Can Neneh Cherry ever escape "Buffalo Stance"? Probably not, as the song is massive and sort of overshadowed whatever Neneh put out further---which is where Homebrew comes in. Raw Like Sushi, Neneh's 1989 debut album, is a landmark entry in alternative hip-hop for women. In fact, I would dare say further that Neneh Cherry also had a hand in mixing soul, down-tempo, and jazz into hip-hop to produce an earthier tone to where The Roots, Erykah Badu, and Common (hell, most of the Soulquarians) carried that tradition in later years.
1992's Homebrew is a different affair from Raw Like Sushi. Sushi rocks on a poppier plane and possesses a real spunky and tough B-Girl attitude to where Neneh strode alongside Queen Latifah and MC Lyte. Homebrew, on the other hand, lounges around in it's ambiance snatching glimpses of R&B, trip-hop, and smoky Jazz (no doubt a homage towards her step-dad, Jazz trumpeter, Don Cherry), and really everything in-between. With guest spots from Gang Starr, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, and Lenny Kravitz, the eclecticness is what makes Homebrew such an overlooked batch that does indeed cast light on the fact that Neneh had actually outgrown "Buffalo Stance" and was headed into refined and cerebral material. Yet, *sigh* you know how this story goes, when an artist tries to escape that one big hit album/single, and dares to be different on the sophomore set---it tends to go over some people's heads.
As I can never pass up a music nerd moment like this not to mention formulate an excuse to post anything by Prince....there's been a bit of buzz about Prince re-recording one of his plethora of vaulted tunes, and it's the infamous, "Extraloveable". Any Paisley Parker is aware that Prince has gabillion upon gabillions of songs that are tucked away or sprinkled among numerous bootleg compilations. It can be overwhelming, not to mention an adventure in itself whenever you do discover these funky gems.
So Prince had re-recorded "Extraloveable", a track that was possibly meant for Vanity 6 back in the early 80's, for reasons...well, that aren't really crystal clear. He's also released the track only on iTunes Canada---in possible promotion for his Welcome 2 Canada Tour, which began over this Thanksgiving weekend. The revamped "Extraloveable" feels less raw digital 80's than the original, and more polished funk with Soul darling, Andy Allo (who is budding into protege territory) popping up in a guest spot.
Already Prince fanatics across the web have been rolling in the deep about how the re-recorded version isn't up to snuff. As Prince fanatical as I can be, I'm one of those who still appreciates the fact that he can take a song that he's done many moons ago and spin it around differently, making it sound just as crisp, and even crispier than what is jumbling around currently. Time doesn't erase the fact that "Extraloveable" is one of the greatest pieces of missed opportunity ever---why it was not included on 1999 is really a mystery to me. What I'd really like to know is if this sudden re-release just a thank-you to Canadian fans and/or maybe this is just the first step for Prince to dust off other vaulted material and re-record it for a new project?
Remember Daley? Of course you do, UK youngblood who had the guts to cover Madonna's Like a Virgin andMaxwell's "Pretty Wings" on his exceptional debut EP, Those Who Wait? Yeah, it's all coming back isn't it? And really you shouldn't be able to forget him on those grounds, lemme just say especially if you heard what I heard on it. He pulls out the big guns again for his official video for "Smoking Gun", which is stylishly decked out in black-n'white (instant sexification), kaleidoscopic effects, and features a woman who is getting her X-Men Storm on as Daley sangs away. Impressively shot and is a real great introduction to Daley if you already haven't gotten acquainted. I see in my crystal ball of funkiness that in 2012, we'll be hearing a lot more about Daley---betcha.
Above the fold, outside the lines J*DaVeY's has always rested. After releasing an assemblage of genre bending mixtapes and EP's and causing agitation among their fans, the LA-based duo have finally liberated their first official album. Brushing off newborn excitement, listeners might be surprised to find that New Designer Drug is shaken, but also stirred.
Oddly coy they are as they play it safe in some corners, as even some jarring experimental tracks this side of the The Beauty In Distortion and Land Of The Lost EP's are buffered down with a file of mainstream influence. New Designer Drug doesn't necessarily push what the duo has been doing into broader territory. They really are, at times, just coasting along in all of their rowdy rebel yell aesthetic that has made them alternative music darlings. So nothing substantially has changed, still their is some spunk to be had, as Drug, does give you a 'high' with it's compact paradoxes of sound.
