In our Moving Units column, Mike Ramirez at Fort Lauderdale's Radio-Active Records
graciously keeps us up-to-date and comments on the current releases
flying out of his store each week.
Michigan soul artist and producer Mayer Hawthorne's blue-eyed falsetto has been raising eyebrows and pulling at heartstrings since A Strange Arrangement dropped last fall. "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out" quickly went viral, and his association with choosy hip-hop imprint Stones Throw immediately made sense. The guy has a knack for isolating the smoky cool from R&B of yesteryear and making everyone pretend that the beats always thudded through the subwoofers. Covering Otis Leavill's "I Need You" shows Hawthorne is digging deeper than just Al Green and Curtis Mayfield to find inspiration.
Radio-Active Records Top 5 Releases for August 24-30
1. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (Merge) "Here's to another week of The Suburbs claiming the number-one sales spot at Radio-Active."
2. Mayer Hawthorne - "I Need You" 12-inch (Stones Throw) "Mayer Hawthorne's limited one-sided etched single creeps in at number two. This one is limited, kids, so act fast!"
3. BXI - Boris & Ian Astbury (Southern Lord) "The new collaboration between Boris and the Cult's Ian Astbury seems promising, although it is just an EP release. We expect more from this vehicle in the future."
4. !!! - Strange Weather Isn't It? (Warp) "!!!'s new offering went under the radar his past week. We're not too sure if they can still make waves."
5. Skream - Outside the Box (Tempa/Forced Exposure)
Which albums will we be discussing next week?
"Next week, be on the lookout for new releases including Ryan Bingham's Junky Star (Lost Highway), Heart's Red Velvet Car (Sony Legacy), the Black Crowes' Croweology (Silver Arrow), Street Dogs' self-titled release on Hellcat, and more."
