Los Angeles-via-Ann Arbor singer/DJ/producer/multi-instrumentalist Mayer Hawthorne basically does everything on A Strange Arrangement, his debut full-length for Stones Throw. He has a sort of throwback Detroit soul sound and cites Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Barry White, Leroy Hutson, Smoke Robinson, etc., as influences. It’s smooth stuff that ought to be enjoyed by a wide demographic. Maybe the Strange in the album title comes from the fact that the somewhat nerdy Hawthorne isn’t your usual soul crooner? As the copy at Stones Throw puts it:
Few expect such heartfelt sentiment to come from a 29-year-old white kid from Ann Arbor, but he has caught the ear of his family at Stones Throw, as well as BBC Radio 1 host Gilles Peterson and producer/DJ Mark Ronson.
Of course, Ronson. As an introduction, we have A Strange Arrangement’s “Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’” as well as the Henry DeMaio-directed video for “Maybe So, Maybe No.”
Mayer Hawthorne – “Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’” (MP3)
Skateboarding, crate digging, Michael Jackson homaging, and lady slaying:
A Strange Arrangement is out 9/9 via Stones Throw.
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man, this guy is living the dream. this vid makes me think CA might not be so bad.
i love mayer hawthorne. hard.
love mayer hawthorne too , especially “maybe maybe no”. this guy is a genius
first impression = its looks wes andersony. weird how a print raises flags. like how “surfer, dude” used the same print type as “dazed and confused”
didn’t make me wanna listen. (and i dig wesleys works) but i will anyway
mayer mc cheese would have been cooler (methinks mc ds retired him)
surfer, dude IS A GOOD MOVIE
Sounds like a watered down Multiply era Jamie Lidell.
its a breath of fresh air….
gives me that weak in the knees feeling
ill be in austin for your show mayer!
october10th