If you thought Cyndi Lauper and Blues wouldn't go together then be prepared for that sneer to dissolve off your face. Something about Cyndi Lauper I'll always love, she just slips into whatever hat she wants and excels at every turn. As once the woman who was supposed to 'beat' Madonna at her lace n' leggings pop game, Lauper has a divergent career that sort of went off the mainstream path, but is still exciting and influential.
She's So Unusual, Cyndi's 1984 debut, is her magnum opus (and one of my favorite albums ever---it's truly a work of pop art), but there are number of not-so-famous Lauper LP's that are just as ear worthy. I have yet to listen to Memphis Blues, Lauper's homage to the Blues and the city where the sound is in abundance, but what gravitated me to the album's accompaniment, To Memphis With Love is because hearing Blues live is somewhat better than soaking in an studio album. Something about the genre's gut growling grit translates better in a live format. Lauper toured on the strength of Memphis Blues in relation to the live music disc, there is a DVD of her performance which features guest spots with Allen Toussaint and John Lange.
While live albums usually get a bad rap, I personally enjoy them and To Memphis With Love is a real treat. Still my interest rested on the Blues version of her signature hits, such as "She Bop", "Change Of Heart" and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" as I love a good old remake, especially when an artist can take a signature hit and morph into something else. "Girls" is a bit more ska than Blues on Memphis, but hey, she's re-crafted her signature song a gabillion times so I forgive it. Yet on "She Bop" and "Change Of Heart" from Unusual and 1986's True Colors respectively, she reinvents them with a lot of bravado and the results are...well, you have to click play below to hear. Just a fun time to be had by all.
Conditioned I am on vintage Kate Bush. The 70's precocious piano maven who gave the musical Cliff Notes version about the saga of Emily Brontë's Heathcliff and Catherine with theatrics in tow. The 'Banshee Mother Goose' of the 80's. So conditioned to the vintage, to The Dreaming, The Sensual World, and The Kick Inside, that "new" 21st Century Kate Bush is like seeing a childhood friend and realizing we have nothing in common anymore. That our time making up wacky storylines to our Barbies lives and counting our Skip It battle scars are buried memories. Yes, arriving into Kate Bush's 50 Words For Snow is like reuniting with someone who I've always known, but has drastically changed in decades time. So timidly I approach Snow.
Seven songs long, (all of them pitching near ten minutes, with the longest track resting at a lengthy thirteen minutes!), the atmosphere of 50 Words For Snow is sedate, glacial, yet comfy. Snow's atmosphere compares to Meshell Ndegeocello's Weatheras it too works in it's own bubble of comfort, how it's confined within it's own ideas, thoughts, and nature. Conceptually it mirrors the cycle of snow, from the still silence awaiting it's arrival to the pelting clumps of activity then to the finale of it slacking off, the job done as it blankets it's area, calm yet changed. For that, Snow does indeed hit it's mark aurally well.
I'm in the early throws of Turkey Day (Thanksgiving for all you proper folks) by way of meal prepping and a warzone called the grocery store, thus I need something to call my rump down, and as the Internet memes say 'keep calm and listen to Adele'. You might have heard the news that Adele is releasing this month a special CD/DVD set, Live At Royal Albert Hall, as a special gift to fans who missed out on her tours, and really just because she can.
Here's a sneak preview at the aural magic you'll experience on the set as Adele eases through a deliciously lush rendering of "Turning Tables" (aka my favorite from 21)with such diction and poise that you'll have to drop what you're doing right now this minute and press play. This woman is just a class act.
Eat your heart out. Or so the album cover suggests, but the contents of Habits Of The Heart, Idle Warship's first official release, will have you thinking the same, as this is a group that isn't worried if whatever they're doing is not of the norm, and could possibly not be digested as simply. They just want you to listen---and that's fine by me. Idle is quite a strange collective, strange in that they are taking risks, risks that people grumble that there isn't enough of in the mainstream---yet still they are a best kept secret.
