Well I bought both the new D'Angelo CD and Angie Stone CD and overall I'm
very disappointed by both of them. It's not anything as abstract as what
their influences are or aren't, or that I am or ain't diggin' their
vibe/sound/etc, it's just the songs aren't that good. Plain and f'ing
simple. These are the kinds of CDs that compilation tapes (or mini discs in
my case) were made for. Take the 3-4 great tracks off the D'Angelo album and
the 2 tracks I like off Angie Stone and put them on a mini disc compilation.
I hardly buy any music we don't distribute. When I do it's almost always
r&b. I had high hopes for these records. I WANTED to like them. But,
listening to them I was struck with the feeling that the songs just weren't
at the level I expected. YMMV but that's my opinion.
Dirk van den Heuvel (dirkv@groovedis.com)
Groove Distribution
http://www.groovedis.com
Your Guide To The Underground
-----Original Message-----
From: Deep Soul [mailto:jjeudy@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2000 11:24 AM
To: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
Subject: My last rites about Voodoo...
I think that a lot of people who are downing the album have put themselves
outside it's reach. To say that it doesn't encompass that old-skool soul
flavor is to clearly miss the mark. Influences of greats like Sly, Marvin,
and Prince are well apparent. However, D'angelo adds a jazzy yet still
soulful spin to his expression. In comparison, a song like "Heaven Must Be
Like This", or "Your Precious Love" done by both D'Angelo and Erykah Badu
would probably be more palatable since it's more of a classic soul style.
It's ironic that Stimp mentioned how much he disliked "Voodoo" and how much
he liked "Black Diamond" by Angie Stone. Both artists have worked together
for several years and are VERY close friends (close like D being the father
of one of her children!) If you check closely, most of the songs written on
Voodoo are co-written by Angie Stone. "Everyday" on Angie's album was
co-produced with D'Angelo.
Not surprisingly, I get similar enjoyment from both of these albums.
Initially, I had reservations about Voodoo since hearing Devil's Pie which
came out back in '98. For me, I thought this was what to expect of D's album
and thus I wasn't pressed on getting it. Now that it's out, yeah there's
tons of reviews, shots and praises about the album. My General Rule: why am
I going to let the opinion of people swayed by winds of expectation and
their own biases affect how I feel about an artist and his music.
There are only two entities to really compare this album with: the generic
radio tune from the various urban hit factories
(BadBoy/Timbaland/DarkChild/etc); and D'Angelo's first album, Brown Sugar. I
shouldn't have to explain the differences in the first category. But it's
really into looking where D has been to what he's trying to do now that the
real enjoyment comes. I loved Brown Sugar and it definitely stands out among
less aspiring r&b albums, but it still left me wanting for something. Maybe
someting personal that I DID get from Badu, or more recently Amel Larrieux
(foreshadowing...) Even he admits in his liners that he could easily have
used the same formulas and aproach towards this album and enjoyed similar
success as he did previously. But this was personal project to expand his
artistic self and to honor those possesive forces and people that drive him
to make music. "Untitled" is out and out an ode to the now untitled artist.
Instead of drum machines and snappy samples, you have talent the like of Roy
Hargrove, Charlie Hunter, Ahmir Thompsoin of The Roots, and Raphael Saadiq
to add a living spirit to the album. Listen to each song... Recognize that
each is done without overdubs or looped orchestrations. This isn't radio
playlist music for passive ears. Every cuts is a live jam that echoes in
your mind when you open yourself to it. You can't just browse through it
like you can a Marvin Gaye or otherwise more "formatted" album because the
format is different. The same way you can just browse through Miles Davis or
Sun Ra.
What I would tell anyone about this album is to ignore everything that you
have heard and remove all expectation. Listen and enjoy it like you would
that smokey jazz club away from the pop life. See if you too get caught up
in the voodoo.
Deep_Soul
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