"Sleepwalking", Rae & Christian w/appearances by the Congos, Tania Maria, the Pharcyde, Kate Rogers, and Bobby Womack
the Congos tune, "Hold Us Down" freaked my expectations. a juxtaposition of sounds that almost horrified me at first. chilling falsetto roots reggae rockers over bouncy, almost disco beats?! but the hook is riveting. moving on to "Get a Life", acoustic guitar, thick, thick beat and Bobby Womack's raspy voice won me over instantly. on the second listen, i burst out laughing when i caught the message. the tune has already won status as a theme in my household. Tania Maria's "Vai Vider a Vida" is orchestrally loaded with strings and synths and, like "Hold Us Down" i thought it might fail like the weaker output of, say, Sergio Mendes, but it does not. might be sublime. the Pharcyde's "Let it Go" took me back to when Bizarre Ride II first came out and then kicked my ass back to the present day. and, last but not least, the Rae & Christian instrumentals stand for themselves. "Ready to Roll" is deep, soulful, and sweet. the other tracks may grow on me or they may not. regardless, "Sleepwalking" is a fine album to kick off the 21st C.
"Like Water for Chocolate", Common
alright, i slept on this one. i had "the Light" single but never got the album. it's been on my list, but just got neglected. when i saw it at a local shop discounted to $9.99 i knew i couldn't go wrong. and now i wish i could pay the full price (if the proceeds would go directly to common). "Time Travelling", "Funky for You", the whole damn album is classic.
"Khmer", Nils Petter Molvaer
got this in the used section, which is good, because i'd be disappointed if i paid full price for this album. it falls firmly in the sound of the zillion Bill Lasswell projects out there. some of which are strong, but most of which are forgettable. i like "Khmer" and "Platonic.."(somethings, can't remember) ok, but i doubt i'll be coming back to this album very much. requires a dark ominous room filled with incense and candles to be appreciated.
"Hôtel Costes, Etage 3" mixed by Stéphane Pompougnac. i like most of what i heard so far, but did get cheezed out by the chord progression on one of the deep house tracks. need to dedicate some listening time to this.
also, had the pleasure of seeing Jill Scott pack the Avalon last night. it's a really good feeling to see her getting the attention she deserves. and the fatback band was tight! i loved the way they switched up styles for each soloist. can anybody tell me the name of the keyboardist who does the arrangements?
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon Feb 05 2001 - 19:25:23 CET