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Rock/pop

Cody Chesnutt: Landing on a Hundred

Landing on a Hundred
Cody Chesnutt: Landing on a Hundred
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Landing on a Hundred is a mature, thoughtful work that addresses such serious concerns as being a good father and husband and contributing to a community. At the same time it’s an infectious and often danceable slice of neo-soul that proves Cody Chesnutt has everything you need to be a convincing front man: lyrically imaginative, he can deliver a message without preaching; his voice is expressive and versatile; catchy melodies come naturally to him; and he’s an impressive band leader who keeps things tight even when he’s barking out instructions to group members. The album starts out so strong, with the upbeat and catchy reggae-tinged soul of “Till I Met Thee,” “I’ve Been Life,” and “That’s Still Mama” commanding immediate attention, that you’d expect it to lose steam, but the varied set continues to evolve, exploring such extremes as the gloomy “Don’t Follow Me” and the sunny “Love is More than a Wedding Day.” The 2-LP 45rpm vinyl does a good job of capturing a cathedral-like sound that owes much to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, but the track sequencing is so effective that a digital copy could save you from having to switch sides (and thereby break the spell) every few songs. 

By Jeff Wilson

This will take some explaining, but I can connect the dots between pawing through LPs at a headshop called Elysian Fields in Des Moines, Iowa, as a seventh grader, and becoming the Music Editor for The Absolute Sound. At that starting point—around 1970/71—Elysian Fields had more LPs than any other store in Des Moines. Staring at all the colorful covers was both tantalizing and frustrating. I had no idea who most of the artists were, because radio played only a fraction of what was current. To figure out what was going on, I realized that I needed to build a record collection—and as anyone who’s visited me since high school can testify, I succeeded. Record collecting was still in my blood when, starting in the late 1980s, the Cincinnati Public Library book sale suddenly had an Elysian Fields quantity of LPs from people who’d switched to CDs. That’s where I met fellow record hawk Mark Lehman, who preceded me as music editor of TAS. Mark introduced me to Jonathan Valin, whose 1993 detective novel The Music Lovers depicts the battles between record hawks at library sales. That the private eye in the book, Harry Stoner, would stumble upon a corpse or two while unraveling the mystery behind the disappearance of some rare Living Stereo platters made perfect sense to me. After all, record collecting is serious business. Mark knew my journalistic experience included concert reviews for The Cincinnati Enquirer and several long, sprawling feature articles in the online version of Crawdaddy. When he became TAS music editor in 2008, he contacted me about writing for the magazine. I came on board shortly after the latest set of obituaries had been written for vinyl—and, as fate had it, right when the LP started to make yet another unexpected comeback. Suddenly, I found myself scrambling to document all the record companies pressing vinyl. Small outfits were popping up world-wide, and many were audiophile-oriented, plus already existing record companies began embracing the format again. Trying to keep track of everything made me feel, again, like that overwhelmed seventh grader in Elysian Fields, and as Music Editor I’ve found that keeping my finger on the pulse of the music world also requires considerable detective work. I’ve never had a favorite genre, but when it comes time to sit down and do some quality listening, for me nothing beats a well-recorded small-group jazz recording on vinyl. If a stereo can give me warmth and intimacy, tonal accuracy, clear imaging, crisp-sounding cymbals, and deep, woody-sounding bass, then I’m a happy camper.

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