Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: Me’shell Ndegeocello || ||
Album Title: The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams
Year: 2007

Incredibly complex, taxing and beautiful

How I Got Into This Music
One of the most inspiring artists in my collection, Me’shell Ndegeocello is in my top 5 and nothing’s gonna change that ranking. This is her latest release.

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Tracks that got my attention:
Haditha
If you gonna use this as an intro, why leave out the lyrics from the booklet? I love the lyrics, dammit..

The Sloganeer: Paradise
Ready to be taken on a trip through Memory Lane? For me, part of the bass chords remind me of The Forest by those lovely and cheery people called The Cure.
High speed percussion, soft weakened guitar strumming on the background and that bass: a perfect start for a song. And even the vocals are almost British in style.
To know me is to know I love with imagination

Evolution
Anybody still expecting the soul/funky stuff Me’shell “usually” plays, should by now re-assess those expectations. Sort of.. Kinda..
Some of the bass work is as funky as ever, but the whole track is more set up like an edgy rock/funk type of deal.
And it took me quite a long time to get used to it: the rocky guitars and almost no bass in the beginning and her eerie vocals. The ending is all about that warm bass.
Can’t really explain it.

Virgo
Great space themed track, another weird mix of styles. It starts as a drive along the beach on a beautiful and sunny day. Then it turns into kinda Space Odyssey Light. Doesn’t really matter, coz her bass skills are nasty, hard and funky on this one!

Lovely Lovely
With your fingertips as you kiss my lips
I know that you love me
Just love that line!
Comparison time again: a reggae groove that’s also has a bit of the Egyptian feel to it. I love the bridge, taking all the mellow warmth away and going for the kill, rockhard. And again some North African and Spanish influences, lovely, lovely!

Elliptical
This sounds like Bowie’s Major Tom. No, more like an alternative take on the subject, musically and lyrically. She takes us on another space trip, adding some very choppy and lovely bass play to the sound with some great additional vocals by Sy Smith .

Shirk
This is such a beautiful and fragile song. Guitars by the legendary Pat Metheny who also cowrote this one.
Sometimes when I’m really not in the mood, this track’s a bit too much and gets a little annoying.. But, everytime I hear Oumou Sangare’s vocals I just stop and enjoy.

Article 3
Well, back to the BritPunk era of yesteryears. She really had me worried with this track: just a bit too much of that horrible Franz Ferdinand/Bloc Party 80’s copycat crap. Luckily for me, she deviates from that style in the second half the track, giving us something to really pay attention to. Incredible drums and percussion and great vocals.
I was a sad and lonely child
You’re embarrassed of my because I’m ugly
I’m burdened by fads and fashion
Curses to the culture of hair
A very brilliant way to express your feelings!

Michelle Johnson
Rock, reggae, dub, electronics, you name it, Me’shell put it in this track.

Headline
Damn the energy from this track is great! And those closing 45 seconds, wow-wow-wowwie!
I read in the paper
They got a pill
To bring my soul ease..

Solomon
Beautiful opening lyrics from a father to his son. Another weird reggae influenced song with a very sweet ending.

Relief : A Stripper Classic
Back to the heavy rock guitars, not really that enjoyable for me. And she does it again: the closing two minutes are.. so unbelievably beautiful. Added vocals from Sy Smith again; confirming that Me’shell’s found a nice replacement for miss Caron Wheeler.

Conclusion
It took me more than a month to get used to this album. Me’shell is a true artist, she makes her music because it’s part of her life. If you like her talent, you have to expect and accept that she’ll make music that doesn’t always necessarily fit your own tastes. An uncompromising artist isn’t always successful, but for me, as I said earlier, she’s one of the best musical experiences in my life.
Back to the album. She’s done the galaxy, space-themed stuff before, but combined with the punkrock-alike influences, the album really pushed my boundries a bit. Again, anybody expecting a rehash of earlier albums, is in for a rough ride.
But those who can get over that, will experience something different, something out of the ordinary. Like it or not, Me’shell’s music will never be described as ordinary.
Not one of my favorites but I like it a lot!

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General Description
Artist/Band: Donny Hathaway || ||
Album Title: These Songs For You, Live!
Year: 2004

This is why I love music..

