Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: N*E*R*D || ||
Album Title: Seeing Sounds
Year: 2008

Comeback kids?

How I Got Into This Music
This band has always been on my radar since I discovered the Neptunes products. I thought they wouldn’t release anything after the Fly Or Die album and the lackluster solo CD of band member Pharrell. But to my surprise, here’s Seeing Sounds..

Reviews: || ||
Videos: ||
Have a listen on:

Tracks that got my attention:
Time For Some Action
Funny TV theme music combined with some Pharrell wackiness introes the first track, nice. The track itself? Hmmm.. Not so good, it’s a tip of the hat to different genres and to the Purple One, but that’s not enough. I like the heavy and cheesy 80s keyboards used in the bridge, but.. meh..

Everybody Nose
Heheh.. Mixing up quite some great styles, creating an unforgettable instant anthem! There’s some Miami Bass feeling from the Too Live Crew brewing combined with a smidgen of drum&bass. Again, the break/bridge: a sweet work of art! Followed by a great singalong ending.
It took me some time to get used to it, but this is one of the best tracks!

Windows
Pop rock, punk-pop, some bits reminding me of Heroin Is So Passe by the Dandy Warhols.

Anti Matter
B O O M ! !
A great female vocal sample, reminding me of the Real Roxanne. Real drum&bass mixed with some rough guitars. And again, the changeup’s a doozy! Closing bits are perfect singalong (or, shoutalong) material.
I don’t know where these guys get them big brass balls, but they do wear them with pride..

Spaz
Didn’t like this one, really didn’t like it at all. There’s nothing here that stands out, doesn’t work for me. Way too sloppy work on the whole track.
And then, Hieronymous Fox and me are chanting the chorus during our first day at the North Sea Festival.. Every friggin’ forty minutes.. Heheh, nuff said!

Yeah You
Best track on the album. A lot of style similarities with the Frontin’ track they produced with Jay Z. It’s got that same weird laidback feeling to it. I got some weird internal references with the chorus; its bass line keeps taking me to A Rollerskating Jam Called Saturday by De La Soul , even if it actually doesn’t really match.
And the vocals and lyrics on that chorus keep reminding me of Al Green’s version of Light My Fire, yeah, I know, weird..

Sooner Or Later
No, not again.. Crap, I do get tired of these ballads: much too formulaic, leave the Beatle references alone, please?
Then again, I caught myself humming this song a few times, scary.

Love Bomb
Never hummed this one and I’m sure I never will..

Conclusion
Well.. The great tracks on this album are very, very great. But they have to carry the mediocre and crappy songs and that’s quite a heavy load to bear. I know I’ll play this record more than their previous album, but it’s getting dangerously close to Predictable Stuff.
N*E*R*D still is a great band of musicians and producers; they need Pharrell’s ego to front the whole thing, but their collective effort is what stands out.
Still wanna see them perform live some time.

Rating:

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First things first: some cunts over at rotterdamjazz dot com are splogging my posts through Technorati - no way of contacting them yet, but I have my traditional greeting for them: choke on it and drop dead, pretty please with sugar on top..

The Acts
Steely Dan
Paid me some extra cash to see these guys and it was worth it!! I was afraid Messrs. Fagen and Beecker would be al uptight and anal about the whole thing but they were relaxed and even funny sometimes. They played a great mix of hits and what really amazed me was how the sound was set up: almost everything was tightly arranged and sweetly balanced. Kudos to the sound people! - excellent show!

A Special Performance from London (Secret)
Funny thing, we were standing close to the entrance to listen to the announcer and when it turned out to be Jamie Collum, we got the hell out of there. We were just in time to see the tsunami of people hearing the news and running to get inside - not my cup of tea, waaaay too safe.

Benny Golson & Johnny Griffin: Remembering Trane
I was expecting mister Ron Carter, but he canceled, so that was too bad. BUT the replacements weren’t some talented hacks, these elder statemen of jazz rocked the stage with Heart and Love putting quite a lot of younger artists to shame - some real jazz, fantastic!

