Shades of Yesterday

Tyler, The Creatorお墨付き!
DJ Harrison、最新アルバム『Shades of Yesterday』LPリリース!

ブッチャー・ブラウン(Butcher Brown)のメンバーで、グラミー賞受賞アーティスト/プロデューサーのDJ ハリソン(DJ Harrison)が〈Stones Throw〉から3枚目のソロアルバムでありカバーアルバムの『Shades of Yesterday』リリースが決定。

DJ ハリソンは、自身のお気に入りの楽曲の素晴らしさについて常に考えを巡らせていたという。そうして曲を研究し、そのすべてのメロディーを学び、何年もかけて彼なりのヴァージョンに落とし込んでレコーディングを行った。DJ Harrisonは自身のヒーローたちに敬意を表しながら、彼の最も大切な子供時代の思い出を表現した新しいカバー・アルバム『Shades of Yesterday』を作り上げた。

『Shades of Yesterday』には、ビートルズ(The Beatles)の"Tomorrow Never Knows"、スティービー・ワンダー(Stevie Wonder)の"Contusion"、ドナルド・フィーガン(Donald Fegan)の"IGY"、オハイオ・プレイヤーズ(Ohio Players)の"Sweet Sticky Thing"、"Together"、シュギー・オーティス(Shuggie Otis)の"Pling"など11曲のカバー曲が収録。〈Stones Throw〉主宰のピーナッツ・バター・ウルフ(Peanut Butter Wolf)aka クリス・マナック(Chris Manak)らが作品に参加し、DJハリソン自身も数曲で歌声を披露している。

本作はバージニア州リッチモンドにあるDJハリソンのホーム・スタジオ「Jellowstone」で数年かけて制作された。DJハリソンのセルフプロデュース作品であり、ほぼ全ての楽器の演奏をDJハリソン自身が担当。現行のアンダーグラウンド・ヒップホップからファンク/ジャズ/フュージョンといったジャンルでメディアや批評家たちから高い評価を受けるDJハリソンのエッセンスが詰まった作品であり、いちパフォーマーとしての魅力を最大限に輝かせながら、少年時代を切り取ったアートワークからも分かるように彼のこれまでの歩みが語られる重要な一枚となる。

Butcher Browns DJ Harrison is so open about his inspirations that each one of his varied projects has come across as a celebration of Black music with strong attestation to his place in the lineage. Overt and hidden references are threaded throughout his catalog, from titles like "Erykahs Gun" to his Street Corner Music effort Slyish, a wildly creative tribute to early-70s Sly & the Family Stone. For his third Stones Throw album, the Virginian turns in a funky and unvarnished all-covers set on which he does almost all of the instrumentation. Coming off extensive work on Kurt Ellings Grammy-nominated albums SuperBlue and SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree, and Butcher Browns own Solar Music, Harrison here crafts 11 interpretations that brim with joy. The set is neatly bookended by nods to outsider studio boffins. He begins by applying some grease to Gary Wilsons scuttling "You Were Too Good to Be True" (1977) and concludes with Shuggie Otis puttering "Pling!" (1973), adding some dreamy vocalizations that evoke Deodatos "Univac Loves You." A couple mid-70s fusion classics are handled with elan. Eddie Hendersons dark Afrofuturist groove "Galaxy" (1975) provides Harrison with a chance to pay tribute to the mind-expanding synthesizer wizardry of George Duke; the low end is so full that bass clarinet is not missed. Stevie Wonders supremely knotty "Contusion" (1976) is almost halved, perhaps so Harrison could save himself from collapsing into a heap. A few selections are less expected. Take the lazing "LAnthropofemme" (1981), West Coast AOR worship originally recorded by one-off French band Syntaxe, or the Beatles "Tomorrow Never Knows" (1966), almost entirely fogged out with help from Stones Throw boss Peanut Butter Wolf under his government name. As a singer, Harrison is more about warmth and feel than technical proficiency; his versions of Donald Fagens "IGY" (1982) and Vince Guaraldis "Little Birdie" (1973), cleverly placed back-to-back, impart all the necessary optimism and delight. (Theres a layer of humor to analog adherent Harrison covering "IGY" four decades after it became known as one of the earliest all-digital recordings.) Harrisons love shines through each of the selections, and theyre pulled apart and reenvisioned in the assembly process, as if the musician is gamely educating not just the audience but himself as well. ~ Andy Kellman