Album of the Week #3: Modal Soul – Nujabes

2005 This album certainly isn’t bad, but I’ve listened to it about three times through and I can’t get into it. I don’t know what it is. The ingredients are good: well-constructed beats, an eclectic range of influences including jazz, hip-hop, rock and some Latin thrown in there, some solid enough vocal performances from guest...

Album of the Week #2: Graduation – Kanye West

2007 “People talk so much shit about me at barber shops, they forget to get they hair cut,” raps Kanye West on “Everything I Am”. I can’t say I ever forgot to get my hair cut, even if you’d think so judging by the mop I was rocking in my teenage years. But I definitely...

Album of the Week #1: Nancy & Lee – Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood

1968 My quest to discover a new album every (full) week of this year starts with Nancy & Lee. I've always liked Nancy Sinatra's voice but I was surprised how well Lee Hazelwood's complemented it. The two seem to have real chemistry despite the story that this album came about after Frank Sinatra asked Hazelwood...