Mayer Hawthorne grew up in Detroit. According to his MySpace bio, he loved the soul sounds of his youth. He captures them niceon his album A Strange Arrangement. I'm not just hearing the Detroit sound; I'm hearing the famous Philadelphia sound. I'm hearing Smokey Robinson, Curtis Mayfield, and other greats. Nice job, Mr. Hawthorne.
As I post this, his album is ranked number 394 on Amazon, not bad at all. As some reviewers have correctly stated, Hawthorne isn't trying to be funny or ironic with his treatment of retro soul. He loves soul and treats the music with passion and earnestness with good effect.
I first heard one of the album's tracks on KJAZZ 88.1 a few nights ago and scribbled the song title in the margins of my New Yorker. Thank you, KJAZZ
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