Baldwin Brothers
Baldwin Brothers Threaded through with '70s pop culture references, The Baldwin Brother debut "Cooking with Lasers" revives the me-decade's soul but avoids its kitsch. "Urban Tumbleweed" is a groove-driven phantasm, its vintage organ, live drums, and brass horns all but commanding your hips to move, while "That's Right" is a cut-up collage of conversation snippets and deep, hard beats. "Are You There Margaret? It's Me, God" is a sly, cool-jazz take of Judy Blume's coming-of-age novel, while "Viva Knievil" is a tribute to both the daredevil rider ("I had an Evel Knievil doll when I was younger," admits Jason) and a stripper whom the Brothers encountered on a visit to NY. Nodding to the future as much as the past, the Brothers also enlist a bevy of babes to inject more flavor into the set. Miho Hatori, of Cibo Matto and Gorillaz fame, breaks into a rap in the jazzy "Dream Girl," Angie Hart, of Frente!, contributes an incredibly fragile, clear-eyed vocal to "Deep Down" and Geri Soriano Lightwood from Supreme Beings of Leisure adds polished soul to the gossamer, twitching "Ether." The Brothers do make room for one guy -- underground hip-hop lyricist Barron Ricks (who's thrown it down with Prince Paul, Cypress Hill and DJ Hurricane) checks in on "Urban Tumbleweed."