How I Got Into This Music
Annoying little man, Hieronymus Fox.. The guy’s right 99% of the time and it would be a serious pain in the ass if it wasn’t for the fact that I always benefit from it.
The man brought along this CD for me to listen to from a singer called Donny Hathaway. The name rang a bell, and after some mental excercise I remembered this track from a Back To Mine compilation by Everything But The Girl called Someday We’ll Be Free. I liked but I thought it was a bit too sweet and soft.
Most of us old-timers know him from his duet with Roberta Flack . That bone-chillingly beautiful Where Is The Love?, remember that?
These Songs For You, Live! is a compilation of live tracks performed during the 70s, the man himself died 1979.

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Tracks that got my attention:
Flying Easy
Love this recording, the sound system isn’t working right, so the first minute or so the vocals are a bit too soft. No slickness here, boys and girls! And it doesn’t matter cause the man’s vocals bring a spring sunshine to anybody’s dark winter day..

Valdez in the Country
One of his own tracks, love the crispy keyboards on this instrumental track.

Someday We’ll All Be Free
Ohmygod.. The track I thought to be a bit too soft and sweet: this live version just breaks my heart in a gazillion pieces. Fuckmethisisbeautifulnuffsaid..
Listen to this man’s voice.

You Got A Friend
Now we get a coupla covers of Classic tracks. First one, Carole King’s masterpiece. It’s an easy sing-along track, and the crowd eats it all up. But listen to Hathaway’s subtle vocal changes, brilliant!

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
This is the slowest version of this track ever and it’s friggin’ incredible!! His mix of whispery soft and booming gospel vocals, it’s.. Can’t find the words, just go have a listen..

What’s Going On
You gotta have some very large balls to cover a Marvin Gaye classic; and perform it in a way that makes you accept the fact that someone else is singing it. Shit, this is a very close to a perfect alternative version!

Yesterday
I swear when the Beatles heard this version, they must’ve realised that not only did they make one of the greatest songs of all time, but that there’s someone else who can perform the track better than themselves. Think the Beatles went like: Right, we’re done here, nothing left to do, guys. Off to the pub, cause this bastard’s put us to shame.. Who the hell is this guy?!?

Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)
See previous track. I’ve posted it before: this version of Superwoman is one of the most breath-taking things I’ve ever heard.

A Song For You
When the man’s vocals go all gospel on you, it just makes you stop whatever you were doing and pay attention. However the crowd isn’t behaving at its best, mucking about during such a delicate song, but hey, it comes with the territory.

Sack Full Of Dreams
Wow, such slow sweetness. I can not be grumpy when I hear this one.

Little Ghetto Boy
First heard this as a sample on Dr.Dre’s Chronic and he knew what to use from his Elders. Beautiful vocals singing harsh lyrics with an upbeat ending.

I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know
Damn, the opening vocals on this track! Soul & Blues mixed up in one heart-wrenching song.

The Ghetto
The keyboard buildup is nice and mellow, followed by a lovely up-tempo groove. Great crowd participation and again, when Hathaway puts out that voice out there, I get goose bumps.

Interview
An interesting addition to the album: bits and piece from an interview with Hathaway. You get to see what he was doing, thinking and planning. His life plans, what he wants to do musically, it goes in all directions.

Conclusion
I haven’t heard a contemporary performer put so much heart and talent into the music like Donny Hathaway. It’s possible that I wouldn’t like the studio albums as much as this live compilation, who cares?
It’s very regrettable that we don’t have Donny Hathaway in our midst any more, it is a sad thing that we don’t have a performer of his stature in our midst at the moment.
Enough with the praise, I love this album!

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General Description
Artist/Band: David Holmes ||
Album Title: Come Get It, I Got It
Year: 2002

Producer’s Master Class

How I Got Into This Music
The second source of interesting music, my man ArAm, it’s all his fault again
He let me listen to another album from David Holmes called Let’s Get Killed a coupla years ago, but… The album didn’t really work for me back then and I didn’t pay much attention to the artists for quite a while. Until..
Sitting in the movie theater with another friend of mine (Hello, SleighRide!) watching.. gulp.. Out Of Site with Mr. Clooney and Miss Lopez’ JellyBuns. I didn’t expect a lot from the movie and was surprised when I realized that the movie was great entertainment. What really got me excited (no, not her nice butt) was the film score/soundtrack, wow!!! I got the CD the next day and it took me some days to connect the soundtrack to Let’s Get Killed, silly me..
So I went scouting for more and encountered this little album called Come Get It, I Got It..

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Tracks that got my attention:
Intro
Heheh.. Heard this one also being used by rap legend Grandmaster Flash!

