The New York Times-20080127-Sounds That May Remind You Of Something- or of Nothing

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Sounds That May Remind You Of Something, or of Nothing

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LENNY KRAVITZ is set to release his eighth studio album, It Is Time for a Love Revolution (Virgin), on Feb. 5. With guitar licks of funk, rock and soul, Mr. Kravitz, 43, sings about love, spiritual awakening, abandonment and, in one song that draws a parallel between the wars in Iraq and Vietnam, politics. His albums, he said, are about what's going on in the world and what's going on in my life at the time. Although Mr. Kravitz writes, arranges, sings and produces his albums, he recently managed in his spare time to appear in the coming indie film Push and to work with his design firm to create a piano lounge in the Delano Hotel in Miami. In Los Angeles to rehearse for a tour that will span South America and Canada this spring, Europe over the summer and the United States in the fall, Mr. Kravitz spoke on the phone with Winter Miller about what he's listening to and watching.

Devendra Banhart

I don't know what Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (XL) reminds me of. I just think it's really great. The song Saved is just incredible. He has this crazy voice, and it's this gospel kind of thing. It sounds like the song that rolls over the end title credits to some incredible movie. It's really well produced and recorded. I like his style. He's completely himself. Music on the radio is in a very bad state because people are not really musicians, not really writers or singers in a lot of cases. Everything is geared toward selling, and the music is like McDonald's: tastes good going down but then you're like, why did I do it? Artists are not celebrated for their abilities, for being different or for having their own voice. It's all homogenized. It has to fit into a format. Devendra makes music from his heart. He's like, 'This is the music I like, this is the music I'm going to make.' I'm just glad to hear some interesting, colorful music. It's out there, if you search for it, but it's not what's being featured in the marketplace. Would Bob Dylan get a record deal today? Would he be on MTV? It's a trip.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

It's so refreshing to hear music like 100 Days, 100 Nights (Daptone). I don't think of music in terms of retro; that word has always been strange to me. If someone likes to make music with real instruments and record it in a pure way it's called retro, but to me it's just music. When I travel in South America or Africa, people are playing real music. It's just what it is. They're from Brooklyn, and their music reminds me of back in the day when I was about 7 years old. I remember my favorite song was Mr. Big Stuff by Jean Knight, and my grandmother knew I loved it and she would always play it and sing it. My neighbor had a turntable, and he would play Mr. Big Stuff. This record has the quality of the records of that era. Her voice is amazing and the recordings are phenomenal. To record like that is an art form. I like how they're doing a Motown-Stax thing, they got their own house with a recording studio and they're really exploiting their sound. They put out 45s on vinyl, and I'm totally jealous.

Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle

I love this record. Emmanuelle Seigner, who is also an actress, she and this guy and his wife put together this group. Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle (RCA) has really great songs, great melodies. They record in their own style, and it sounds like an old record that you missed from the late '60s. She sings with this French accent, but in English. The vocals are really pure, reminiscent of Nico and the Velvet Underground. You can go to their MySpace page and they've got everything on there.

The Budos Band

The Budos Band II (Daptone) sounds like Afrobeat. It sounds like Fela Kuti meets a blaxploitation soundtrack. When I listen to the opening track, Chicago Falcon, I see the streets of Harlem in 1971 in beautiful grainy muted color. Like the films I loved watching as a kid: The French Connection, Serpico and Super Fly. I love the way film looked at that time, and this is very cinematic. It reeks of the streets and has this African vibe.

'La Vie en Rose'

La Vie en Rose (HBO Home Video) is amazing. The music is great. You don't have to speak French to feel the passion and the intensity of these songs. Edith Piaf was truly a great singer with a lot of soul. Music doesn't have to be soul music to be soul. You feel its authenticity and heart.

[Illustration]PHOTOS: Lenny Kravitz, above; Devendra Banhart, above right; Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, below right. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY LAURENT GILLIERON/ EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY; JENNIFER TAYLOR FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES; CHESTER HIGGINS JR./THE NEW YORK TIMES)