Sunshine Jones :: "Seven Tracks in Seven Days EP"
>>King Street Sounds
Review by Chain | Published June 2007 | Review Archives

You'll remember Sunshine Jones as part of the Dubtribe Sound System - those crazy guys from the Bay Area that made deliciously funky tracks, stuffed with luscious diva vocals and piano hooks. I'm going to tell you right now, before you read another word, that I'm giving this record my highest rating - you must go out and buy it now. According to the liner notes (written by Jones himself), this was a challenge to himself - to create seven tracks in seven days - that was born out of his feeling that House Music had gone the way of disco. "Local shops began to close, people stopped going out like they had been, politics, war, and economy took their toll on our lives and in what felt like the blink of an eye our landscape of North American grass roots musical revolution seemed to be gone. We tried. We did our very best. But what had moved us, and changed us, virtually shaped our lives for more than a decade was gone."

I've quoted that at length because it's important, and because it's more revealing than anything I could write. This is less a new release like the hundreds of other new releases that come out every month, but the story of one man's spiritual resurrection. I'd print the whole thing, untouched, if I could, because it's one of the most stirring, heartfelt statements to come out of the dance music scene that I've read.

Now, as far as the music itself, I find it worthy of being considered among the finest dance music I've heard. "Anywhere You Are" (Day One's song) touches that moment at the end of the night when the synapses are wide open, the brain is a blur, the body is ready to collapse but sheer desire and strength of spirit keep it going. "If You Wouldn't Mind" (Day Two's track) is beautiful, a real ride through a cluttered but fascinating landscape. "I Believe" (Day Six) is tracky and comes on like a predator before a funky little Roland line takes over. "Distant Vision" has more of a jack to it. But this is like asking a surgeon the miracle of life: I can point out all of the organs and how they function, but not what makes one get up in the morning, say hello to a stranger, and then, maybe, sit down to write seven tracks in seven days with four pieces of equipment.

1. Anywhere You Are
2. Distant Vision
3. I Believe
4. We Are Free (Sunshine's Soul Mix)
5. If You Wouldn't Mind
6. I Surrender
7. Until Then...