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Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!
Today’s music pick is Grande Mahogany's impressive debut, which includes odes to Hendrix, Clinton, Fela, and more.
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Funk
Label: Laundry Music Company
Release Date: February 9, 2024
Vibe: 🤩🤩🤩
Released during Black History Month, Grande Mahogany’s impressive debut LP, As Grande As, is as much a tribute to Black music as it is an announcement of a significant talent. He pulls from various genres and textures, with imposing psychedelic rock riffs cutting through thick, chunky bass and drum combos that fall somewhere between Sly & the Family Stone and a DJ Premier instrumental from the mid-to-late 90s. Grande Mahogany, a multi-hyphenate from Finland, blends each element with some warm lo-fi production choices, an aesthetic that leans even harder into the nostalgia-triggering approach. However, with around 15,000 monthly listeners on Spotify as of this writing, this album is also a prime example of excellent music that is going underseen and, with the platform’s dubious monetization practices, surely under-compensated. By checking this record out, you can help change that.
You don’t have to wait too long to hear Grande Mahogany’s interpolation of his two biggest influences: Jimi Hendrix and Funkadelic, specifically the prime Eddie Hazel years. “Bop Your Head (Till It Drop!)” has everything you could want out of a P-funk rager: soulful vocals, a powerful central riff, and a groove that’s as danceable as it nod-worthy. Ditto for “Super Rocker,” which provides an example of what Hendrix may have sounded like had he lived long enough to be a musical guest on Soul Train. “Garden Séfine” adds more modern textures to the mix, dipping a couple of toes into the Tame Impala corner of the psychedelia pool. But my favorite track, without question, is the brilliant “Shades Ebony,” with incredibly smooth vocal harmonies meshing perfectly with the sunny guitar licks and perky bass inflections. It’s seriously sublime.
Despite all the bits and pieces of well-known Black music floating around in this sonic gumbo, Grande Mahogany manages to carve out a unique voice for himself. As Grande As has put the streaming world on notice—this is a major talent to watch.
👉 Don’t forget to click the album image to stream the album on your favorite platform 👈