Sixto Rodriguez - Sugarman
This song? Wow… couldn’t believe my ears when I heard this the first time. Still can’t believe them, this track has this incredible grip on my emotional triggers: I can get happy and sad at the same time when I hear this song.
Never heard of Sixto (Diaz) Rodriguez before but I sure am glad mister Holmes introduced me to him!

The Free Association - Effectin
Ohh.. The first entry from The Free Association project of mister Holmes and others. Love the whole thought behind the lyrics!

Hodges, James, Smith & Crawford - Nobody
Man-o-man-o-man-o-man!
When I play this one in the car, other drivers get to see me shouting my lungs across the galaxy.

Muddy Waters - Tom Cat
The late great Muddy Waters doing his dirty deeds, nice!

The Johnny Otis Show - Country Girl
You can take foxes out of the country, but
You can’t take the country out of foxes
O-so-nasty! Straight down and dirty blues mucking up those spit-shined shoes..

Rex Garvin & The Mighty Cravers - Strange Happenings
Whoa.. Heavy stuff, not always my cup of tea. Subtle production work by Holmes with the extra heavy background hisses and disturbances.

Harold Alexander - Mama Soul
Damn, I’ve never heard shit like this before! Don’t especially like or dislike the song, but it’s definitely a bizarre track..

Ray Bryant - Up Above The Rock
Sometimes this track’s a bit annoying, but there’s also this great vibe coming off the whole thing, making me wanna clap my hands and stomp my feet.
Also sounds like a great intro track for some 70’s TV show.

Cyril Neville - Gossip
Cyril Neville of the Neville Brothers, doing some funky bluesy stuff.

A Fascinating Musical Experience - The Monster
There’s a 99% chance that if you wake me from my hard earned sleep around four in the morning, just to play me this song, that you’ll probably live to tell the story.. Just probably not with all your body parts intact, but hey..
I just LOVE this track: that mellowed-out bass on the background, the solo guitar that just makes the devil cry and those nasty keyboards chopping away at your sanity. Love it!!

Jujus - Sweet Songs
Love this one too, the band gets to do some old school introductions: instruments, horoscope, name and a little solo. Sweet songs, indeed!

Betty Adams - Make It Real (Ride On)
Somebody told me lightning don’t strike the same place twice.
Uh-huh, that could be true, but somehow it don’t somehow seem right.
Alright, I saw you last night and I saw you today.
Uh-huh, every time, baby, you make me feel the same way.
Damn, you know I like me some metaphores and gross exaggerations, but with this song it’s simple: you need to be totally dead and buried/cremated (or working for the Civil Service for more than six months) to NOT feel anything when you hear this song.
Listen, to me it’s a sort of natural selection, making the distinction between those who love music and those who don’t. If you’re in the second category, go work for the Civil Service, you’ll like it there.
Do you follow?

The Staple Singers - Why? (Am I Treated So Bad)
Classy bass, the incredibly talented vocals, sweeeeet..

The Free Association - La Dolce Vita
Wacky electronics, takes the right mood to listen to this one, and when the mood matches the track: pure extacy! When it doesn’t match: a lot of valium helps a bit.

Johnny Jones And The King Casuals - Purple Haze
Have a read here about their relation with Jimi Hendrix.

The Free Association - Don’t Believe A Word
Incredible mix of electronics, great vocals and great closing lyrics.
Don’t shoot that stuff in your arms.
The only thing [we] should have in our arms, is eachother

Conclusion
I think I’ve succeeded in bringing across these subtle hints about my serious love for this album. If not, lemme try again.. Ehm..
This album could be viewed as just a collection of diverse tracks used in such a way that a certain coherence is being proposed that comes across as suggestively eclectic mix of music. (getting drowsy..)
Or, read this excellent review by the interestingly name Pimps Of Gore
Or, you could simply acccept that this mix of weird, soulful, blues-infected, electronics-injected songs is something you’ve never expected to hear in such a way and that it’s impossible not be awestruck by this album. It’s just one of my Favorite albums, have a listen and after that you can come back and agree with me
Nuff said..

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General Description
Artist/Band: Feist ||
Album Title: The Reminder
Year: 2007

Talented singer..

How I Got Into This Music
Well, it was one of those TV discoveries, that still works occassionally
Saw this funny video called One Two Three Four and the song and the video registered somewhere in my brain. Then I saw it again somewhere, and I gave the album a listen.

