I'm assuming most of us here who are into music like reading cd reviews, so I figured this may be a good way to hip each other to albums we might not know about. Sometimes I check out cds solely based on how a review describes it, thankfully I've had more satisfying purchases than disappointments. But I thought a thread like this would be good for those of us who are open to discover new or different music, be it current or old, popular or underground. I'm starting off with a review of one of my favorite cds this year: the self-titled debut from Van Hunt.

VAN HUNT
Van Hunt
(Capitol)

by Joshunda Sanders

That good old-fashioned soul music, along with a few mid-tempo grooves and the talent to write, sing, play and produce his debut make Van Hunt seem like the newest member of the neo-soul tribe. But what sets Hunt apart is the fact that he's no down-home, gritty, gospel-infused troubadour. He's a complex brother, a guy who sounds best both complicated and self-deprecating. The music is great and so are the lyrics -- Hunt manages to be original and refreshing, even when he sounds like other people.

On Hunt's self-titled debut, he casts relationship drama as a dreamy lounge set and makes love sound like slow, sexy death. Sometimes, merely pretty sounds gorgeous, and often, personal demons are translated into poetry. Once in awhile, he plays Prince or Sly Stone or Eric Benet, but his funk doesn't sound borrowed, just tried on for size.

"Down Here In Hell (With You)", for instance, is a tender ode to imperfect unions. "What would I do if we were perfect / Where would I go for disappointment / Love without pain / Would leave me wondering why I stay . . . " is the gist of this sadomasochistic confession, and stylistically, it makes hell sound as sweet and cozy as heaven. Strange as it may sound, Hunt comes off as both bizarre and lovely here, as well as on "Hello, Goodbye". The opening track, "Dust", just makes him sound like he's lost it, but the follow up love songs about torment clarify that he's still sort of sane . . . maybe.

Then there's "What Can I Say (For Millicent)", which is a poignant and apologetic poem recited over a resonating piano. It's a decent interlude, but the sweet music is wrapped in fluffy words like: "She sleeps with the moonlight under her head / With the clouds to keep her warm / Far from the noise of the world below / She comes to me in my dreams / like a love song / and I awake only to hear her go." In spite of his metrosexual meanderings, the song is still one remarkably understated moment among many on his album.

"Who Will Love Me In Winter" is another pessimistic but nicely composed song. The same holds true for "Her December", an allegorical musing about the seasons of a woman which features a catchy Latin beat, and is one of the best (and only) uptempo songs here. Although musically, "Hold My Hand" sounds too much like a Prince cover, it's still a damn good song about secret seduction and young love.

As a man who is dedicated to facing his flaws in his work, Hunt must've felt the flat nature of "Anything (To Get Your Attention)", which is trite, despite a few smart lines hid under the bad music. Then there are the overwrought moments, which sound heartfelt, but seem too basic for the rest of the album. "Seconds of Pleasure", for example, explains itself with that title -- except there are no pleasing seconds in it, it's just a dopey, half-assed offering, especially as compared to the depth of Hunt's other work.

All things considered, Van Hunt is probably one of the best R&B albums of the year so far. It separates Hunt from marketable sex gods and whiny boy groups because it offers music that makes you think differently. This debut also places him firmly in the thinning category of artists who use their contradictions to inform their art. Even if he can be depressing and more of a tear-jerker than a man who will make you yearn to slow dance, Hunt's album offers the gift of a brave new voice that makes you want to press repeat over and over -- and that might be better.

I have this CD and it is worth the purchase.

IMO Van Hunt is what the music business need right now. Too bad he hasn't gotten a lot of airplay.

Originally posted by Jrnygrl
I have this CD and it is worth the purchase.

IMO Van Hunt is what the music business need right now. Too bad he hasn't gotten a lot of airplay.

I agree. I did manage to catch his latest video once and only once on BET last week. Hopefully some readers may read the review and be inspired to check out his cd.

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com

Losing their religion
It's time for R.E.M. to call it quits

Saturday, October 2nd, 2004

R.E.M.
"Around the Sun"
(Warner Bros.)

Some bands burn out, some fade away.

But few bands have faded with the morbid vengeance of R.E.M.

Over their last three releases, R.E.M. have consciously sputtered down to ever more sodden beats, pallid melodies and fuzzy lyrics.

Generous critics have labeled their recent music "atmospheric."

I think the word they're looking for is "torpid."

Even by that snoozy standard, "Around the Sun" is a stupefying bore.

There's rarely a pulse and barely a tune. And though Michael Stipe's lyrics have long used vagueness as a substitute for profundity, his latest seem as random as a first-year art student's cry for attention.

Take the opening track, "Leaving New York." How is it possible to write a song about 9/ll and not have a point of view - or even a point?