The Cinematic Orchestra
Interesting band, gonna check them out a bit more. The show was okay, dedicated and purposeful musicians - definitely on my to do list

Wicked Jazz Sounds Featuring Phil Horneman & Leroy Rey
Saw/heard DJ Leroy do his stuff in Paradiso a while back and this guy is incredible! His knowledge of rare grooves and oldies is huge, wow.. And he is one hell of a performer, setting up a beat, a mood and directing his audience to a place of pure Fun - people, you must check this guy out!

Hiernoymus Fox:
The gig took place on the roof terras under the beautiful sun. The dj I saw was Leroy and he really blew the crowd away with his mix of jazz and funk! He’s also a great entertainer, which really added something to the whole.

Roy Hargrove
Last year he performed with his RH Factor band, this year it’s back to jazz, solid work by a great group of genius musicians - loved it!

Maceo Parker
When we dropped in the show was already half way, seeing Maceo doing his James Brown style of entertainment is okay, but seeing him without his saxophone is disconcerting - didn’t like it at all.

Hieronymus Fox:
Donald Fagen was singing like in his best days and Walter Becker played very well and added a comic note to the whole now and then. They realy seemed to enjoy themselves and so did the audience!

Lura
Hieronymus Fox suggested we have a look/listen and it was a great suggestion. This lady mixes music from Cape Verde with different styles to create a passionate and warm sound - liked it!

Conclusion
Best of the second day were Steely Dan and DJ Leroy, with Messrs. Golson and Griffin as the icing on the cake.

Hieronymus Fox’s North Sea Jazz Journals at Last.fm:
Steely Dan
Golson & Johnny Griffing: Remembering Trane
The Cinematic Orchestra
Wicked Jazz
Roy Hargrove
Lura

Pictures at Flickr.com

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First things first: some cunts over at rotterdamjazz dot com are splogging my posts through Technorati - no way of contacting them yet, but I have my traditional greeting for them: choke on it and drop dead, pretty please with sugar on top..

The Acts
Robin McKelle
First act of the first day: great voice doing the the jazz standards of the 30s thru 50s - moved on after four songs - nice performance.

Rob van de Wouw
Talented Dutch trumpet player, conservatory level, and this show is part of his more relaxed jazzy work. Liked it, nice vibe, great quality - not bad at all.

The Roots
Aha!! Check out my review of the gig I saw them do in Paradiso earlier this last year. Same setup but with one great addition: a tuba player! Roots are still the best band in the world, don’t matter if you like their stuff or not, your ears will tell you that I’m right - great show!

Hiernoymus Fox:
In my humble opinion The Roots are one of the best live bands in the world, period.

Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood
Well.. They performed in this great big tent and when we arrived the place was fully packed. So we stood by the side listening to the stuff, solid improvisational musicians, but not my thing - nice, that’s it..

Al Green
Every time the man started talking to the crowd I was aching for him to just shut up and do his Thing. And when he did do his Thing, man.. Goose bumps all over! Al Green is a Gift to music - great and unforgettable experience!

Hieronymus Fox:
Al Green is one of the last soul legends, nuff said. If you can see this man performing live for the first, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity feeling.
His performance was stunning. His voice is still in good quality and he’s a charismatic, born entertainer. Off course, he’s also a priest, so you get a mix from all of this and it felt good, good, good!

Ojos de Brujo
An interesting combination of a gazillion different styles of music, but mainly a combo of hip-hop and flamenco, Indian percussion and scratching - weird stuff, entertaining.

Conclusion
Great first day, the mix of Al Green and Roots had me floating back home (well, not really, my legs were dead, it’s my age, I guess, heheh..)

Hieronymus Fox’s North Sea Jazz Journals at Last.fm:
Robin McKelle
Rob van de Wouw
Al Green
The Roots
Ojos de Brujo

Pictures at Flickr.com

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Oooooo, daddy-o! Those crazy people of the North Sea Jazz Festival have anounced their line-up/program!! And it’s an interesting collection of artists that will be performing during those hot and sweaty days in July; here’s a few names:

• Amy Winehouse (still sober?)
• Snoop Dogg (WTF?)
• Steely Dan (the masters of silky pop)
• Sly & The Family Stone (xcellent surprise)
• Joshua Redman
• Ornette Coleman
• Wynton Marsalis (arrogant legend)
• Al Green (YES!!!!)

Me am happy, me start saving cash for three days of music, me am happyhappy!

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