Now a duo (comprised of talents Res and Talib Kweli) they come front and center with a polished set of tunes that is a far cry from their Party Robot mixtape, only thing is don't call this a 'hip-hop' record, Talib Kweli doesn't hear it as such---and he's right. Eclecticism is the game here, and if you're not someone who can't get past the wham-bam flourish of every genre known to man or the grab bag of guest stars (Chester French, Jean Grae, Michelle Williams, John Forte) present then this is a 'habit' to break. Habits bends the genres, takes them out of their safety nets, and gives something for everyone. Though it borders a bit on overwhelm and at some points crosses into hackneyed this side of *shudder*Black Eyed Peas cheers, but for Idle Warship you won't be wiping the beads of sweat off of your forehead from chagrin, you'll be wiping it off because you'll be having a sexy good time sweating to this pinball machine of sound.
Even in it's dizzying haphazardness, Habits bridges every lick n' tempo change in a collective piece to where you're fully involved. First looks, "Laser Beams" and the skittish New Wave dream, "Rat Race" are night and day in tone. Disco and alt-punk rock merge on the excellent, "Burning Desire" and on it's flip "Beautifully Bad" reforms the pop torch song with more substance and risk. The best moment is the video game scribble of "Covered In Fantasy" as it merges arena rock, indie soul, and straight up rap, plus has the killer line: "if you scratch beneath the surface, you'll find my purpose" with Res driving the core mantra of Idle Warship home with the repeated refrain of: "I am me". Yes, Talib and Res are themselves and unapologetic about it---and that's exactly what you want and get when you listen to Habits of the Heart.
Not to get all political on you on this Monday, but one thing 2011 will be remembered for is the year where people got mad as hell and couldn't take it anymore. With Occupy Wall Street at a close and the handful of revolutions that occurred in the Middle East, (not to mention the the US presidential campaigning freakshow is going on right now), citizens of this planet have gotten off their bums and began to protest in ways that haven't occurred since the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's. For some reason we probably thought that we didn't need to do this anymore, but the 99% found out that there is some fight left in us.
Music has oddly been silent towards this with sprinkles of tracks here and there that even hint at political themes. To fill that gap, here comes Anjulie, not well known in a sense that she can sucker listeners into believing they are activists, but she's got a little fist-pumping track called, "Stand Behind The Music". It's not the greatest track in the world, and pretty generic in structure terms , but there is a message there and it's a far better message than the messy "Brand New Bitch" from earlier this year (seriously, what happened to the off-beat Anjulie? Yet another one sucked into the Rihanna machine *sigh*). Anjulie even hits the heart strings by showing the real people behind the movements (mostly Occupy Wall Street occupiers) in this visual. So kudos to Anjulie for stepping to the plate with this. As for the other 1%, they need not watch and just keep eating their cake.
1. Class Of 1991: Here's a little shameless promotion. Soul Bounce is apart of my blog family and this year I've been asked to contribute a few pieces for their great Class Of... series which recaps albums celebrating 20 years of awesomeness and influence. Last year they had a great album selection from 1990, and this year it's gonna be even better as the number of albums and memories has grown for the 1991 set. Currently my remincense about Jody Watley's great Affairs Of The Heart album is up, and there are more muses from me to come in the next few weeks! So keep the Class of 1991 link bookmarked to keep checking back to hear all the great sounds from a very productive and transitional year in music.
Update 11/19/11: ...and once again the Internet provides the link between artist and fan...Jody Watley has responded to the piece on Affairs Of Heart on her blog, Stylefile (bookmark it!) and what a treat it is to read! For those who haven't scoped out the album, you have to understand how much of a personal tone Jody took on the record and she explains her creative decisions about the record as well as her favorite tracks on it. Plus she also shared little nuggets of word wisdom, like this one:
I don't regret not singing about shaking my ass. There was a lot of pressure at the time for me and I sacrificed the monetary support of my label to continue on my journey as the artist I wanted to become. I'd be lying if I told you I never looked back and asked myself what I was thinking. However, as Oprah would say 'what I know for sure' is that my desire to be authentic to who I am and to not succumb to just getting the cash is inescapable. I am who I am.
So a BIG thank you to Jody for reading and responding to the post! And you can continue to read the piece here.
2. Fiddlesticks: One to watch Elle Varner is certainly on the fast track. She performed at Black Girls Rock! a few weeks back, and gave a nice performance of her buzzy 90's summer breezin' single, "Only Wanna Give It To You". She's onto Round 2 with the appropriately titled "Refill". It's not as fluid as her previous single, as Elle's vocals sound a bit strained in places along with choppy tempo changes. Still, the jagged barnyard fiddle mixed with the 808 baseline makes for an intriguing backdrop, and it's one of the most interesting things I've heard all week. Still the best part is when she says: "I feel like the girl that's been at the bar too long---can't stand up." Feel ya, girl, feel ya.
