REVIEW A:
What are you doing? Really?! Why the hell are you bothering! Put down that coffee! Get off that damn computer console! Step out into the rain and head to your nearest record shop and buy this album! Don't worry that there's no preview station listening booth thingamajig, trust me! Why? No time for questions, but know that I'm you're friend. Nothing special, but I'm the best friend you've ever had because I'm telling you about Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. Oooh BOY, is this what you want. If you like to be happy and dance and jump and smile through your every doubt then you and Dap Dippin' are the perfect match. BUY IT! BUY IT! BUY IT! Put Dap Dippin' on your stereo and lose all control of your limbs! THIS IS A DIRECT ORDER, SOLDIER!
REVIEW B:
Some people don't like funk music and I don't understand them. Maybe they don't like the smell of sweat. Maybe they think (as we all do about sounds we're not taken with) it all sounds the same. Lots of music sounds the same if you think about it. But musicians like Ms. Sharon Jones and her Dap Kings are far from being a dime a dozen, near as I can tell. The sound is vintage, gritty, raw funk that achieves its distinction through sheer chops and enthusiasm. They continue a fine tradition of funk music that slaps you around jubilantly like a drunk uncle. Only in this case the band leader is a female, and oh my GOD what a wonder of a woman she is. I count it as a blessing that there is an anti-Joss Stone out there to show people how soul is really done. She's got a set of pipes that remind me of a time when a female singer could be tough and 'feminine' without necessarily being punk.
The pure excitement and prowess on Dap Dippin' turns an otherwise meditative person like myself into the blubbering mess you see before you. It defies analysis -- this is body music. Music to lose yourself to in a spastic, ecstatic trance. File it under whatever you please, (if I were to guess, it'd be in most major retailers' Pop/Rock or Soul/R&B sections) just file it! I don't give a rat's Caspian Sea if Jones corresponds to current musical trends or the trends of 2002. Anyone who wants to have a good time should look no further than this or her equally fabulous current release, Naturally. The elements themselves may be done and done, but the presentation makes you forget about why that ever mattered to you in the first place. All you need to know is that this is where the party's at. This is unquestionably ample substance and style blowing up in your personal space, and you'll never want it stop.
1. (Introduction)
2. Got a Thing on My Mind
3. What Have You Done For Me Lately
4. The Dap Dip
5. Give Me A Chance
6. Cut That Lie
7. Got To Be The Way It Is
8. Make It Good To Me
9. Ain't It Hard
10. Pick It Up, Lay It In The Cut
11. Casella Walk
More about: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
