Frenchy’s Fracas

General Info
Artist: Me’shell Ndegeocello || ||
Location: Paradiso, Amsterdam
When: 26 November 2007

Who?
Ah, Meshell.. Just wrote a review of her latest album, The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams, have a read here. Meshell is a very interesting and exciting artist and from experience I’ve learned not to expect her to go back to her earlier stuff, when her music was pure funk and jazziness. From that last album I knew to expect loud guitars and well, she didn’t disappoint me on that point.
Check out some of her performances at .

The Show
A.. Bloody.. Mess..
Meshell apologized for feeling a bit under the weather and that affected her voice, okay, fine, glad she still decided to get on stage. And most of the vocals were okay anyway.
Where things really were a bit too weird for my taste is where my girl Meshell’s constantly walking up and down the stage, switching guitars every other song, sometimes halfway, like she just decided to things differently. She was almost obsessed with the sound quality of her material and kept checking it through the monitor speakers. Really messy, I was wishing she just took a big chill pill and paid attention to her public.

Songs that Stood Out
Hmmmm.. tough one.. Most of her tracks were from the latest album, but she played Fool Of Me and Faithful from her album Bitter, which was a great and pleasant surprise. Fool Of Me is one of my alltime heartbreak songs. It was great to hear The Sloganeer: Paradise, that track is just incredible! She almost had me fooled with Evolution, they started playing it just straight with only the guitars, but happily she picked up her bass to do the second part, the tasty bass part, and me was a happy puppy!
Closing song was an excellent surprise: a cover of a Prince classic - All The Critics Love U In NY, fantastic!!

Conclusion
It felt like amateur hour, I’ve seen this lady perform before and never was the performance so chaotic and in need of some musical direction. She’s never the chatty type, but this was almost as communicative as a Middle East summit. If it wasn’t for Meshell, I’d probably left halfway the already very short performance.
Do.. not.. get.. me.. wrong..
Meshell and her band are incredible musicians but that didn’t compensate for the fact that the band was mucking about way too much.
Am I gonna go see her the next time she’s in Holland? Nothing, not even the bloody hordes from Hell (or Groningen) will be able to stop me from attending another Meshell gig, she’s too bloody brilliant to ignore. But please let there be some musical direction..
Still love me some Meshell Ndegeocello, that’s not gonna change, ever.

Rating: (1 point because it’s Meshell, half a point for playing All The Critics Love U In NY)

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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.

Google Search for reviews of this album || Album details at || || Video clips at

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!

Rating:

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General Description
Artist/Band: Me’shell Ndegeocello ||
Album Title: Plantation Lullabies
Year: 1993

Funky, moody Soul with many, many Messages

How I Got Into This Music
Me’shell’s one of my favorite artists, finally got into her music back in 1998, a bit late, but such a sweet discovery!! I think this was one of the first albums I listened to.

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

Tracks that got my attention:
I’m Diggin’ You (Like An Old Soul Record)
Momma. please help me, I’m having so much fun, it just hurts! Me’shell’s wicked vocals, rhymes and wicked bass playing just gets me all jazzed up. I even enjoy the weird guitar solo, especially the final bit where the chorus comes back.

If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)
Heheh, evil lyrics!! You do not ever want someone to tell you your partner’s unfaithful in the way Me’shell does on this track, ouch!
That nasty bass theme, makes me very happy. Ooooh, that part of the song, at the bridge, yum-yum!
Now late at night he calls me on the telephone
That’s why when you call
All you get is the busy busy tone

Shoot’n Up And Gett’n High
Tragedy, enduring a never ending form of misery and pain.

Dred Loc
Lusty love song with a great tropical feel to it - love the bridge, the sax and other horns recreate a typical 90’s groove and feel.

Untitled
Beautiful lyrics, a poem recital.
..Her beauty cannot be measured with standards of a colonized mind
Darker than blue darker than her blackness
Unblemished her features broad and striking
She cradles his body with her large hands
Her fingers stretch endlessly into his world of pain..

Step Into The Projects
Bass line is incredible all through the track, damn! Subject matter is obvious, but still to-the-point.

Soul On Ice
Another very poignant rant about the (self)image of black people and their culture; the attack on black men going for white females was one of the biggest racial topics in the 90s and it kinda still is, now the sistahs too are switching colours. There’s a lot of resentment about racial inequalities or better put: why’s whitey better than my black ass?!? Funny, I grew thinking up that although we may not be considered as equal, somehow still, nobody’s better than another. Living in a white country doesn’t change it for me.
But back to the song - this lady’s ripping up the bass like it’s nobody’s business!!

Call Me
One of my all-time favorite love songs or songs of any kind!!! The funny and loving lyrics, flowing in the typica Me’shell singing rap flux. The bass play in the background is just smooth, warm, funky and bloody brilliant. Got a lot of memories with song, sitting in front of a hotel in Guetemala, early sunrise on a small island near the Belize coast, just me and my walkman with Me’shell playing her lil’ ass off.. Ah, them be good memos!

Outside Your Door
She has this Billie Holliday sadness in her voice, not the technical similarity, but the emotional thing that just cuts through your soul.

Picture Show
A great ‘celebrating our love’ track with a nice walking and skipping and hopping and cartwheeling bass groove. And that nasty closing bit? Soooooo right!
I’m just a hopeless romantic, hopelessly in love with you

Sweet Love
Reggae ballad kinda vibe going on here, not really working for me, but this girl’s vocals still get to me.

Two Lonely Hearts (On The Subway)
I like the different styles and themes on ths track - yes, there’s this sense of motion, but also the great funky break and that beautiful closing part - just love it..

Conclusion
I was doubting if I could call this a Favorite, but after two or three tracks I quickly understood that I was being a bit silly. The angry parts in her lyrics are sometimes a bit disconcerting and sometimes also a bit too preachy: yes, there is inequality and racial prejudice, but it’s a fine line you’re walking when your protest also sounds as you want to return the favor in kind (by being aggressively unkind).
The fuck do I know about what was going through her life and her head when she wrote this stuff? Not easy to review something that personal when you haven’t had quite the same experiences.
On the musical side of things: this is an incredible album, thightly grouped musicians with excellent material to work with. The love songs are joyful taking me on a walk on top of the clouds and the sad songs take me to an abyss of lost love that can trigger less fonder memories. And that’s just the thing about this album: you have to be dead and buried not to feel anything while listening to this album, good or bad, it makes a strong impression.
Me’shell has made a great album, nuff said..

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boyoboyoboy.. three great concerts in the space of four days:
Jill Scott,
Molly Johnson
and my girl Meshell Ndegeocello.

life’s pretty good, heheh..

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Lovely bass-player and all-round musician extraordinaire, Meshell Ndegeocello, got some great live tracks on myspace.com Have a listen!

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