Chill Out Island
From New Age to downtempo electronica to acoustic folk, Chill Out Island surveys the finest in relaxing music.Archive for Motown
Movin’ Melvin Brown is welcome throwback to Motown’s glory days
Reviewed by Carson James
Artist: Movin’ Melvin Brown
Title: Love on My Mind
They don’t make them like Movin’ Melvin Brown anymore. Brown is a welcome throwback to the Golden Age of soul music, when sultry crooners such as Marvin Gaye, Al Green, and Smokey Robinson healed a country aching from the bloodshed of the Vietnam War with their soothing, passionate singing. Of course, these type of vocalists never really went away, just became scarce and, whenever you would hear anybody remotely comparable, the production would be too cold and slick. Not so with Brown. Nearly every track on this CD sounds like it could’ve been recorded during the late ’60s-early ’70s creative peak of Motown.
The title track is an epic (at 5:53!) slow-dance number with sensual bass lines (for the ladies, of course) pulsating below Brown’s yearning vocals. “The Girl Is” picks up the tempo, revealing Brown’s Motown ambitions with its vintage R&B rhythms. “Smooth Situation” and “Nothing Else But Love” find Brown in purely funk territory without drowning out his voice’s bedroom appeal. The production is fairly raw throughout; however, in this that’s perfect because you want these tracks to feel authentic, to make believe they’re from the glorious era which inspired their creation.
Chill Out Island 
