5.

Bobby Brown – Live

My knowledge of who Bobby Brown is is fairly limited, apart from some very mythical rumors and hearsay. I do know that he was from Hawaii, had (possibly still has) an insane vocal range, was a one-man band, loves dogs, and used to open for Fleetwood Mac sometimes. I refer to these qualities in the past tense only because one of the many rumors is that he was contacted by a label who were inquiring about possible reissues, and he apparently no longer had any interest in having an active role in music.

The cover of the Live record is a photo taken at one of the Fleetwood Mac shows, but I believe the actual recording was just done out of his van with his dogs as his audience. The word "live" in this case seems to refer more to the fact that he plays everything at once with his mobile one-man band set-up of synths, percussion, guitar, flutes, and whatever else. As if that weren’t impressive enough, what he actually does with that set-up is insanely beautiful and sonically mind-blowing… it’s as if his spirit is on autopilot.

There is no other music like this – it’s a man who reached very deep into his own soul and pulled out a magical and natural voice that defies the boundaries of the vocal cord. Live often reminds me of the perfect breeze at just the right temperature.