A Strange Arrangement

Mayer Hawthorne | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: September 8, 2009
• Release Date: September 8, 2009
• Label: STONES THROW
• Copyright: 2009 Stones Throw Records
• Total Length: 34:41
• Genres:
• ASIN: B002LS4M9E
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,895 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reinventing R&B, September 9, 2009

By 

Alec "Alec" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Strange Arrangement (MP3 Download)

The evolution of "neo-soul" and the reinvention of funk and R & B has been the unspoken blessing of the past decade. The slow mutation from Jill Scott to the British throwback queens of Duffy and Amy Winehouse have shown you don't have to reinvent the wheel, just take the old one and paint it a different color. Mayer Hawthorne's debut on Stones Throw Records, thankfully, finds an untapped niche in this genre with great results.

"A Strange Arrangement" isn't your older brothers booty-shaking R & B, your uncle's old Earth Wind and Fire records, or your dad's collection of Al Green. This record has a lot more in common with the Temptations and Otis Redding. Combining Motown soul and funk breaks and instrumentation, Mayer Hawthorne's music owes a lot to the classics and the easy listening sound of the early 60s and their favorite topic: love won and lost. Hawthorne plays every instrument on the record and has been quoted as having to learn how to sing for this record. It is easy to hear why: the melody lines frequently dip into falsetto and sometimes he executes it, sometimes he doesn't. No matter. The effort he pours into it makes up for the lack of training. The title track oozes along with vocal harmonies to create the lushest arrangement (no pun intended) on the record, first single "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out," despite its sparseness of arrangement or melody, just feels great. The horns of the cover "Maybe So or Maybe No" jump out of the record as well.

As a whole, A Strange Arrangement feels familiar and nostalgic in a good way. Of course there are drawbacks to his approach and style. I can't help but wishing Burt Bacharach or Hal Mooney (if he was alive) could toss their arrangements onto these sparse compositions and make them really fly. Very few multi-instrumentalists (Beck, Jon Brion, or Prince are excluded) can really put a session musician's technique on each instrument and careful listeners can hear this lack of polish. But for most listeners, "A Strange Arrangement" is an intimate, informal collection of love songs that goes down easier than your favorite nightcap. Recommended

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you for your lack of irony., September 13, 2009

By 

Jesse Clark - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Strange Arrangement (Audio CD)

I had read the reviews, seen the pictures, saw that he was on Stones Throw and all I could think was, great...another ironic artist copping a classic musical genre so he can be funny. I was wrong. Mayer, regardless of his initial motivations, has made a picture perfect piece of undeniable pop music that shines as a reminder of how sorely we need real music back on the radio. I would personally send my "hit" local radio station a dozen roses if they replaced the repetition of things like "Do the Stanky Leg" or the new Lady GaGa single with "Your easy lovin' aint pleasin' nothin" or "Make Her Mine". Also, this album is a great example of proper song constraint. I'd much rather have a 40 minute long album that I listen to on repeat without skipping a song rather than having to cut out half the album to listen to the 3 good songs. Kudos to Mayer Hawthorne and PBW for noticing the possibilities in Mayer's early singles and ponying up the cash for a full album.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It ain't Motown but it'll do in a pinch..., December 8, 2009

By 

David D. Macks "99th Worf101" (Troy, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Strange Arrangement (Audio CD)

As a singer/songwriter/bass player in a pretty popular local RnB band I'm always being deluged with albums of "neo-soul" artists that some today think are pretty good, or "the real deal". Having grown up the "golden age of Soul Music" as a kid in New York City I saw and heard every Motown Review, Stax Volt Review and Independent show that came in town to the Brooklyn Apollo, the RKO Alden in Queens and of course, THE Apollo Theatre in Harlem. So I'm just a wee bit skeptical when someone say "this guy's the new Smokey" or "that guy sounds just like Curtis". Pheh...

When I was handed a copy of Mr. Hawthorne's debut album "A Strange Arrangement" I was pretty skeptical. How ever after keeping it in heavy rotation in my various listeneing spaces for a month I paid him the ultimate compliment I can in this age of ripping and running, I came here and bought his album!!! Meyer Hawthorne "gets it"! He understands how to pair a hook with a beat and keep it short. There's not a tune on this albume over 3.5 minutes in length. And while reminiscent of Curtom and Motown his tunes manage to be bright, upbight and soulfull. At times you hear Curtis, especially on "The Ills of the World", other times you hear the Moments on "I Wish It Would Rain", but never ever does it descend into blaten rip off. I enjoy this album immensely, enough to buy it and review it. You could do a lot worse.

Worf