Idolator

i was so leery of this dude, but now that one of my favorite singles of the year features fucking Thicke, i probably have no room to be suspicious.

I'll always admit to being someone that gives any unrecognized artist a second chance. However, the first two tracks remind me of when I first heard Lenny Kravitz. The thirs track's improved, but its possible that its too late for Mr. Hunt.

Damn right! "At the End of a Slow Dance" is one of the year's best songs; now if Capitol would devote some resources to him and release it as a single, he would be on the way to the success he deserves. The marketing department could take a little break of the very long planning of what the fuck they are going to do with The Decemberists, unlike the aforementioned musical group, Hunt makes music that is actually accessible to consumers and damn good and does not have a 100,000+ fanbase. It is a shame that his record company does not want to develop an artist of his talent who has music that could shift records into an artist that will shift those records. We should start making the buzz around the "buzz-builders," so that MP3 blogs would be covering something from a Capitol Records artist other than what nailpolish Lily Allen wore yesterday (or indie bands that we very well know.

Van Hunt is one of the finest R&B/Soul artists we have today. I'm still amazed how he was overlooked a few years back for Best New Artist at the Grammys, but then I quickly realize it's the Grammys, so it all makes total sense. His debut was simply fantastic; for me it was the best release of 2004. I'm surprised he's not more popular. He was even in a Gap ad and that still didn't help! He has the style, the 'look' and most importantly, the music, which all together should make him a sensation. Oh, but people just love that hack Justin Timberlake who doesn't have a sliver of the soul and funk Van Hunt possess. I just don't understand. I still tell people "Down Here In Hell" and "Precious" are two of the best tunes I have heard in the past few years.

The new record might not be as solid top to bottom like his debut, but it's still a funky and soulful collection of songs. I believe in Van Hunt, and I certainly hope he continues to make great music, and hopefully more people will catch on. And if I see his records in the $5 bin at Amoeba I will just have to buy all of them and send them to people as gifts for X-mas.