www.igotnoticed.com/download_wes_styles.htmlI happen to stuble upon Wes Styles free 2008 funk/pop album "The Betamax Collection" by chance on prince.org and it actually is pretty solid. Wes apparently works with another artist I come to admire: J*Davey. He never associates what the betamax has to do with the album name but its a cute title.
He posts a pretty eclectic but approachable style. His voice is very sincere and engaging. Accelerated is a headbopper with some hip hop influence. Limousine Grey has an infectious melody and a smooth 90's sound. Had it been released in 1995 it could have easily been accepted on the charts. On Top is a bit dirty and has some very clever and funny lyrics "I wanna be the paper in your legislature" - "I know you wanna ax me / all you have to do is ask me" ..almost reminicent of Scritti Politti's quirky wordplay. It has a nice punchy beat and is fun funk-pop. My favorite tune is probably "Occupied". Nice dreamlike mid-tempo funk jam with some nice live piano chords played throughout. The album as a whole is nice...I would have taken off a couple of cuts and it would have been outstanding...Baby Sister is cute the first time, but the kid vocal samples are kind of annoying after while. Yo Mama's So Fat interlude meh...wasnt that funny. Burn Me Alive - I like the musicianship but the overall output was a bit cliche 70's disco funk. Support our underground funk artists!
