MP3 The Real Thing - URBAN/R&B: Retro-Soul

"The album drips with the sounds of mid-'70s inner-city soul: huge grooves and hallelujah harmonies bolster playful melodies, while vintage keyboards swirl in the warm and spacious production." Greg Potter, The Courier

10 MP3 Songs
URBAN/R&B: Retro-Soul, POP: Folky Pop

Show all album songs: The Real Thing Songs


Details:
MYK GORDON:
Following Inspiration to Musical Rebirth

The road to Myk Gordonâs latest album, The Real Thing, has been a long and varied one. It has led to the last place the Vancouver singer-songwriter might have expected: a new beginning⦠musical and artistic self-reinvention.

As well as a musician, Myk has been a truck driver, a social worker, a journalist, a waiter, a film set dresser, a youth educator, a producer and director of film and video, and a mental health counselor. He holds a black belt in Ki Aikido, a Japanese art of mind/body coordination. He is also a committed social activist on issues such as homelessness, native justice/autonomy, prisonersâ rights, environmentalism and anti-globalization, and has spent time in jail for political activity. This kaleidoscope of life experiences has informed his musical development in fascinating ways.

Myk grew up in a musical family â his father once sat in on upright bass with Dave Brubeck, his aunt was a concert pianist at age 12. The sountrack then was as varied as his own life would prove: West coast jazz, Bach, the 60s spiritual blues of Odetta and Richie Havens, 70âs singer-songwriters like David Bowie, Cat Stevens and Paul Simon⦠and later the giants of soul and R&B that would resurface so unexpectedly in his creative mind: Stevie Wonder, Al Greene, Sam & Dave. He first picked up a guitar at age ten, and was in his first garage band by 13, when the Vancouver punk scene was in its heyday. His teenage years were spent practicing guitar, sneaking into bars to watch the bands, and going to live shows. At a Peter Tosh concert, he got backstage, walked past a cluster of journalists waiting their turn, and sat right down next to the reggae legend. With a tape recorder and mic thrust in his hand, the ensuing conversation turned into an impromptu interview (one of many to follow in Mykâs career) with the cagey singer just before his shooting death in Kingston, Jamaica.

Myk began writing, performing and recording his own songs as a student at McGill in Montreal. A move to Toronto in 1987 saw him spend a few years on the Queen St. circuit, where he recorded a full-length cassette, The Emperorâs Got No Clothes (1990). His first two official CD releases, Seventh Candle (1994) and Lonely (1998), were solid folk-rock outings that garnered positive reviews and strong airplay across Canada and in the United States, the UK, Europe and Australia. Since he started playing professionally, Myk has shared the stage with such greats as Guy Davis, Joan Osborne, Emmylou Harris, and Ron Sexsmith. He has attracted an impressive roster of musicians to his bands and recordings, including BJ Cole (Elton John, Sting, Richard Ashcroft), Charlie Quintana (Bob Dylan, Social Distortion), and Bazil Donovan and James Gray (Blue Rodeo).

The Real Thing, however â perhaps appropriately for a new musical beginning â was recorded entirely by Myk himself in a whirlwind four weeks of studio time. Tapping into a deep-seated love of soul and R&B, Myk opened a flood-gate of musical inspiration. The Real Thingâs ten new songs combine his continuing social awareness with a new emotional open-ness, and a vintage 70âs soul sound that speaks directly and joyously to the heart.

"...A strongly accomplished performerâ TimeOut, London

ââ¦The best to come out of this city in a while.â
Greg Potter, Vancouver Courier

âHand clapping, butt-shakinâ soul and R&B is what Myk Gordon is all aboutâ¦â
Tom Zillich, Westender

"The album drips with the sounds of mid-'70s inner-city soul: huge grooves and hallelujah harmonies bolster playful melodies, while vintage keyboards swirl in the warm and spacious production. With at least two drop-dead singles, "Do Your Thing" (video in the works) and "All That We Own," Gordon has come into his own by stepping outside of himself."
Greg Potter, Vancouver Courier

ââ¦Veering through blues, R&B, soul, and funk to come up with a groove-laden, danceable, rich sound that will instantly move you. Gordon musters up all he has to make his voice resonate with you, while the diversity of his playing - from the blues-y "Poor Poor Woman", the funky "Real World Melody", and the opening soul fire-starter "Do Your Thing" - makes you cheer him on.
With Gordon at the core of the songwriting, and in the producer's seat, his vision is fully realized. From start to finish, he conjures up the golden days of AM radio and creates a record that mirrors the early, exciting days of AM radio, making it equally accessible, and even more coherent. This is a golden album that aims high with its vision and lands right on its mark. Iâll give it a B+. â
Alex Steininger, inmusicwetrust.com

âConjures up a classic R&B feel that's hard to resist."
Shawn Conner, Georgia Straight (Vancouver)

"An amazing album."
Fiona Forbes, Breakfast Television (CityTV Vancouver)

âThis year Myk Gordon found his groove thang and his inner super fly started buzzing big time. The result is The Real Thing, a deep-down and loaded platter of greasy keyboards, raise-your-hands-up choruses and Motown and Stax Volt melodic lines.â
Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Province

âThis album is very, very good.â
Tim Morgan, CFOX 99.3 FM (Vancouver)


âWhat a great album. Heâs really hip!â
Peter North, Music Director, CKUA Radio (Alberta), Voted in All-Time Top 300 CDS of CKUA DJs

ââ¦True connection to soul, gospel and classic popâ¦Resonates pure 70s soul. His original grooves entice you, leaving you wanting more!â
Balanced Life Magazine

âAmazingâ¦flawless compositions.â
New Music West 2002