Rob Anthony (http://cdbaby.com/cd/anthonyrob) is a mystery man. Just like the hooded figure who appears on his album cover, or the dashing trenchcoat stranger on the back, Anthony is a musician who cannot be easily summarized. At one moment he is bellowing stream-of-consciousness spoken-word narratives with the heated passion of a preacher and then he transforms into Marvin Gaye, giving his woman all his lovin'.
Honestly, this CD shouldn't work. Combining instrumentals with minimalist speaking tracks, R&B ballads, hip-hop and trip-hop jams, and jazzy bits sound like a car crash waiting to happen. Yet Anthony makes it work because the writing and performances are so strong. He has a magnetic personality, able to grab you with both his streetwise poetry and soul man crooning.
On "I Dreamed of Her," Anthony produces one of the most unique and powerful post break-up tales ever. Instead of dissing his former lover, he awakens to the understanding of how she became the person that she was. Anthony's delivery is music itself; the words spill from his mouth with hook-laden beats.
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Opening up with the cool piano vibe of "Forbidden Fruit," Anthony gives listeners a senses-working-overtime experience. He throws everything into the mix on this record - funk, acid jazz, film-noir ambience - and fills the speakers with mind-blowing creativity. "Give Me Sum'm," for example, juxtaposes a paperback narrative with blaring horns and a pulsating rhythm, and "In Your Mental" envelopes snazzy piano with sinister atmospherics.
This is among the year's most original recordings.
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