I'm sure plenty of people recognize that name as part of the soundtrack to "Napoleon Dynamite" for the song 'Canned Heat'. Personally my first time hearing anything from this man was somewhere between 2001-2003. From hearing the samples, yes, just the samples alone I have completely fallen in love with this album. Really, it's hard for me to immediately gravitate toward a piece of work from an initial listen, so it truly has to capture my attention. That's just what this did. Just so I can give you an idea of the ingredients mixed in this cooking pot of a record, I'll say that it's not necessarily genre specific. He has an RnB/soul/rock/dance/reggae vibe going on. Whats nice is that every song is so relaxing and mellow that your could just put the whole CD on repeat and not have to skip around just trying to find one that you like. In my opinion for this to have been released ca. 96', I feel that it could most definitely stand tall with anything in today's market, I mean ANYTHING. Though I mentioned earlier the meld of different sounds, the one that stands prominent for me is soul. Not only because of the beat, but because he seems to be speaking from his heart and honestly. I know what this reminds me of, released in 2000 Erykah Badu: "Mamas Gun" in that it's very fluid. An additional positive to this one is the smooth balance of tempos. What I mean is that even though it consists of upbeat tracks, their are songs that give the album a nice change of pace. There are some songs that have an almost dreamy, "sparkling wine" type intro. Then others just get right down to it. One track I find pretty cool is 'Drifting Along'. It consists of percussion, drumming and some horns. On this one he speaks figuratively of an unknown destination, while trying to avoid obstacles as well.
All in all I have to give Jamiroquai an A+ and a job well done. If by chance you've never heard this album, by all means pick it up. Trust me, it's well worth it.
*On Amazon,this one can get a bit pricey, so check extensively, still worth it..
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