KDJ, 2009
I never thought I’d be reviewing so many singles. Once again, the draw here isn’t the title track. “Desire” makes this EP essential.
“Mamma’s Hand” starts out as old-school Moodymann, with jazz samples manipulated seemingly live. It repeatedly breaks down for a smattering of vocals and even a smoke break. “…During Soundcheck” and “Anotha Black Sunday” are short enough to feel like interludes, and the latter reprises an older track. “Rectify” is made of similar pieces, and in fact is sounds like a Moodymann cliché.
“Desire,” however, is something completely new. It seems painfully personal, with slow piano and a house beat. José James breathily sings, “Some things you just gotta learn on your own.” He repeats, “She appeared in my life,” and talks of nightmares and spinning planets. It truly is a magical tune, the chant “remember” perfectly fitting its wistful jazz elements. This needs to be played late at night. A lot.
this is the second review i’ve read on this record that calls attention to “desire” and how great it is. this is all well and good, as it is an amazing track. however, it was also amazing when it first came out last year on this 12″:
http://www.discogs.com/Jos%C3%A9-James-Desire-Love/release/1471171
that was one of my favorite cuts of last year, it’s right up there with KDJ’s Kem rmx and his edit of Mario Winans. i hope more neo-soul type acts work with kenny, he does really good work with a serious vocal.
Interesting. I didn’t even realize this was a remix he “re-claimed.” Think all the vocals are José James? Maybe you should add a note in Discogs….
Unsurprisingly, “Desire” is tweaked a bit. It’s about 45 seconds longer and has different intro for sure. I haven’t done a side-by-side comparison, but I’m pretty sure he changes/re-arranges some elements throughout the track. Both versions are great, though.
yeah the intro is definitely different, but i’m not sure that the rest is very changed much. either which way, there is nothing about the version on this release that puts it above the original release. i feel like people just weren’t paying much attention to that one because it dropped at the same time as his much more “dancefloor” Sascha Dive rmx.