When I listen to music, I see things - I see visions of people, exotic settings and situations. If a picture tells a thousand words, and I only have two-hundred left to tell you about Wave Motion, I'm worried you won't understand the full extent of how beautiful this album really is. The painter of these pictures is Fat Jon the Ample Soul Physician - perhaps you've seen his palettes before? Teaming up with J Rawls to recently spawn 3582, this quiet, but well-recognized producer for the Five Deez, has dropped his first all-instrumental release off of (the amazing) Mush records. While Fat Jon's style is similar to that of Pete Rock's, these twelve tracks are essentially a montage of dope jazz samples and riffs your pops might just recognize. With "1975" the funkiest cut on the album, I find myself in a maternity ward. Is this the year Jon was born? Perhaps, but either way I envision him emerging from the birth canal holding two turntables and a sampler. You ever see those metal sliding doors on old-school elevators? "Eyes" transports you to that time, when Gordon, the attendant, opens the door, greets you politely and offers you a spliff. This song is that fresh; I'm talking afros and sweltering heat in NYC, 1972. This is a superb collection of paintings in a gallery, not because of any one song, but because of the recycling of emotions throughout; it really plays like a jazz album. There are no thouand words associated with these pictures, however. That's your job. - UC Santa Barbara Daily Nexus |