R.E.M. have positioned the new album as a political work. But, other than in a few tracks, you'd be hard pressed to decipher what they're trying to say.

One of the few clear lyrics - in "I Wanted to Be Wrong" - is paired with a rare coherent tune. "Everyone is humming a song that I don't understand," sings Stipe, expressing alienation from the current American conversation. The melody communicates equally poignant confusion.

"Make It All Okay" upholds the group's tradition of fine balladry. But the rest sounds like a band committing slow suicide.

Apparently, drummer Bill Berry bailed at the right time seven years ago. True fans owe it to R.E.M. to tell them the truth: It's time to stop.

Jim Farber

someone please make this a sticky topic.

Ouch!! Another negative REM review, this one by George Bennett of musictap. He gives it 2 and 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Welcome to, for lack of a better word, REM's "thorazine" album. If the lyrics and feel of the album don't thoroughly depress you, its ploddingly slow pace and lack of any spark whatsoever will bore you to tears. Acute clinical depression and the dumbing-down of the humanity in feelings - both wonderful and terrible and everything in-between. But wait, you say, 'Automatic for the People', their last truly great effort, is all sad and melancholy. Yes, but it's also beautiful and uplifting and totally embraces the human condition. I love that album...I know that album...and, dear reader...this is no 'Automatic for the People'! (Which, by the way, sounds superb on DVD-Audio.)

Michael Stipe comes up with some interesting lyrics at times, but, man, what a downer! If you like the current single and video, "Leaving New York", trust me, absolutely nothing else here rises to its only half-arsed pseudo-melodicism and -accessability. And the studio over-polish totally robs the music of any feeling of life, of sparkle, of spontaneity. It's the aural equivalent of one of those paint-by-numbers kits - just don't go outside the lines. Jeez! Every little Peter Buck guitar snippet is so obviously studied and played by rote, so seemingly devoid of any feeling, it's painful. Depressed android music - that's what it is - like Star Trek's Data after he got his emotion chip...only it's stuck on bummer, permanently. And don't look for the patented REM jangle here, or the memorable melodies, or the enticing harmonies, or even the power-metal chords of 'Monster'. It's all so flat, and quiet...and dark...and doom...and, oh gawd, I can't take it! I feel bad enough about this world right now, thank you. I don't need any help. (I might suggest that lovers of Goth would take to this disc, but that would elevate the disc to a higher status than it deserves, or, conversely, rag on the dark-eyed ones undeservedly - take your pick.)

If you want to hear the sound of a once-great band growing old right before your ears, and accepting it, and hating it at the same time...this is the disc for you. And, alright, just don't even get me started on the honest-to-goodness, I-can't-believe-it, actual RAP of guest, Q-Tip! What were these guys thinking?! Is this a pathetic attempt to sucker in the younger crowd? REM?! Well, just barely. Guys, it's time to hang it up...well, past time, actually.

We have said that we do not write negative reviews. Well, take this more as a warning than a negative review. This album begs it! It would be irresponsible to keep quiet in this case. This writer has hung in there with REM through the only half-way decent albums since drummer Bill Berry left, hoping they'd find their footing again...hoping they still had that one great album left in them. 'Around the Sun' is a pathetic, but hopefully, mercifully, last gasp of the alt-rock godfathers from Athens , Georgia . Rest in peace, REM. Please!

By the way, the packaging sucks. Digi-pak with a poster-sized, folded lyrics sheet just shoved in the middle - no pocket, no place to insert, to store the damn thing. Ya think it might fall out every time you don't need it to?! How much cheaper can you make these things? How much would a gatefold sleeve or pocket have set them back? Maybe they expect EVERYBODY to tack the poster on the wall, thus doing away with the problem. Yeah, right. Ultimate vanity?

Prince's Sign O' The Times (1987)
5 stars out of 5 by David B. Wilson

This double-album release silenced people like me who were wondering whether superstardom had made Prince lose his touch. He fired the Revolution and hit the studio by himself, putting together four sides that acknowledge all his musical influences while remaining uniquely his. Heavy funk ("Hot Thing"), gender bending ("If I Was Your Girlfriend"), a religious rock anthem to die for ("The Cross"), a lovely, complex ballad ("Adore," with perhaps his finest vocal performance). For good measure, he has plenty of music that's uncategorizable and absolutely irresistable ("The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker," "Forever In My Life," "Play In The Sunshine"). The funky but slight live recording "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night" contains his first flirtation with rap. This record is rich in all the things that Prince is good at. (DBW)

Originally posted by vashti1999
Prince's Sign O' The Times (1987)
5 stars out of 5 by David B. Wilson

This double-album release silenced people like me who were wondering whether superstardom had made Prince lose his touch. He fired the Revolution and hit the studio by himself, putting together four sides that acknowledge all his musical influences while remaining uniquely his. Heavy funk ("Hot Thing"), gender bending ("If I Was Your Girlfriend"), a religious rock anthem to die for ("The Cross"), a lovely, complex ballad ("Adore," with perhaps his finest vocal performance). For good measure, he has plenty of music that's uncategorizable and absolutely irresistable ("The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker," "Forever In My Life," "Play In The Sunshine"). The funky but slight live recording "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night" contains his first flirtation with rap. This record is rich in all the things that Prince is good at. (DBW)


I hate this Prince album.

