jason egbuna (thehottestmale@hotmail.com)
Thu, 09 Sep 1999 02:20:08 GMT
Yep.
Macy Gray is definitely worth investing in. And yep, leave Grenique on the
shelf. And...oh wait, this is an acid-jazz listserve....cough cough.
Although I have to say that most of the stuff you say is dead on man.
G'night.
jay "give the people what they want" egbuna
>From: "Steve Catanzaro" <stevencatanzaro@sprintmail.com>
>To: <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
>Subject: more reviews
>Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 18:32:22 -0700
>
>
>ok, just made a trip to Virgin, and, thought I'd check in with some reviews
>of my own. The caveat is these discs are all new, and you never know how a
>disc will sit with you after you live with it for a bit, still, here
>goes...
>
>"grenique, black butterfly." Hey, you can pick this one up real cheap, and
>after hearing about it on the list, i jumped at this female crooner from
>the
>Kedar Massenberg (Erykah Badu) stable. Very disappointing. Her voice fails
>to distinguish itself, in my book, and the songwriting, while definitely a
>couple of notches above "Boom like an 808" or "No, I don't want no scrubs"
>is far short of classic status. Despite a couple of real cool moments, the
>disc generally leaves me cold. The programming is not nearly as "organic"
>as
>the understated work on Baduizm, but hey, the voice is the thing, and this
>voice is more, how you say... generique?
>
>"macy gray, on how life is"... oops? my ex-roomate's joint.. so, I can't be
>objective, but it's a LOT better than the demo tapes she used to make on my
>MT2X 4 track, and like her voice or not, the whole vibe is definitely a
>move
>on point for an Epic release. The production is top-notch, as would be
>expected with a high stakes sony marketing push, and there are some nice
>party grooves, including "Why Didn't You Call Me" and "Sex-O Matic Venus
>Freak." Those looking too hard for the next Chaka Khan might be
>disappointed, but this is an above average release, and certainly more
>flavorful than... Mariah? Whitney? Jennifer? Christina? Mary?
>
>well, hold on a minute! "mary j. blige, mary" is a real contender. By now,
>you've all heard the Lauryn Hill produced "All That I Can Say," a very
>catchy track with some far out chord changes. If you like it, you "may"
>like
>the rest of the disc. Lots of ground covered, from guest appearences by
>Eric
>Clapton and Elton John (yikes!) to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis in their most
>over-the-top superproducer mode. But the thing here is the voice... If you
>think, like I do, that this is one of the most soulful singers in the
>public
>eye today, you'll put up with most anything production wise.
>
>the herbaliser, very mercenary... some dope trax, but overall, when a
>bahamadia lyric fails to inspire, you know there's trouble. In all
>fairness,
>haven't been able to get through this one all the way yet, so, thats "all
>that I can say."
>
>the innerzone orchestra, programmed... oh yeah, very cool. pass me that...
>despite some crazy concept interludes I'm not to hip too, there are some
>great sounds and great grooves on this disc. A lot of variety, and much of
>it hits the bullzeye with me. Where else can we hear Sun Ra alum Francisco
>Moira offering up excellent live drums synced up to real Detroit-city style
>programming? Standouts for me include the tasty violin on"Blakula",
>processed so it sounds a little like the oriental sound of the "Last
>Emperor" soundtrack, and a remake of People Make the World Go 'Round,
>complete with a big league string arrangement. Also some great 70's era
>jazz-funk jamz (Timing, Bug In The Bass Bin), and some super-mellow
>synthesized "texture" tunes (Architecture), that put me in mind a bit of
>the
>ECM style solo work of Lyle Mays from the Pat Metheny Group. Overall, a
>real
>nice combination of man and machine that should do a lot to chill you out
>and bring your stress level down.
>
>maceo parker, funk overload. This one shows you just how great James
>Brown's
>bands sometimes were. The funk here is heavy handed, and it's a giant step
>below imitators like Liquid Soul, certainly nowhere near as groov-a-licious
>as the master's. I'll put the blame on the drumming of Jamal Thomas... for
>this music to be super-special, you need a truly great drummer like Brown
>alums Clyde Stubblefield or John "Jab-O" Starks. Also weak is Maceo's "rap"
>tune "Elephant's Foot" and the completely disposable "Uptown Up." Maceo on
>alto is great, of course, and his "real" vocals aren't bad either. I've
>heard that Maceo's brother, another great James Brown drummer, is a
>hi-skool
>guidance counsellor someplace. Can't Maceo get him to pick up the stix one
>more time?
>
>and, my favorite of the new buys? Hands down, it's the Blaxploitation
>comps.
>I think there's 4 series of double CD's now and there are some fabulous
>real
>deal trax from the old skool on every 1. If your idea of fun is chillin' to
>Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, and the funky pre "Rockit" Herbie Hancock,
>these are for you. Heck, even Grover Washington Jr and George Benson sound
>good, and these imports go to show how the 94.7 Wave format of "Smooth
>Jazz"
>that l.a. hipsters Elson and T-Bird love so much have absolutely RUINED
>major label instrumental music.
>
>One final note... heard the new Erykah Badu/Rahzeel track "Southern Gul.."
>Are they really gonna release that as a single? Even Erykah's incredible
>voice can't put this track over the top... I think that'd be a step in the
>wrong direction... I guess I like the adventurousness of it, but then
>again,
>what doez Rahzeel do that Take 6 and Bobby McFerrin didn't do 15 years ago?
>And, I jus' smiled one time at the lyric (the bit about the fried food) as
>compared to the laugh fest lyrics of "Tyrone"... I hope this is just the
>first track, and not the best track.
>
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