Bleep

Long-time appreciator David Byrne solidifies his interest in West Coast funk eccentric Doug Hream Blunt with the stunning retrospective My Name Is Doug Hream Blunt via his Luaka Bob imprint. Following a series of evening music classes undertaken in San Francisco, Blunt took his lo-fi funk sound out to local elderly peoples homes and community centres in the Bay Area, eventually culminating to his self-produced Gentle Persuasion debut – a release that largely sat unnoticed until a rival in interests from artist such as Byrne himself, Ariel Pink and no more so than Hype Williams initiator Dean Blunt. It's easy to see the appeal; Blunt’s lack of conformity to music industry norms is evident throughout this compilation, leading off with the catchy, oddball strut of ‘Fly Guy’ and the groovy, velvet-laced vocals of ‘Gentle Persuasion’. The raw, fuzzy feel throughout the album only adds to the album’s outsider aesthetic, such as the rough, wheezing guitar lines that cut through ‘Big Top’ or the crumbling, calypso vibes of ‘Caribeen Queen’, and despite not getting the respect it deserved at the time of recording, Blunt’s true musical self-sufficiency and DIY oeuvre feels more relevant in 2015 than ever.