Originally posted by USTVFanFromUK
I hate this Prince album.

Next time you feel like sharing something like that with me:

DON'T!!!

Originally posted by vashti1999
Next time you feel like sharing something like that with me:

DON'T!!!

Seeing that it's a public message board I don't get your argument.

Originally posted by USTVFanFromUK
Seeing that it's a public message board I don't get your argument.

I'm not arguing at all. If you feel it necessary to express that you "hate this Prince album", you can start your own thread and diss it to your heart's content.

Originally posted by vashti1999
I'm not arguing at all. If you feel it necessary to express that you "hate this Prince album", you can start your own thread and diss it to your heart's content.


Don't get me wrong I like Prince but some songs on that album are just stupid. Songs like "Hot Thing," "It," and "Play In The Sunshine" were steps down from the Prince I like. "Dirty Mind" was way better. He worked without a band on both albums. I find Sign O' The Times to be extremely overproduced and not worthy of the "masterpiece" some may call it.

IMO "Dirty Mind" and "Controversy" were miles ahead.....

Originally posted by USTVFanFromUK
Don't get me wrong I like Prince but some songs on that album are just stupid. Songs like "Hot Thing," "It," and "Play In The Sunshine" were steps down from the Prince I like. "Dirty Mind" was way better. He worked without a band on both albums. I find Sign O' The Times to be extremely overproduced and not worthy of the "masterpiece" some may call it.

IMO "Dirty Mind" and "Controversy" were miles ahead.....

Thank you. At least you mentioned reasons why. I can respect that. By just posting "I hate this Prince album" one could assume that you were only trying to antagonize someone who likes it.

I'm glad you posted a review from Jim Farber.
I've always thought he was a great music critic.

;)

Coming up:

Two reviews of Gwen Stefani's Love, Angel, Music, Baby

The first Review by KELEFA SANNEH (NYT)

Plenty of bands find ways to shock their fans, but three years ago No Doubt shocked nonfans with "Rock Steady," a glorious grab bag of beat-driven party songs that was by far the highlight of the group's long (and often lame) career. Gwen Stefani, the lead singer, decided to follow that triumph with a omnivorous solo project, so she recruited a bunch of great collaborators: Dr. Dre, two members of New Order, OutKast's Andre 3000, her No Doubt bandmate Tony Kanal. It's hard to imagine a more foolproof pop-music plan.

Yet the result is "Love, Angel, Music, Baby" (Interscope), a clever and sometimes enticing solo debut that doesn't quite add up. "Luxurious" tries and fails to squeeze new life out of a well-worn Isley Brothers sample. "Harajuku Girls" is an oddly joyless dance-pop tribute to Japanese stylishness. Too many of these songs jumble appealing ideas without producing anything you're likely to sing in the shower.

Still, it's probably churlish to protest too much - all disappointing solo debuts should be this entertaining. "Bubble Pop Electric," recorded with Andre 3000 (in the guise of his rock 'n' roll alter ego Johnny Vulture), is jittery and sugary and cheerfully ridiculous: in short, it's perfect. (Can we force these two to form a supergroup?) And "Crash" and "Serious," both produced by Mr. Kanal, successfully conjure up the infectious spirit of early Madonna. Maybe we should be looking forward to the No Doubt reunion.

The 2nd LAMB review by Jim Farber:

Gwen in la-la land

Love of bad West Coast '80s pop
mars Stefani's solo debut

We're all slaves to our influences. But what happens when our influences stink?

That's a key question for Gwen Stefani, lead singer of the band No Doubt. As a child of 1980s Los Angeles, Stefani was held hostage to some of the worst radio trends and most appallingly bad pop music of the last 50 years. In her Orange County neighborhood, innocent children were under constant barrage from the cheesy sound of mainly forgotten L.A. acts like Missing Persons, Berlin, Animotion and a host of other bands hellbent on dumbing down British New Wave with Hollywood tinsel.

Since Stefani owns a naturally high Kewpie-doll voice, it was almost inevitable that she would model herself after L.A.'s squeakiest New Wave vocalists, like Dale Bozzio, Terri Nunn and Astrid Plane - all frontwomen who didn't so much sing as cluck on key.

