mixtape maestro (2.0)

Currently being given an early preview streaming over at NPR, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings‘ fourth album I Learned The Hard Way (due, officially, April 6th on Daptone) unsurprisingly lands as another bravura demonstration of the electrifying front-woman and her nine-piece backing male accompaniment’s killer way with horn-spiked, retro-fueled soul that sounds like it’s supposed to be coming from an old, rusty jukebox in some Quentin Tarantino flick.

Highlights include the timely, “broke folks” lament “Money” (sample lyric: “I got to pay my bills/ I got to pay my rent/ I’m hungry and I’m tired but my money’s all spent/ Money, where have you gone to?”) and the lean backporch jamming, girl-group harmonies and pleading pipes that ignite the album-closing “Mama Don’t Like My Man”, but tops for us would have to be “Better Things”, a feelgood slab of wobbly soul-funk in which Sharon revels in walking away from a cheating partner.

The jovial handclaps and various horn blurts of the arrangement seem to signify the clicking of Jones’ heels as she heads out the door and down the road, giddily bopping with pride over her relationship-ending decision. “I got a new life and I’m feeling right on,” she beams infectiously, provoking the listener to reward her with a well-deserved standing ovation at song’s end, not only in honor of her strength, but as appreciation for her and her band’s continued excellence in bringing that old school groove back.

It’s been twenty-five years since we were first introduced to the greatness that is Prince’s film and album Purple Rain, and in honor of this event, the folks over at Spin Magazine have cooked up an entire track-by-track cover set of the classic album (entitled Purplish Rain) and are offering it for free (well, almost free, as you must deal with answering a trivia question correctly in order to receive the download).

But as much as we dig “The Kid”, it was a little hard trying to muster up much excitement over this thing, given that tribute records rarely ever sustain much interest beyond a single curious listen and we’ve probably heard each of Rain‘s nine entries covered over a million times over the years (with some being amazing, but most being…well, yeah).

To our non-surprise, Purplish Rain lands as a decent listen that’ll mostly leave you with a desire to re-check out the original; but if you do snatch up the free-load, the tracks you should most look out for include The Twilight Singers somber “When Doves Cry” (featuring the one and only Apollonia), a festive mariachi-styled run-through of “I Would Die 4 U” by Cali punk force The Bronx‘ alter ego Mariachi El Bronx, and the always-impressive Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings doing “Take Me With U”.

The final single stripped from Rain, the original “Take Me With U” paired Prince and Apollonia for a breezy duet celebrating their unbridled devotion to each other (“I dont care where we go/ I dont care what we do/ I dont care pretty baby/ Just take me with u”). Jones and the Kings relieve it of any pop stateliness (and, in a sense, familiarity) in their sassy rendition though, constructing this big band soul tour-de-force that sits comfortably in unison with the rest of their spirited old school-soaked output.

DL: “Take Me With U (Prince Cover)” (alt)