Singer-songwriter Bhi Bhiman is rapidly emerging on the Bay Area music scene. In less than year, Bhi has established a name for himself at the local bars and coffee shops and has received press from the San Francisco Chronicle, SF Bay Guardian, Sound on the Sound (Seattle), and Willamette Week (Portland)--just to name a few. In his debut full length album, “The Cookbook”, Bhi makes a departure from the solo acoustic style for which he is best known. Tracked by the Fillmore Auditorium’s front-of-house sound engineer, Nathan Harlow, “The Cookbook” achieves an authentic yet diverse sound that is reminiscent of classic records by innovators like Nina Simone, Brian Wilson and Robbie Robertson. The result bends between genres adeptly, incorporating everything from soul to folk, rock to reggae, and jazz to bluegrass. With 13 songs (plus a hidden track) “The Cookbook” stands out as a solid and mature offering, full of songs—funny, mournful and compassionate in turn—that bend the unfitting reality of modern culture into tangible stories of love, lust, bigotry, and life.

No FCCs detected. all songs are good and quite different.

I like 1,2,3,6,8,9,10,11, and the hidden track.

1. ****FDA Blues: uptempo, psychedelic folk sound reminiscent of The Beatles or Brian Wilson. Great lyrics, great instrumentation (complete with toy piano and lapsteel guitar) and four part harmonies.
2. ***Equal in My Tea: sweet but upbeat acoustic guitar (finger picking and rhythm). Extremely clever world play that goes from the topic of love to war in the Middle East.
3. ***It's Cold Out Here: slow and sad with dramatic rises. Interplay between Bhi Bhiman's voice and the wail of blues harmonica played by Big Bones. Intense and beautiful.
4. ***Loving You: classic soul and R&B sound with three part horn section and tenor sax solo. Think Sam Cooke, Solomon Burke, or Bill Withers.
5. ***Up in Arms: somber classical guitar accompanying the sad words of an aging black panther (Huey P. Newton). Chilling and beautiful at the same time.
6. ****White Man's Burden Blues: backporch blues all the way. Hilarious lyrics and badass blues harmonica that sounds like a freight train.
7. ***You Gotta Move: upbeat Cream psychadelic breakdown. Great rhythm with a catchy hook.
8. ****Telouise: pumping Southern rock--clearly influenced by Robbie Robertson and Dr. John. Organ, piano, slide guitar, and 3 part harmonies make it a driving, forceful ballad.
9. ****Talkin' NASCAR: bluegrass take on Bhiman's hilarious but intelligent satire about the Bush administration.
10. ***Etta: Cat Stevens style fingerpicking with Celeste electric piano. Bitter sweet tune about the love of your life who you know you never be with.
11. ***Out In The Streets: hard hitting reggae track that sounds like it was recorded in a sweaty Jamaican recording studio. The very first line is a bite off Ini Kamoze but the rest is all original.
12. **Blue: slow jazz piece with upright bass, piano, and drums. Sad, touching lyrics.
13. ***Jaffna Town: Ukelele strumming and vocals. It has a stripped down island sound which you expect to lead to light simple lyrics. It goes the other way of course with a disturbing observation of the violence committed against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka (where Bhi's parents are from).
***(Hidden track) International Hater: a Bhiman favorite about the relationship between Satan and Kobe Bryant. Clever and hilarious.