Retro-R&B

Hello, Lawrell here. Eggmun will be absent this week, I will be posting two albums in his stead.

Summer has come, and what better way to celebrate it than with summery music? Retro-R&B most certainly fits that bill, and as you can guess, it sounds like old R&B. And when I say old, I'm thinking about 1950's old, not contemporary R&B from two or three decades ago. Think, say, Ray Charles. Retro music revival has become a thing lately, but retro-R&B is still pretty niche, which is a shame because it's so damned groovy. If JD McPherson's Signs & Signifiers and Nick Waterhouse's Time's All Gone were played on jukeboxes in good ol' 50's diners, it would definitely not feel out of place. 

While both sing the lyrics with a lot of soul, worthy of R&B singing, JD McPherson is more influenced by rockabilly than R&B, focusing a bit more on the guitar and is backed up by repeated notes on the piano (I don't know the actual term). I believe this is what rock and roll's precursor sounded like. 

Nick Waterhouse is however more reminiscent of early soul and R&B music, with slightly less focus on guitar soloing and slightly more on other instruments such as the keyboard and the tenor saxophone (which is present on both albums, by the way), along with more focus on actual vocalization, as evidenced by the female back vocals. 

Overall, these are what I'd listen to on a hot, sunny day, as they are bright, uplifting, and keep you moving around with their infectious groove. If that's your thing, I'd recommend playing these while you're chilling on the porch with a couple of beers and some friends.

Password is "Lawrell", with capital L and without quotes.

JD McPherson - Signs & Signifiers
Nick Waterhouse - Time's All Gone