With caution I proceed with Mary J. Blige. Sort of pains me to even type that, but since 2009's Stronger With Each Tear (which I was wayyy too nice about when it first came out) I haven't exactly been a happy camper with Blige's output, more like I got poison ivy, and they ran out of chamomile lotion happy. So timidly I will approach the release of set My Life II: The Journey Continues (Part One) when it appearsin a few weeks. The first releases from it such as "25/8" (and it's 'Recession Budget' music video) and DrakeThe Fake assisted, "Mr. Wrong" haven't exactly got me riled up. But dammit, it's Mary, and The Breakthrough and My Life helped me through college---thus I can't just ignore that history.
Of course a premature groan erupted when I saw that MJB was hooking up with Beyonce for a duet. When pressing play I was waiting for something lackluster once again, even with Bey's flashy ass there, but my eyebrow raised and well...a pleasant surprise washed over me with the Sean Garret produced track, "Love A Woman". Sure there is a bit of over-singing from both parties at times, but it's MJB and Bey--so it's expected and excused. Still this femme declaration track recalls the 90's right down to it's vocal exchanges, message, and sound backdrop and that's a good thing. Considering these ladies are products of that productive time in R&B, it's nice to see them join forces and bring that style back quite nicely. Personally, I find it worthy of a comeback single for MJB as it's got the right tone, but we'll see how this plays out...
If there is anyone who knows how to make sensual and intricate love to music---it's Meshell Ndegeocello. With her husky alto that ribbons it's way skillfully around vivid proclamations, Meshell in her 20+ year career has had albums that have always tended to touch on the inner desires and intensities of human nature. She's been brutally honest about it all, whether dealing with the yearning monster within in herself or the intense passions she has in the throws of a relationship, Meshell never succumbed to cheapening her word play or catering to the 'what is now' club. Stylistically so, in a decade's time she has altered her sound with stark detours as the jazz-fusion-funk of her Plantation Lullabies and Peace Beyond Passion days from the early 90's are nestled in the back roads.
With Weather, her now 10th release, she continues to strike a chord, strike a shiver really, as Meshell has often had some sort of mystic ability with her music to make you feel urges that you thought you suppressed in public. Whatever the urge, feeling, or healing you get, there is always something provocative and original about how Meshell Ndegeocello lays out a record---and Weather is another attractive example of that craft.
PJ Morton is a talent who I've been meaning to delve into further and what perfect timing this post has considering Morton's releasing his major label debut come 2012. He comes bearing some fruits from this labor in the morsel of "Built For Love" which has the New Orleans singer-songwriter-instrumentalist (and "sixth" Maroon 5 member) trading vocal swoons with none other than Jazmine Sullivan. To think she said she was going to "retire"....heh.
No need to check Sullivan into Shady Pines Retirement Home nor think this will be the last time you'll hear PJ---these two really fire it up and are a great match. They have an equally great song as their backdrop, as it's a lush soulful sway with a keen peppering of Earth, Wind & Fire influenced horn work and harmony. Very nice indeedy. I am quite anxious to hear what PJ is going to drop next , and thankfully I can keep track of what is to come as his Tumblr page reveals all that is to come.
PJ Morton - Built For Love (feat. Jazmine Sullivan)
Well, it's happening. J*DaVeY are releasing their debut album, New Designer Drug---in about a week. Yep. A week. No, it's not a mirage of words you're seeing, it's fact. Drug will be released on the group's personal label ILLAV8R and available for digital download come November 22nd. Perfect timing as it arrives in the early throws of the holiday season to where you can shut yourself in your room, digest it, and avoid pesky relatives all at once.
For fans of the LA duo, this has been a long-time coming considering the release of a handful of EP's and years of maybe-they-will-maybe-they-won't album release hints. But that's the life of a eclectic grassroots artist like J*DaVeY---when you don't fit the easy agreeable norms of the record labels, you have to work harder to be heard. From NDD, track "Queen of Wonderland" has appeared in live form during the summer months with performances at SXSW andPinboard Blog's Rehearsal Rooms. Now the official album version has come out of the woods and all you need to do is let it 'crawl all over you'. Get your 3 bucks ready because come in a week, you'll be wanting this musical drug---and don't blame me if it's habit forming.
