Whoo, doggy- stop the presses, we've got us a hot one! This might be the best new song I've heard all year.

An independent Brooklyn label called Daptone is giving away MP3s of one KICK ASS set of songs by someone I never heard of named Sharon Jones.

I've sure as hell heard of her now, though. "What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?" is just flat whippin' my ass. Broadly, it's a serious funk, fair James Brown style, but more jazzy. Perhaps it would compare to some Stax/Volt stuff. Whatever the geneology, there's some really outstanding guitar playing, and the horns stand out on their own. There's even some actual melody. Holy crap, it's like a REAL SONG or something.

Now, I'm still a little confused about the band. Ms Jones' previous credited album is with the "Dap Kings" and such is also the indication in the text the label sent the Tofu Hut MP3 blog with their request to feature this song. However, I note that the track tags on the mp3 file the label sent him credit the track to "Sharon Jones and Lee Fields." Whatever, cause somebody here is some kinda playin' SOBs.

Anyway, read John's notes at Tofu Hut, and absolutely stop whatever you're doing to get up on some of this.

The lyric actually goes somewhere, too. It's basically an anti-war song, proposing civil disobedience. She suggests that we just quit paying the taxes to support an evil war.

The lyrics do not specifically name Iraq, but it's a new recording, not yet commercially released. Not much doubt what would be meant. Not naming a specific war works right here; it won't need updating for the next war.

Indeed, looking at it as an anti-war song, "What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?" rates as the best one associated with Iraq. The only competition would be the infrequently heard but classic Terence Trent D'Arby aka Sananda Matreiya track "Daddy, Can I Have a War?"

By the way, check out this picture of Ms Jones. Mommy! Take this picture coupled with the sound of her voice and the expressiveness of her singing, and... Well, it'll make a man forget about any of these little silly teeny Britney Spears girls. This is, to put it in the most gentlemanly way, a full grown woman.