so many retailers don't even have the album, what's up with that. so far he has only sold 8000

Meloh9 said:

its called "RECORD LABEL SHANNENIGANS"

I haven't heard the whole album yet, but what I've heard is pretty good. I definitely hear Curtis Mayfield, but am I the only one who hears some Frankie Beverly also??

Another thing. I'm not hearing a whole lotta Prince like everybody is suggesting. Could you point out some tracks for me?

babynoz said:

To me, Prince is all over "Hot Stage Lights." I also hear Rick James on "IF I Take You Home." That song seems like his style of funk n roll..as Rick used to say..

JackieBlue said:

Jackie Blue, I bought Cree Summer's CD today and I was very underwhelmed with her and Lenny's version of MEAN SLEEP. I think Van's vocal trumpeted Lenny's. Van's was much more convincing and soulful. Lenny's vocal lacked "character."
Nikki Costa ate up her part of MEAN STREET. Again, she was the soul relief for the song. Cree's vocal IMO was VERY ineffective. The whole time I was listening to Cree, I was thikning "Ashlee Simpson could do this." Its kinda like Appolonia on "Take Me With You." She added nothing significant(or insignificant, for that matter) to the song. The same with Cree on MEAN STREET. Her vocal on that song was very rigid and uninspired. Just my opinion...
I think as a whole, The remake of MEAN STREET was leaps and bounds better than the original THO I love the bass line on the original. Lenny knows how to keep good baselines in his songs..

Meloh9 said:

Really?

Is the label pushing a single off of it?

babynoz said:

The song Being A Girl and on his first album Hold My Hand was very Prince

LoveAlive said:

Thanks, Imma check it out.

Im completely missin out on this CAT. He gets a lot of love. I must go buy one of his CD's today. Is he Really this Good?

LoveAlive said:

Oh nooooo! I really like the guitar and basic groove (and bass like you mentioned) of Lenny/Cree's version. You can barely hear Van Hunt. He's not a great vocalist so I don't think he brings anything to the song. Nikka is good but overall it just didn't do anything for me especially during the break which I look forward to. Maybe I'm partial because I've heard Lenny/Cree first for the past 10 years or so. I think their voices sound great together.

CinisterCee said:

"Character" is supposed to be the first single, but it's actually one of the lower points on the album. It sounds like a leftover from the first record, not a bad song, but definitely not one of the better ones from "Jungle Floor." He actually really wants "Being A Girl" to be the first single and has been trying to convince the label to release that instead.

guitarslinger44 said:

I hear "Character" every once in a while on the radio. Is their even a video for it yet.

"Being A Girl" I heard on MusiChoice today, maybe it is the next single.

aight now...im sold...i love this album...with the exception of the one rocker that goes no where....

i love an album that takes me a couple weeks to get into..those are the ones that tend to become classics in my life...


too bad 3121 came out around the same time because its taken a backseat to this, cassandra wilson and beth orton's new cd...

Van said I can give him a Q&A for my blog. Does anybody have any good questions they want to ask?

thanks

what happened to wendy being on the new album?

serious about the Q&A btw.. orgnote me with some good questions. I have read so many interviews with him im drawing a blank.

Man, the POWER of the ORG...I just bought this CD, and IT'S SLAMMIN'

I seen his name floating around a couple of years ago, but didn't
buy into it...this cat is for real.

My favs upon first listen are:

HOT STAGE LIGHTS (Very Prince Funky)
RIDE, RIDE, RIDE (Rocks Out! )
AT THE END OF A SLOW DANCE (Very cool tune)
HOLE IN MY HEART (Prince's vocal delivery...)
BEING A GIRL (Sounds like Nasty Girl at the beginning)
IF I TAKE YOU HOME (Nice vibe to this song...bouncy)

Meloh9 said:

Actually 'Hold My Hand' was more Andre than Prince. That song would have been right at home on 'Living In The New Wave'.

violator said:

Good ear.