Well, hello there Brandy. There are just some artists who you've grown up with that whatever they tend to do (good or bad) you still root for them. I still root for Brandy. Though back in the 90's you 'had' to choose sides on who deserved the affections of the 'boy' that Brandy and Monica drew cat claws out about. I was a Monica girl (and still am), but I've come to enjoy a lot of Brandy's material after the Never Say Never years with 2001's Full Moon and 2004's Afrodisiac being personal favorites for me.
But enough about the olden days *gets up from creaky rocking chair*---Brandy's got a new track and it's pretty crackling. "Silent Night" isn't the traditional Christmas carol, but it's a leaked treat about the tissue-clutching dramas of love. It wouldn't be R&B if it wasn't.
Pegged for Brandy's pending 6th release, the song, produced by Kadis &Sean, is a grower. Yet it's worth a listen for simply for Brandy's vocal execution and once you get into it, you might find yourself pressing repeat. See good R&B isn't an extinct commodity...
Friendly Fires' Pala is soooo good---and I'm probably like one of five people who thinks this way.
Glad though to see "Hurting", my favorite song off of it, get the video treatment. Visually, it's quite a mind-bending oddity starring a lethal lady whose 'touch keeps on hurting'---literally. You have to see this special effects riddled vid to understand what I mean. Words cannot describe.
You'll be taken to Funky Town with this number regardless of what you see. Just let your ears do all the work.
What do you do when you have a hit album with gobs of hits? You release it again, that's what! Cue the entrance of Cee-Lo Green's The Lady Killer, one of last year's best, as it's getting a makeover of sorts.
While he didn't get my memo to combine any tracks from the fantastic Stray Bullets mixtape (which out-shone some of Killer's material) to the beefed up extended edition, Cee-Lo has something better and that is two new tracks, "Scarlet Fever" and "Anyway".
"Anyway", which follows in the jovial soul-pop step we've grown to love from the crooner, is the first newbie to be released from the set, not to mention the sixth (!) single from the Killer project. You might be surprised at the pens that scribbled down this track as not only Green, but the folks from the electro/pop band Wallpaper, Ross Golan, and Weezer's Rivers Cuomo had a hand in making this quite the odd collabo. So if you're wondering why Cee-Lo sounds slicker on this cut than before, then there's you're answer. Some Goodie Mob/pre-Lady Killer enthusiasts might be put off by the surge of pop goodness on this track, but it's so infectious that there is no need to be a snob about anything. Peep the lyrical video for "Anyway" after the cut, and look out of the platinum edition of The Lady Killer to hit stores November 28th---just in time for the holiday rush.
On paper, Amii Stewart belongs in the 'Land of One Hit Wonders'. She scored a disco classic in a razzle-dazzle cover of Eddie Floyd's "Knock On Wood" and she donned a headdress of Medusa's serpent hair for the occasion. She was well on her way. Even though Stewart churned out another cover (an amazing re-do of The Doors' "Light My Fire") when disco culture dissolved, so did the many artists that scored hits during that time. For some they continued to flourish in the 80's. For the rest, the disco backlash resulted in then being ignored even when they released albums well after the fact. Amii was one of those who became a listening casualty once disco dispersed.
One day I decided to use my spare time (aka unemployment time) to sift through Amii's other releases and, as usual, find out what else she had to offer besides that one single everyone knows about. Ms. Stewart has actually been recording still for three solid decades, and well, her albums after Knock On Wood were just as great---and even better. After 1979's Paradise Bird, Amii opted for more of a soul/quiet storm approach, but the real shift in her sound occurred on her 1983 self-titled release, which is by far one of my favorites from her back catalog.
By now you may have heard that Heavy Dhas passed. Yet, music never dies, so the groove continues on. After revisiting his hits with Heavy D & The Boyz, I had to refresh my brain to the fact that Heav made some major contributions to the 90's music circuit in a list akin to the Dead Sea Scrolls. He began as one of the first acts signed to the newly formed Uptown Records, which became home to acts like Mary J. Blige and Jodeci. He also became the first hip-hop artist to be president of a label as he took over Uptown in 1996, beating Jay-Z by a few years. His production credits were vast as acts like Monifah, Soul For Real ("Candy Rain"!!), and Total were on the roster.He also threw down rhymes with a (at the time) young Notorious B.I.G. and also with both MichaelandJanet Jackson. Plus he is responsible for writing the theme songs to In Living Color and MADtv,as well as had an acting career in film and television. That's not even the half of it, but man, what a career!
