Mayer Hawthorne

Tom.

Tom.

Active member
For those who don't know who Mayer Hawthorne is, which is probably everybody, he is a newly emerging artist that is signed to the Stones Throw record label. For those who don't know what Stones Throw is, it is the label responsible for signing artists such as Madlib, Jay Dee and J Rocc, and producing albums such as Madvillainy, Donuts and other awesome shit.

Anyway, the deal with Mayer Hawthorne is that he is trying to bring back a rebirth of the type of soul music that was so popular in the 70's. And he's doing a damn good job. Now, Mayer's style of music might not be for the kind of people who only listen to shoot-you-in-the-face gangster rap, or rip-off-your-face xxx-core punk, but anybody who can appreciate good music will recognize his talent.

Mayer just came out with his first album in September called "A Strange Arrangement". Take a listen.

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lol that first music video he was just going around like look at all these people i know!
 
big meh to mayer hawthorne. definitely not my taste in music. stones throw has a lot way better artists that are WAY more slept on. natural yogurt band, james pants, dam funk in my opinion are far more talented.
 
being a prententious douche about knowing more underground music than other people is pretty silly.
 
hipster alert.
this "Mayor" is also reeking of hipsterdom. tackling a relatively obscure older music genre and being thought of as innovative, groundbreaking, original... dare i say "unique"? not to mention the whole "retro nerd" thing hes got going on.
 
so this guy basically got signed to point out how awesome soul music is? my buddy's been diggin up old soul for years and making remixes and fat beats outta old soul tunes and shit since he popped outta the womb. he aint signed and he does a much better job. fuck this guy.
 
I don't know how hipsters do it. Somehow, they get signed for doing the same lame old shit over and over - badly - and they no one says a thing! Have some standards people!.
 
it's all a mind game. hipsters are just people with no real talent who want to fit in and seem like something special.
 
Don't be so judgmental. I was trying to emphasize that he has only put out one album and his album has only been out for a month.

Why are you guys hating on him for looking like a hipster? Just listen to his music. If you don't like soul, thats fine.
 
Trust me, I know. In the last month I've left 3 hipster bands because they bought expensive instruments and didn't know how to play them, but still thought they could produce their own albums without the experience necessary to play.
Hipsters in the music industry are what's killing the industry, not corporate hell-pop. Hell-pop is what you get when people stop being musicians and start wanting to be rockstars.
They rip off people shamelessly.
 
it's not that I don't love soul. I love soul. How could anyone not love soul music? It's the fact that he is signed and getting attention for pretty much pointing out old music or putting a twist on it somehow. I'm not saying I don't like his music, I'm saying it's sad that he's getting paid for having the ability to recognize good music. anyone can do what he has done. It's not hard.
 
I love soul, but I didn't like that at all.

On a side note, did anybody see where the snake was positioned in the second video when he sat down? tee heeeee
 
it's sickening the kids who are coming out with albums locally these days. at least where I live (portland, ME) I know this kid whose daddy paid for him to record his bands new album (which is shit). he's a horrible musician and you can see that live but the capabilities of the studios these days to make anything sound decent. autotuning sickens me. anyone can have an amazing voice on an album now they just pump it through a machine its fucking sad.
 
He isn't getting a lot of attention, which is why I made this thread; so that people could have a chance to hear someone they might not otherwise know about. And he isn't getting paid "mix" songs. He's a singer.
 
he's not a very good singer, and he's just signing old songs. maybe he's not getting attention but he's signed, and he shouldn't be. I'm sorry but I'm entitled to my opinion and that is that he sucks. Go ahead and enjoy his music, I'm not telling you not too I'm just giving my input.
 
AUTO TUNE AAARRRGGGHHHH.
I know. Music is just the same way as science. Do your research, find out what's been done and take inspiration from it, then create something unique. It's fucking simple, but that is even too much for this generation.
I always say if you can't play it live, don't play it at all. The art of performing is lost on kids these days.
 
he's just capitlizing on old style. his songs sound like old soul music and everything is taken from old soul music. unoriginal.
 
he is unoriginal. is what i'm saying. but it doesnt really matter because you like it and thats your opinion, I'm just giving you mine. your not going to make me like it, and i'm not going to make you not like it.
 
almost, heres the key.
hes capitalizing on a genre that has been overlooked in recent years so he can be "original" and unique in the sense that hes seemingly the only one in the game. making him, a hipster.
 
So, what you guys are saying is that there should never be any new soul artists because being a soul singer in modern times is unoriginal, and its unoriginal because nobody is doing it right now?

Or in other words, soul music is dead and shouldn't be revived because that would be unoriginal...

By the way, at this point I'm not trying to convince you of anything, I just want to understand your perspective.
 
nah nah nah. im mad that hes using soul music to be unique and retro and faux-originale. if he was just some dude making tracks and wasnt all dressed up like that guy, trying to put out some image then i wouldnt mind him and would be rather stoked on him.
that being said, i dont know if he truly loves the music and is right in his heart in making it, if he does, godspeed. but from what hes wearing and the vibes im getting from those videos i feel something far more sinister is at hand.
 
no but i can see where you got that from my post. sorry about that.
im just saying, this guy just doesnt seem legit to me. hes not doing it for the love of the art form, he just wants to be unique and the next hot shit since Of Montreal. i could be wrong, but thats what i see.
his music may be good, but if his heart is in the wrong place while hes making it i dont wanna support it. personal opinion. just me man.
 
Not trying to hate, but it has nothing to do with his "image." In my mind, a hipster is no different than a thugged out kid in tall tees. It doesn't have anything to do with him bringing back something old, either. Soul is the shit! The answer is simple really: it doesn't sound good. Ignore the pretty video for a second and focus on the sound, and you'll see what I mean. He sounds like every other kid with a myspace music account.
 
Besides the way he dresses and he represents by subscribing to that style (which means theft and cultural kitsch), his music isn't even that good for "soul". It sounded like some lame pothead reggae-fied version of soul that wasn't even that interesting. He has talent, but he's certainly not original, nor is he interesting, or unique.
He's just doing the same ol same ol, and badly compared to others of that genre.
 
I guess if you don't consider soul music to be interesting, then you're right. But how can you judge the quality of his music by the way he dresses?
 
god dammit arabian, shut the fuck up.

i like it, probably wouldnt buy it, but i like it. anyone on Stones is dope.
 


yeh man he's a cool hipster:

the first single from his album just ain't gonna work out was actually pressed on a heart-shaped vinyl, so sick! i looks really cool, one of my friend bought it.

 
Bump because I found out about him recently. And Aloe Blacc or however you shpell it. Just real classy guys.
 
I like how his music video to "Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'" is all shot in one take. And the first girl to enter the frame stole my heart and I want to marry her.
 
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