I was doing a bit of digging for info on the New Snoop Dogg Album, Malice in Wonderland when I came across a video that Diplo had posted to his twitter feed from hiphopDX.
I'd never heard of Mayer Hawthorne but was intrigued enough from the short clip to do some googling. According to his label, Stone's Throw:
"Mayer Hawthorne grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, just outside of Detroit, and vividly remembers, as a child, driving with his father and tuning the car radio in to the rich soul and jazz history the region provided....(he) but draws the most inspiration from the music of Smokey Robinson, Curtis Mayfield, and the legendary songwriting and production trio of Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, and Eddie Holland Jr"
Listening through to his stuff on youtube, this really comes across. At first listen his music is completely timeless, you can't tell if you're listening to modern versions of old tracks, or completely new stuff. The record that really blew me away is the gorgeously designed 10" Just Aint gonna Work Out. Pressed onto candy red heart shaped vinyl, these two tracks are equal parts J-Dilla and Smokey Robinson with just a nod in the direction of Prince's Slow Love. You can get the digital at Juno and Boomkat and you can hear the tunes below.