One thing I loved about Heavy D was the constant love for the ladies in his music. With the misogyny that runs rampant in hip-hop (making it a genre that I tend to be picky about), Heavy D was a breath of fresh air and some of that gentleman behavior is purely missed in the hip-hop culture of today. Sure he was a softie at heart, but he made it cool to be Mr. Nice Guy. I hadn't heard "Somebody For Me" in years, not to mention a bulk of other hits from the 'overweight lover' himself ("Nuttin' But Love" and "Now That We Found Love" for starters). I was a little bitty Audio Diva when it was released back in 1989 off the group's second album Big Tyme, but it has always been my favorite from Heavy. Seeped in that New Jack Swing style with Al B. Sure!'sunmistakable croonon the hook, "Somebody For Me" was a #1 hit on the Rap charts making way for mainstream success. It truly sounds just as fresh as it did 20-something odd years ago. So reminisce with me and pay tribute to a musical pioneer.
To awkward nerdy girls like me, actor Donald Glover is someone to swoon over. Glover may not pick me to be his nerdy mate, but we can both attest to being awkward way before it was vogue to shout from the mountains about it. Glover is not awkward when he's Childish Gambino, his hip-hop persona that has grown in popularity due to the 3.5 freebie mixtapes he has distributed on his site over the course of this year. While I love how he acts on the NBC comedy, Community (the bromance between Abed and Troy is amazing sauce), I've always been a bit skeptical of his hip-hop endeavor.
After listening to a mixtape here and there, for some reason, I thought all of what he was doing was purely a joke, for funsies. Sort of the Eddie Murphy way of making music (wait....he was serious with "Party All The Time"? *cocks head*) Till after awhile it sunk in that---well, Glover is actually serious about this. So serious that in a week's time he's releasing his debut album, Camp (which has already sprung a leak). "Bonfire", the official first single has caught a fire and Glover and/or Gambino is well on his way to waxing lyrics with the best of MC's. Maybe it's the techno surge "Heartbeat" is coasting on, but it's the best I've heard from him, which is why I had to devote a post to it. Still, it's going to take me awhile to convince me of what he's trying to do, but hell, Glover can't do Community forever so I'll watch this space.
Wondering what happened to VV Brown? Well, she's still around that's what. Along with a bevy of artists, she's releasing an album this year, and it's entitled Lollipops and Politics. Yeah, it sounds like she got it from the 'Mariah Carey Album Title Generator', but judging aside, VV is gunning for a more 'experimental' sound this time and she wants us to be ready for it.
Not hearing much 'experiment' on "Children", the first official single from Lollipops, but you can't shake that it's a rather energetic number with a lot of heart, as its subject matter has VV focusing on the younger generation and their empathy towards today's society. The song's subject matter is just another inkling that VV got inspired by the current economic downturn to the riots that occurred in her homestead of London this past summer to derive the deeper topics on Lollipops (hence where the 'politics' part comes in).
There's is no denying that "Shark In The Water" from her debut, Travellin' Like The Light was one of the best pop offerings to find back in '09, even when others were doubting VV's mainstay, I stuck her out because she brought a little variety to the table. I'm glad to hear that she hasn't lost her zany ways and is keeping the pop tunes a-comin'.
Sort of salivating over the idea that The Roots, possibly the single-most consistent and coolest hip-hop act around, are taking yet another creative leap for their up-coming project, undun. As a real nerd for concept albums, undun follows in this literary novel meets music format with the "existential re-telling of the short life of Redford Stephens (1974-1999)" a character that is currently shrouded in mystery and one whose story will "seek to illustrate the intersection of free will and prescribed destiny as it plays 'out on the corner'." To put a spin on the narrative, Redford's story is being told in reverse, so we as listeners can hear his internal thoughts on how he ended up in the situations that led to his tragic "undun".
Deep stuff, folks, deep stuff.
