D’Angelo, Voodoo (2000)
The reissue on vinyl is a beaut – liner notes, a double-LP, lovely thick vinyl, strong/thick cover. And it sounds better than the Mp3s that had previously conveyed this album to me. I never owned the CD because almost everyone else I knew at the time had it. So there was no need. I liked D’Angelo – but I never felt the need to own this or Brown Sugar because it was everywhere if you wanted it to be. Over a decade later – and still waiting for that (now allegedly upcoming) third album Voodoo sounds sublime. Still. What a band. And it’s an incongruous line-up really – Questlove and Pino Palladino are two fine players; great players – but it might not be anyone’s first guess they would sound so good together. Throw in Charlie Hunter too. Another player from another discipline. What a magic band. D’Angelo’s timing was great too – Lenny Kravitz was done. Tapped out. (It’s been that way ever since). Prince was appealing only to the hardcore fans at that point, many had moved on even. And so it was left to D’Angelo to update and care for the  Jimi Hendrix via Curtis Mayfield-derrived sound of the day. And he nailed it. Fuck this record is startlingly good in this day and age. As good as it ever was. Maybe even (somehow) just a little bit better even.

Sample Track: Playa Playa

The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown