vocals of Turn Down The Sound [sampled for Common's Out On Bond ]. The turns of both tension and beauty on Reverie (with all TWELVE instruments per formed by Younge) [sampled on Jay-Z's Heaven, with Justin Timberlake]. The gorgeous, cinematic ballads First Step On The Moon and Two Hearts Combine . The breakbeat fiesta of Sirens [used by Jay-Z for Picasso Baby . The new millennial soul/doo-wop of Lovely Lady, complete with lead guitar by funky soul legend Dennis Coffey. This deluxe reissue vinyl on Younge's Linear Labs imprint includes a bonus instrumental song from the original album sessions 'Niacin.'
Tracklist
1. Turn Down The Sound
2. It's Me
3. Anna May
4. Two Hearts Combine
5. Thunderstrike
6. Reverie
7. First Step On The Moon
8. Dusts Of Gold
9. Midnight Blue
10. Lovely Lady (feat. Dennis Coffey)
11. Sound Of A Man
12. Sirens
13. Mourning Melodies In Rhapsody
14. Something About April
15. Niacin (bonus track)