"Make My" has already made waves as the first single, and currently it's the first of four videos that will be released serial like each Tuesday at 12:06pm, leading up to the release date of undun on December 6th. Check for the stark and moody visuals of the first two entries "Make My" as well as the latest, "Tip The Scale" to get swept up in the saga of Redford Stephens.
It only took a mere daysafter the announcement that an unreleased batch of material by Amy Winehouse was to be available, that not one, but two of the tracks from Lioness: Hidden Treasures got a leak. Patience definitely isn't a music junkie's strong suit, I guess...
Usually I tread with caution with posthumous releases because unreleased material may be unreleased for a reason (i.e. all that random 'stuff' from Michael Jackson) and as a respect to the artist, sometimes they didn't want the material released at all (i.e. Jeff Buckley'sSketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk). For Winehouse an exception can be made, as there's no doubt that she had some gems left in her vaults. Proving that are the leaks of "Like Smoke" and "Our Day Will Come" which are real sparklers. Nas lends his flowing talent to "Like Smoke" (the best of the two) which drives on a brooding shuffle. While "Our Day Will Come" has a very frothy feel to it as it sounds quite like the long-lost cousin of Back To Black's "Just Friends". Both tracks are very Amy Winehouse---so it's an all-around win-win.
Lioness: Hidden Treasures drops in stores December 5th.
1. A Verbal Woo: Badu-aholics got a treat this week as Erykah Badu sat down with the Red Bull Music Academy and gave quite a candid talk about her career for two freaking hours. To even get a music artist today to lace together one sentence is admirable, but two hours of nothing but talk about her life, how she derives her music, her motivations, tales of her musical partnerships with J Dilla and Q-Tip---just plain phenomenal and a real treat to behold. Badu not only dishes about her art, but gives some depth into the whole kerfuffle around her controversial music video, "Window Seat" and the effects it had on her relationship with her record label (which slightly proves my theory as to why New Amerykah: Return Of The Ankh got grossly ignored by the award circuit). Music nerdery at it's finest when you press play.
2. Tumblrin' 4 Cats + Kanye: Two Tumblrs of pure (musical) genius have graced my life this week. Even though they are both new Tumblrs on the block, I'm anxious to see their development.
The Kitten Covers: I have become the stereotype. Singledom has coerced me into finally admitting that I'm a cat lover. It's pretty much scaring me considering how cats and me never got along to begin with. What's not scaring me is 'The Kitten Covers' Tumblr, which is the photoshop of all photoshops as kitten heads and paws are placed on iconic album covers. A time waster that is well worth it---especially when you see covers of David Meowie and Ol' Dirty Kitten.
Kanye'd By The Bell: Love or hate to love Kanye West, but who knew that Yeezy's lyrics would match so eerily well with Saved By The Bell screencaps? Which leads into some Twilight Zone-esque quandaries, like maybe all along we haven't realized that Yeezy's whole musical concept is based on the antics of Bayside High. Leading to prove that Zac Morris really and truly does rule everything and we're all Mr. Beldings in his web of mind games....hmm. It's just too eerie to digest, but still the blog is really hilarious.
[Follow me on Tumblr, if you already haven't done so---it's pretty much my second blog home.]
Yes, you'll get all gushy and swoony for Robin Thicke's new track, "Pretty Lil' Heart", so much so that you won't mind the mutant growls that Lil' Wayne opens the track with. In fact, you'll want to come hither as Thicke leads you into a soulman shuffle that really sparks.
Love After War, Robin's pending fifth release, is shaping up to be more my speed as he already impressed me with the release of the album's title track last month. Now with a second single, things are on the up-and-up.
Sexy times for your end-of-the-week are ahead when you press play.
Let's call this Extreme Makeover: Marvin Gaye Song Edition.
Stumbled upon this performance vid of Andy Allo doing Marvin Gaye some justice on possibly his most overplayed (and at times overrated) classic "Let's Get It On". Yeah, shockingly, "Let's Get It On" is not an essential Marvin tune for me (I know revoke my 'Soul Sista Card'), but the way Andy re-models it, is quite delish. She knows how to make a song her own, as she wowed folks with doing Kanye West's "Lost In The World" as well as having his Purple Majesty, Prince along for the sweet ride of Amy Winehouse's "Love Is A Losing Game".
So consider this yet another prep for that covers album she's been talking about.
