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Buy the album from:
CD Baby
not lame
Kool Kat Music
Digstation
Reviews of the new album:
AbsolutePowerpop.blogspot.com
powerpopaholic.blogspot.com
DissociatedPress.com
The Ann Arbor News
"Pamplemousse Presse" is
the first proper solo album by Khalid
Hanifi. Khalid has been the driving
force for such underrated bands as Map Of The World, Kiss
Me Screaming, and Maypops. A masterful popsmith
in the vein of Frank Black, Matthew Sweet and Fountains of Wayne, Khalid has
been putting words to music for over two decades, and hails from the musical hotbed of Ann Arbor, MI.
The album was recorded at Big Sky Recording(Ann Arbor, MI), and produced with lush economy by Khalid and Geoff Michael (Great Lakes Myth Society, The Hard Lessons). Khalid’s songs are tight and concise, relying more on strong melody than studio heroics. This is definitely the logical step to follow Maypops stunning “Spirits Of Agnew”, with Khalid expanding on his considerable classic, yet distinctive, songwriting sensibility. Lyrically, Khalid infuses his ofttimes seemingly light-hearted meditations with triple-thick sarcasm, heart-pounding honesty, and a dollop of wit. Stylistically, songs range from Dixieland shuffle, to surf-twang, to r & b churns, to blues undulation, all the while led by Khalid’s vexatious crooning. Songs like “Don’t Hurry Me” unfold with Black Francis’ progressive grace, while “July” and “Idiot Box” play out like Fountains Of Wayne deep cuts. “Hard To Believe,” “I’m Gonna Dedicate This One To You,” and “I Wouldn’t Bet The Farm” show Khalid teaming up with former Map of the World bandmate (and sibling) Sophia Hanifi, thus proving the Beach Boys formula that family=perfect harmony.
.. ..
Pamplemousse’s exquisite compositions are expertly rendered by the
same rhythm section that anchored Spirits Of Agnew: Vinnie Dombrowski (Sponge,
Crud) and his precision kinetic kit work, and Oni Werth, (Map of the World, Kiss Me Screaming, Maypops, Fubar)
whose inventive, rock solid foundation has been pulsing under Khalid’s
compositions since the days of Map of
the World. Jim Carey (Dick Siegel and
the Brandos, Fubar)
also provides a solid, tasteful back beat on three tracks. Perhaps the most revelatory contribution to
the mix is the ultra fine guitar work of George
Bedard (George
Bedard and the Kingpins), whose playing here
ranges from the delicate early jazz melodicism
featured on Blues In Diane, to the gut-bucket, menacing slide work that drives Only Human, and many points in
between. Chris Benjey, who cut his teeth as a
session player at Muscle Shoals under the legendary Barry Beckett, rounds out the lineup with his masterful grand and Wurlitzer electric piano work.
An immersive songwriter’s
album from start to finish, "Pamplemousse Presse" is
another solid step down a well hewn path by
Khalid Hanifi.
Grab your grapefruit juice
and have a listen.
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