Meloh9 said:

I'm new to him and therefore cannot really think of more than the obvious questions, but I wanted to say please make this happen! Maybe make a new thread specifically for this?

Maybe these would be interesting: Who would he like to work with? What does he want to acconplish in his career (does he have any specific goals set for himself)? Does he think it's difficult to break through as a young black artist nowadays, playing funk/soul/rock rather than hip hop?

calldapplwondery83 said:

thanks

What are some of your long term goals, that’s one of the first questions that came to mind. Who would you like to work with in the future is a good one also. Ok I think will make a thread and compile some of the questions from the org.

Yeah, I agree with the post above that asked for the Prince influence in Hunt's music be explained; I don't hear it nor see it.


I do hear Mayfield and Shuggie Otis though.

He does name Prince as one of his heroes though, so it has to be in there somewhere. Maybe in the approach to his music overall, who knows.

chuckaducci said:

sometimes you can pay homage to an artist by paying tribute to their influences.. listen to Van's first album and you can hear the Sly influence, and to understand the Prince story you have to understand Sly Stone.. thats a big big part of the picture as a whole.Van Hunt names Sly Stone as his number one influence.

Coltrane is one of my musical heroes and I don't write nor play jazz. That doesn't mean that he doesn't influence me somehow. But I see what you mean in terms of Prince, perhaps, being an influence to the way he approaches making his music.....



All I'm saying is that when I hear Van Hunt, I don't say, that's Prince! I say, that's Mayfield or Hayes, or Otis!

Meloh9 said:

I guess I should be more specific. When I hear Van Hunt, I don't hear a musical influence from Prince. That's the point I'm getting at. Maybe Prince influenced him in other ways. I don't hear Sly Stone on the debut album either especially since Sly had pop sensibilities and Hunt seems intent on staying away from popular conventions.


I swung by Van Hunt's myspace page once and he listed Serge Gainsborough as an influence and I definitely don't hear any French pop in his music!
[Edited 4/24/06 10:12am]

Prince has been listed as an influence by Van Hunt, but I hear Prince's reinterpretations of the Sly/Jimi sound in Van's sound as well. "Being A Girl" is the most obvious Princely sound on the album. Tracks 2 and 3 thing sound almost like Prince outtakes. Especially that whole colloquy in Track 2 ("If I take you home, will you write my name in a song/Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!") and the chorus of "Hot Stage Lights" (Prince braggadocio echoes in that track).

But Van's primary influences are the same as Prince's. "No Sense of Crime" sounds like virtually everything from There's A Riot Goin' On, but if one didn't know Sly's music one would assume that the track is Princely by default. I also hear Curtis' influence more on this record. And Stevie, particularly with the ballads (on both albums).

Slightly off topic but somewhat related - I just bought Bilal's 1st Born Second through ebay (still sealed for really, really cheap...lucky me!) and he really has some very tight, crazy Princely vocals in there, IMO. The last track is totally killer!

chuckaducci said:

I'm not sure how you define influence but many artists draw from the energy of other music. What influences one to write a song doesn't mean that the resulting song will bear any rersemblence to the song that influenced the artist. Sometimes its just a vibe that influences an artist.

namepeace said:

You're missing my point - again, just because you list someone as an influence doesn't mean that it's a musical one. I just checked Hunt's myspace page again and like I said earlier, he counts Thelonius Monk, Richard Pryor and Serge Gainsborough among his influences - You mean to tell me that I can expect to hear jazz and french styled pop underneath some jokes on his record? And I certainly disagree with Being A Girl and tracks 2 and 3 sounding like Prince. I've never heard Prince use a melody similar to what's heard in BAG, nor it's orchestral arrangement. What Prince song reminds you of Hot Stage Lights and that godawful and boring third track?






I do agree with No Sense Of Crime sounding very much like Stone. But I hope you're not referring to my post where I stated that Hunt's debut didn't sound like Stone. I could be wrong though; if someone disagrees, point it out to me. Prince and Hunt may share some of the same influences, but I have a hard time hearing a direct Prince influence on Hunt's music.