Chocolate Genius is back!

So it appears that Marc Thompson's alter ego, Chocolate Genius, is back. This time its Chocolate Genius Inc., but nonethless this looks to be another stellar collection of raspy vocals, soulful narratives, and rooted in the kind of attention to songcraft that makes its a true alt-rock treasure. Somewhere between dirty folk and an urban arcane smattering of rootsy rock, CG is somewhere floating in a range that covers Elliot Smith and David Ryan Harris, and veers all the way to Tom Waits in the gutcheck department.

Featuring an all-star cast (Abe Laboriel Jr., Meshell Ndegeocello, Marc Ribot, Van Dyke Parks , Trixie Whitley* among quite a few others), this looks like a solid follow up to his criminally underappreciated first two albums, and the first effort since his appearances on the sophomore Sweetback album, Stage 2.**

* Trixie is not quite an all-star, but she is the daughter of white chocolate genius Chris Whitley.
** Sweetback is essentially the backing band of Sade, including Stuart Matthewman a.k.a Cottonbelly. Their two albums have also featured brilliant newcomer Aya and established stars Maxwell, Amel Larrieux and Ivana Santilli.