Menahan Street Band: The Crossing (snippet)
Every Day a Dream (snippet)
From 7″ (forthcoming on Dunham, 2011)
It’s always a goddamn good day when a new Menahan Street Band single arrives in the mail.
I heavily dig some of Charles Bradley’s album but to be really honest, at the end of the day, I’m more into the fact that he’s backed by the MSB than anything else. For a few years now, I’ve been trying to figure out what it is Tom Brenneck and company do that’s so effective (and why I like their output more than other similar instrumental bands). The easy – though hardly descriptive – way to put it is that the crew nail a particular “vibe” that’s relaxed, warm and most of all…dreamy. Maybe I’m being unduly influenced by the title of the B-side, but the best MSB songs float with a halcyon feel that’s grounded in a strong rhythm yet is never nailed to the floor. They drift.
That’s especially true on this single thanks to the acoustic guitar, playing alongside those subtly Afro-influenced horns. Seriously, I could listen to these kind of tunes all day, er’day.