OK, if forced to choose, which thankfully we're not, my preference for an
artist runs toward Amel, but for a record, I think Voodoo. Why?
Well, in the first place both artists are strong in the vocal texture
department. The first thing I notice about D'Angelo are the omnipresent
vocal overdubs; Same with Amel, but, to my ear, Amel's voicings and
harmonies are more original. And even if D'Angelo's texture is more unique,
Amel's harmonies are jazzier and she's not afraid of strange intervals. I
think the thing to listen for on this record is the background harmonies
Yes, it can get dangerously Mariah-esque in spots, but in general, it's
quite tasty. Which brings me to point 2.
What's this? Keyboard bass and Rhodes played by.... Amel Larriuex? OK, that
puts her in another realm right there. How come D'Angelo can be a musical
genius but Amel's just a singer... at least, that's what the press tells us
so far. Which brings me to point 3...
Even though Amel is stunningly beautiful, there are only 3 kind of abstract
pictures of her in the CD book. Evidently, we've finally got someone who is
banking on her musicality and is not abot to become another soft-core
model-singer like Mariah, Brittney and Jennifer. (To say nothing of your
Little Kim's, your Foxy Brown's, even your Brigitte McWilliams's.)
Now, there's a topless picture of D'Angelo just about everywhere you look
these days. So there's all kinds of wierd sexual double standards at work
here. But much respect to Amel for downplaying the cheescake sexual in favor
of the spiritual and the musical!!!
Voodoo might be deeper and more soulfully played and produced, but Amel is
definitely a fresh voice! I enjoy both!
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Allerton <Mark@warmspot.cix.co.uk>
To: BAO <tunde@arches.uga.edu>; Dirk van den Heuvel <dirkv@groovedis.com>
Cc: Deep Soul <jjeudy@hotmail.com>; acid-jazz@ucsd.edu <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
Date: Friday, February 25, 2000 3:05 AM
Subject: Re: My last rites about Voodoo...
>Where would we be without assholes? For that matter, where would this list
>be without opinions?
>
>So here's another: I now have "Voodoo", "Black Diamond" and "Infinite
>Possibilities". Only one of these records is a classic, and it begins with
>"V". There's some pretty good stuff on the other two LPs though. I'd rate
>Amel's LP second out of the pack - "Ini", the title track and "Down" are
>gorgeous tracks. The Angie Stone LP is nice enough, but there's nothing
that
>really blows me away. And how, in the year 2000, can anyone really expect
to
>base a whole damn song around rhyming "funky", "junkie" and "monkey" and be
>taken seriously?
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: BAO <tunde@arches.uga.edu>
>To: Dirk van den Heuvel <dirkv@groovedis.com>
>Cc: Deep Soul <jjeudy@hotmail.com>; <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
>Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2000 8:25 PM
>Subject: RE: My last rites about Voodoo...
>
>
>>
>> opinions are like assholes.
>>
>> On Thu, 24 Feb 2000, Dirk van den Heuvel wrote:
>>
>> > 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
>> > ______________________________________________________
>> > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Feb 25 2000 - 19:32:08 MET