Do you like soul music? That sweet soul music?

Yeah, yeah. If you like it, too, by now you’re swaying to that Art Conley song stuck in your head. Just lately I’ve heard two new acts playing good old fashioned soul… the Dap-Kings and James Hunter. I heard them both on NPR, actually, and I had hoped I might get the chance to hear them in person soon, but the tour schedules don’t look promising. James Hunter is coming to NH in March, but the gig is all the way up in Lebanon!

I understand the title track of Hunter’s newest recording, "People Gonna Talk," (on Rounder, an excellent label) is getting some airplay, but I bought it after hearing him live on etown. Hunter and his band absolutely tore it up; the CD actually suffers in comparison, though just ever so slightly. They play original material with an early 1960s sound. The Dap-Kings shoot for a later 1960s sound, and hit the bullseye every time.

Closer to home, I caught NH’s own Skamasutra’s CD release show the other night at Milly’s, and have to give them a hearty shout-out… if you like ska at all (and who doesn’t?) you have to catch these guys.

Lastly, I finally got around to reading David Quammen’s "Song of the Dodo." I’d seen it excerpted when it was published 11 years ago, and had read his more recent "Monsters of God," (a fun book about predators that eat people). "Song of the Dodo" is an engaging, entertaining and informative overview of the evolution of biology. It starts with the origins and development of evolution, and then moves on to extinction and why the human domination (infestation?) of the planet bodes ill for other species. It’s a grim topic, but Quammen’s writing makes it swing.