Posted on 10/12/2009
The Years is a collection of modern recordings in the style of various time periods, roughly spanning the 1960s through the present. L.A.-based Vosotros, with bassist Gabe Noel at the core, have assembled a variety of vocalists and studio musicians to that end, focusing particularly on the soul and funk continuum. Styles range from the Al Green vocalizing of “Let’s Stay in Love” (even the title suggests the inspiration) to the 1980s Bambaataa electro of “Digital Age Toy Company,” complete with Transformer vocal invocation. There are some very good individual tracks, and there is no denying the musicianship or overall pleasantness to the release, but sometimes the entirety feels more like a technical exercise than an overwrought concept, not necessarily a bad thing. At thirty-four minutes, the album is also in keeping with the LP length of past decades, and so doesn’t really stick around long enough to wear thin, remains fun and satisfying because of, rather than in spite of, its relative lightness.

One of the highlights is certainly “in THE crowd,” a jazzy breakbeat instrumental whose inverted title and sound are surely meant to evoke the famous Ramsey Lewis recording. With the latent function of showing off the Years’ core trio of keys, drums, and bass, it sounds very much like a lost 45, something yet undiscovered by the Numero Group. “Theme from ‘Best Buds’” is another cool instrumental, this time suggesting 1970s sitcoms, a la Bob James. Much of the source inspiration does not seem particularly obscured, allowing for a more generalized sense of familiarity, something that could stir recognition outside of the Wax Poetics readership. Only the last track, “We Were Ready,” sounds as though it were meant to cross into future territory, but even so is not really that out-of-place given the relatively consistent instrumentation over the course of the album.

Many retro acts attempt to focus on a niche, doing their best lounge, fusion, or James Brown impressions ad infinitum, so it’s an interesting variation to hear musicians portraying the evolution of a genre. It may have simply originated in an interesting idea, but it does suggest the artists to be somewhat outside the continuum, able to comment on the music instead of simply imitating it; some of the direct evocations invite this kind of listening.

-Justin Deremo