Google Search for reviews of this album || Album details at Artistdirect.com || Answers.com ||

Tracks that got my attention:
I’m Sorry
Wow, an opening track that sounds like a closing track
There’s a great vibe and a kinda 70’s feeling with this song.

Feel It All
Ah, bad choice of style. The up-tempo is going nowhere and the slower parts are.. meh..

My Moon My Man
Great balance between the soft vocals and the rest of the band. The chorus is also almost electro, nice.

The Park
Love the simple guitar intro and when her vocals take over. The whole track is very well supported by her vocal talents.

Sea Lion Woman
A nice change of pace and of style. It’s simple and catchy.

Past In Present
Second track that reminds me waaaay too much of Sheryl Crow, and that’s one too many. The buildup’s great, solid guitars, great beat, too bad.

One Two Three Four
Brilliant! I like the background vocals during the chorus, love the sweet and soft bits with the violins and banjo and the horns halfway the track. Tender vocals, beautiful!

Brandy Alexander
Very intense song, love it! There are more than one explanations for the title, have a read here.. I’m guessing it’s the cocktail
And again, her voice is excellent, wow..

Intuition
And in came a heatwave
A merciful save
You choose, you chose
Poetry over prose
Not sure what’s being told, but it’s beautifully performed, chills..
Even bigger chills: the background vocals at the end of this track; I have to restrain myself from skipping to the end, love that part that much, but it won’t be fair to the whole track.

Conclusion
First things first: her vocals. With almost every track I’m racking my brain thinking about a specific singer she’s reminding me of. That’s not always a negative, mind you. But sometimes, it can get on my nerves, especially when you trigger memories of artists like Sheryl Crow and Dido.
Still, I’ve been playing this record now for a while and it doesn’t get boring at all. It’s an excellent album to play when you’re having people over for dinner. Of course, shops like BarStucks will use the record too and play till everybody gets homocidal, I’m afraid..
So, not a bad album, definitely not a bad singer. Just nothing too much above average, easy listening to the max.

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General Description
Artist/Band: Visioneers ||
Album Title: Dirty Old Hip Hop
Year: 2006

Excellent grooviness..

How I Got Into This Music
I’ve been enjoying 4hero and Marc Mac’s Chess Cadet All Stars for about a year now. This album’s another of Marc Mac’s projects and I just had to listen to it..

Google Search for reviews of this album || Album details at Artistdirect.com || || Discogs ||

Tracks that got my attention:
Replay ft. Voice
Mellowness taking the listener on a flashback trip through the history of quality rap musicians and producers like A Tribe Called Quest, Jazzy Jeff, Gangstarr and The Pharcyde. Love the smooth vocals by Voice.

Runnin’
Never thought people would be so smitten with the original version by The Pharcyde, but I ain’t complaining! I remember hearing the intro of this version with Hieronymus Fox and we were both jumping like happy kids; when we noticed it was an instrumental version, we stopped acting silly.. for about thirty seconds

The World Is Yours
Laidback bass and keyboards, catchy loops. Love the bass solo, but not that much else happening.

Funk Box ft. Capitol A
Familiar vocals by Capitol A, who also worked with Jazzanova. Basic quality, groove and funkiness.

It’s Simple
A very relaxed version of Simple Folk, a track from Marc Mac’s project from yesteryears, The Chess Cadet All Stars.
More jazzy influences, the flute working some nice magic in the background with the guitar, and that bass? Love it.

Dirty Old Bossa Nova
Damn, got me scanning all my CD’s from A Tribe Called Quest, grmbl.. Hold on.. Nope, I give up, can’t find it, argh!
Back to the track itself: lovely bossa groove!

Run For Cover
Yep, pure gold. Great way of using a central theme in the track, and then the sudden double tempo variant at the end? Great stuff!

55 Dollars
Oooooh.. Flashback to all those TV series from the seventies. Love the horns..

Paul’s Guitar Story
Hmmm, jazz guitar track, sounds nice, just a bit too bland for my taste.

Days Gone By (Egyptology)
Much better guitar work on this track. The track sounds a bit like Jill Scott’s Slowly Surely, I’m sure that’s intentional since they’ve worked with eachother in the past on Jill’s Experience album.

Conclusion
I think my love for previous work by Marc Mac and 4hero has kinda spoilt me a bit. Dirty Old Hip Hop is a great album and very tightly produced too. But… For me, there’s not a lot of new things happening. That’s why this album’s not one of my Favorites. Still very curious to hear the remix version called Dirty Old Remixes!

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