Every single one of us has an album that came around at a particularly special time in our lives. Thus leaving a remarkable impact on us and our musical tastes, and the fibers that bond those two facets together. Maybe it's the discovery of a sexy sounding Marvin Gaye record right when you notice little pelitos showing up in funny places, wink. Or it could be the realization that James Brown, though the God Father of soul, is simply the tip of the iceberg that is the soul-funk sound. Is it heart break music during a break up? Or angry rap music for the young chicano kid growing up in the barrio? Well it's all those things and more. Only individuals can conclude why certain albums had such important impacts on them in their lives.
Well for me one of those albums that just happened to come around at the right time was English funk outfit Jamiroquai's third album, "Travelling Without Moving". For a kid who grew up on the blues and jazz it was only a logical conclusion that soul and funk would be the next step. The album dropped in the fall of '96, when I was in 7th grade. The mixture of up tempo funked out tunes, the slow soulful love joints and the truly original sound Jay Kay, the bands leader, is able to extract from the group was the perfect soundtrack for a kid thinking he was becoming a little man.
The album was actually pretty popular stateside due to the success of the critically acclaimed video for the album's hit single, "Virtual Insanity".
Okay, so the song alone is a banger! With the jazzy piano intro that simmers through out the track to Kay's soulful delivery of half environmentally conscious, half apocalyptic lyrics like, "And I'm giving all my love to this world only to be told
I can't see, I can't breathe. No more will we be", the song is genius in my mind, nd really ahead of its time when you think bout its message. And then there's the video for the song OLD: Sing and dance in the rain with an umbrella. NEW: Sing and dance in futuristic room with moving floors. Really you can't deny the video's brilliance. The way it's shot cinematically is very interesting, as well as Jay's hypnotic movement on the floor make this video as cool as it was nearly 15 years ago still today.
(Shout out to the black bird in the video, I'm sure you made some ornithophobic's day!)
The album does not take a breather, swiftly switching from a jazzy soulful vibe to a funky disco sound on the 2nd track "Cosmic Girl". Here's a great live recording with some really cool extended intro and outro sections. I dare you not bop your head to this soultrain-esque tune!
The album pays ode to the percussive sounds of Brazil on the 3rd track, "Use The Force", after which, the lights are dimmed and the band throws on some candles for some ol' fashioned baby makin' music on the song, "Everyday". Half Isaac Hayes on the arrangement, half Smokey on the vocals, the band really conjures up some serious genuine soulful sounds on this track.
2 Solid funky tracks with the uniquely Jamiroquai sound fallow in "Alright" and "Hightimes". A slightly lackluster reggae track comes and goes on "Drifting on".
Then there's this really interesting track that really gets me thinking of The Isley Bro's on acid kicking it in Australia. Don't believe me??? With equal parts wah'd out bass lines, funky synths and strings, and reverbed guitar and piano, and how can I forget didjeridu, this track is a really special instrumental on the album.
This might be a funny place to stop writing about this album but the last song I really love on "Travelling Without Moving" is the ballad, "Spend a Lifetime". A slow but vibrant love joint that sets Jay's sultry voice against some soulful strings and piano.
The song is pretty simple but is executed perfectly. And in way I think that really sums up the album as a whole. There might not be a soul-funk opus on our hands with Jamiroquai's third effort, but its really executed well and put together with top notch musicianship. Nearly 15 years ago I came across this album as a kid and after rediscovering it over the years it's no question why it seemed to resonate so much in my life. What album do you remember jamming out to when you were in the 7th grade??? Come on, you 'member!! -Nick
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