Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: José James || ||
Album Title: The Dreamer
Year: 2007

Hard work, just rewards

How I Got Into This Music
The evil man, Hieronymus Fox, all his fault
He took me to see the guy perform in Paradiso about a month ago. And I was seriously impressed!
So when his album was released I had to have a listen.

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Video clips at ||

Tracks that got my attention:
The Dreamer
Title track, takes you directly to the essence: jazzy trumpet, omnipresent piano and a lazy but sweet bass on the background. What? The vocals? Ooooooow, so sweet! It’s got this dreamy, lullaby softness mixed with booming vocal peaks, damn!
This song’s a classic Walk Along The Beach theme.

Velvet
The song’s strongest point is (how Zen) also its Achilles heel: the slow, repetative and grinding build up to this.. climax, I guess. And that climax isn’t that satisfactory.

blackeyedsusan
Damn, this track’s close to perfection. James’ smokey and brittle voice is great. Nice piano solo.

Park Bench People
Sample from A Tribe Called Quest’s Sucka Niggahs. Now I got to find me the original, heheh..
Interesting social commentary, soft and sharp edges at the same time.

Nola
Hauntingly beautiful song. Melancholy in a kind way.

Red
Another excellent track. Puts him in the true Jazz Vocalist category, forget Collum and those crooner types.

Winter Wind
This one’s a Walk In The Park On A Sunny Winter Day kind of track.

Desire
A bit too heavy on the drama.

Love
Nice up-tempo track; a pleasant change of style.

Conclusion
Go see this guy perform live.
This album’s a great product of hard work, devotion and soul. It’s just a bit too repetitive for my taste. It’s not James’ vocals, that’s diverse enough to take you to heaven and back. But the tracks all have the same setup, his vocals and the piano/keyboards are the main instruments. The other musicians are purely there for support, only the trumpet gets some minutes in front, that’s it.
Same thing occurred to me when I saw the band at Paradiso: how hard is it to let the drummer and the bassist join in? Again, it’s the one-sideness that caught my attention, everything else is bloody top notch.
It’s probably gonna be the same thing as with The Roots: I’m not very impressed with the albums but I’m 100 per cent sure that I’ll be seeing them play live again, the first chance that I get. I’m seriously hoping José James and band will perform during North Sea Jazz this year.
And as I said before, this guy is not of the J Collum class of easy listening crooner babies. Do not confuse crooning with jazz vocals: different disciplines and José James is of a greater quality.
Go see this guy perform live.

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General Description
Artist/Band: Ween || ||
Album Title: La Cucaracha
Year: 2007

Please don’t use too much pesticide?

How I Got Into This Music
Their Chocolate & Cheese album is one of my alltime favorites. These guys are masters of every genre in the music business, taking it all apart and putting it all back together without a single piece missing, but still.. They seem to add something to the form, mostly brainless comedy mixed with sharp satire and some totally ruthless political incorrectness. Ween is always a blessing and a curse served on one dish. La Cucaracha is their latest release.

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Tracks that got my attention:
Fiesta
Heheh.. Really, really funny intro track! Europe used to be plagued by this weird phenomenon called James Last. Well this track is James Last on every forbidden chemical and organic substance. Just keeps putting a smile on my face and that weird drum solo in the middle section, wow!

Blue Balloon
These guys do this every time. There’s always at least one track that makes me so incredibly mellow, relaxed and content; on this album it’s this track. Very mellow guitars and vocals, corny effects and weird lyrics, love it!

Friends
Ironic cardio-fitness music, in itself a moot point, but hey..

Object
[Insane grin] Go search the interwebs for the lyrics. Murderously funny..

Learnin’ To Love
This track’s got this catchy hillbilly thing going on. The first white man I see stomping his feet to this song will make me leave in 10 seconds flat, because before you know, more white men will join in. And before you know, there’s a “Yeeehah!” too many and people start looking at you funny like measuring you for a length of rope. Love it.

My Own Bare Hands
I will not support the lyrics of this track. It makes me smile for the right reasons, but I know for sure that people will start taking the words literally and miss out on all the flaming sarcasm.

Sweetheart In The Summer
Works for me, that’s it..

Woman And Man
Wow.. 10 minutes long tribute to the 70’s Epic Tracks, you know the ones that had the encredible large storylines and awesomely complex musical changes in styles and structures? No? Oh.. Okay.

Your Party
It’s just mellow.. The lyrics kept me waiting for the other shoe to drop, but the shoes were tucked away under the bed.

Conclusion
It’s Ween, meaning that it’s not always gonna be what you expect, musically or quality-wise. But there’s no denying the talents of this band, serious musicians making music sound simple. Not one of their best albums, but I know for sure that I’ll still be thinking of this album in a few years time. That’s what Ween is about, for me.

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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.

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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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