When you hear the names "Ike & Tina Turner" several things come to mind. Okay, yeah, obviously "domestic abuse", then "Anne Mae you want some cake?!" (I've disliked Laurence Fishburne ever since seeing What's Love Got To Do With It---talk about good acting). On the music front, "Proud Mary" is the song everyone and their Momma knows and tries to shimmy shake to, completely forgetting it was Creedence Clearwater Revival's tune from the beginning. Then you have to marvel at Tina having possibly one of the best comebacks in music history in the 1980's. Yet, where, musically, did Tina come back from? That's what people somewhat tend to have selective amnesia about, not really realizing that Ike and Tina were more than just "rolling on a river" and having a volatile relationship.
Ike and Tina aren't really 'album artists', as their singles ruled the roost, and for the casual listener, their plethora of albums is a bit overwhelming and extraneous. Still you can safely have a solid Turner collection by just one or two greatest hits compilations---but then again, it's just more fun to go beyond that.
During their time together, the duo had an initiative to experiment and cross a board of genres. These style shifts kept them from being peskily categorized, which at times worked to their benefit, because well---you can't say they were boring. Still people didn't seem to invest in the times where they really tried to stick out from the pack and be really bold. As they pulled off Phil Spector's 'Wall of Sound' approach for River Deep Mountain High (where they remodeled their earlier hits into glossier pop recordings), a couple of years after that they dove into a Blues mindset, and personally, they excelled in this vein. Cue the conversation to talking about 1969's Outta Season and The Hunter.
Was Lungs beginner's luck for Florence + The Machine? Maybe, but Ceremonials is set to prove that wrong. Bordering a fine line between 'difficult second album' and 'robust growth', Florence Welch and crew have created yet another stunner of brooding melancholia. From the engulfing opener, the haunting "If Only For a Night", Ceremonials plunges head first into Gothic terrain that seems to flutter off the pages of a 19th Century Gothic romance novel. Tales of ghosts, mermaids, and the trials of the bemoaning and unsettling heart, are just a few of the fairy tales woven.
Over-the-top Ceremonials can be and at fifteen tracks, tedium can settle in. An overwhelm of tribal drums here and heavy-handed romance confessionals there make it an album that takes more than one digest to fully be immersed in the rich material presented. For some it may be a bit too arty, and for others, it can seem a bit overwhelming.
The lead-off singles, "What The Water Gave Me" and "Shake It Out" manage to capture the spirit of Lungs, but expands it's robust conviction mirroring the bold moves done by acts like Tears For Fears, Enya, and yes, the obvious---Kate Bush. This is all Welch's show, as her voice transcends and is even more cerebral than before. When she plows through "All This And Heaven Too" and the thunder wonders of "Heartlines" and "Spectrum", things really shake the stained glass windows of this cathedral of sound.
Artistically, Ceremonials plays up it's soulful qualities as Gospel undertones are a plenty. It's safe to sort of dub Miss Welch a rock n' soul vocalist on the rise, especially when you hear "Love To Lover" which Welch slips into perfect company with another British powerhouse---um, you know of her, oh, some girl named Adele (!). Interesting enough Adele's 21 producer, Paul Epworth is responsible for the production duties here, and the results are just as stirring. With Florence Welch battling through the sound storm and coming out a true winner, Ceremonials gets over that 'second album hump' while still managing to bring quite a rush to the listener in all of it's 'strangeness and charm'.
Haven't you heard that the West Coast's flyest duo, J*DaVeY, are (finally) releasing their first long player? Yeppers. New Designer Drug (which has been rumored for what feels like decades) will be arriving in the very near future and that 'whooshing' sound you hear is the sound of die-hard J*FaNs taking a sigh of relief. To keep the momentum up, they are doubling the pleasure and doubling the fun by giving you a 2-fer visual for new tracks, "Whachalookin@" and "Kill 4 Fun". Producer Brook D'Leau and a preggo Jack Davey strike many a pose through this mighty appeasing visual. After viewing, I suddenly have an urge to go further in debt and be Jack's shopping buddy...talk about some killer outfits. Usually music videos that feel like clothing store commercials are a bit yawn-worthy for me, but this one sucks you right in. Plus it helps that both tracks are fire---I'm talking melt your face off good.
Seriously, I'mma need New Designer Drug to be in hand in say---the next two seconds.
If you haven't done so, follow J*DaVeY on their Tumblr page to be on the up and up for what's next.