In Stefani's work with No Doubt, the band helped encourage other, more appealing '80s influences - like the ska stylings of the Specials and the dark dance beats of New Order.

But for her first solo album, Stefani seems to have reverted to her deepest roots. And the results aren't pretty.

Most of "Love.Angel.Music.Baby" sounds like a "Totally '80s" collection at its most dire. Think: Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" meets Josie Cotton's "Johnny Are You Queer?"

Nearly every cut channels the dinky rhythms and palm-tree'd production of L.A. pop's worst era. Vocally, Stefani vacillates between a porn star's coo and a series of chirps and bleats that sound like Lene Lovich crossed with a sheep.

The album isn't a total washout. In the track "Hollaback," Stefani's producer smartly combines hip-hop minimalism with a stadium-rock beat. On "Long Way to Go," OutKast's Andre 3000 helps Stefani revive the likably manic beat of "Purple Rain"-period Prince. And in "Real Thing," Stefani recycles some of the more palatable '80s references - if a bit too closely. The song mixes snatches of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" with New Order's "Blue Monday."

Obviously, Stefani can't help the sonic boo-boos of her youth. The question is: Must she make all of us pay for them?




vashti1999: I like "Danger Zone."

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
J.Lo's thin sound

Tuesday, March 1st, 2005


Not every singer can soar and shout. Some have to make do with tweets and coos. Yet, with the right smash of a song, and a whiz of a producer, they can do very well indeed.

Nonsingers from Paula Abdul to Janet Jackson to Ashlee Simpson have found themselves carefully placed in songs we love.

Jennifer Lopez is no different - though she has even less talent to call upon than those other stars.

Cursed with a voice that's almost entirely devoid of range, expression and character, Lopez has still had the good fortune - and rich backing - to find herself attached to singer-proof smashes like the danceable "Waiting for the Night," the slinky "If You Had My Love" and the tart "Jenny From the Block."

That last ditty provided an ideal cover for Lopez's iffy abilities. Its lyrics pointed listeners' attention away from her instrument and toward her persona - which, along with her looks and headline-making ability, is all she has to give.

So, in assessing a new J.Lo album, the question isn't "How does she sound?" It's "Have her handlers come up with enough decoys to distract you from asking the question to begin with?"

On "Rebirth," Lopez's fourth CD - in stores today - her overseers have come up with something less stirring than the title implies. There are good ideas for songs, but nothing quite clicks.

Take the single, "Get Right." It goes for the kind of triumphant horn hook that proved so commanding on Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love." But there's no tune. Only on the remix, buttressed by Fabolos' cheeky rap, does this bland ditty get some hip-hop spice.

The single sets the pace of the record, a far more upbeat affair than Lopez's last CD, "This Is Me ... Then."

That's a positive change. Her previous CD, cut when Lopez still basked in the glow of the Ben Affleck affair, found her singing too many ballads. Not only were the songs too gooey, they demanded far more emotion than Lopez could possibly muster.

"Rebirth" keeps things so snappy, it even includes Lopez's first semi-rock cut, "Cherry Pie" - though she proves no more competent at that genre than Ms. Jackson's similar stabs.

Lyrically, Lopez tries to keep things lighter, too. Wary from the public excoriation of her last love - which resulted in 2002's appalling "Dear Ben" - you'll hear no hymns to Marc Anthony here.

Lopez's most autobiographical piece, "I Got U," finds her damning those who snicker over her fast-fading affairs, warning us not to judge her "just cuz of things in the past."

Too bad the music doesn't communicate the fire or flippancy she intends.

Ultimately, you can't blame Lopez for that. She's barely more than a hologram on the CD to begin with. But without more zippy hooks, and bouncy melodies provided by others, we're too often left to ponder the cipher at the CD's center.

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
J.Lo's thin sound

Tuesday, March 1st, 2005


Not every singer can soar and shout. Some have to make do with tweets and coos. Yet, with the right smash of a song, and a whiz of a producer, they can do very well indeed.

Nonsingers from Paula Abdul to Janet Jackson to Ashlee Simpson have found themselves carefully placed in songs we love.

Jennifer Lopez is no different - though she has even less talent to call upon than those other stars.

Cursed with a voice that's almost entirely devoid of range, expression and character, Lopez has still had the good fortune - and rich backing - to find herself attached to singer-proof smashes like the danceable "Waiting for the Night," the slinky "If You Had My Love" and the tart "Jenny From the Block."

That last ditty provided an ideal cover for Lopez's iffy abilities. Its lyrics pointed listeners' attention away from her instrument and toward her persona - which, along with her looks and headline-making ability, is all she has to give.

So, in assessing a new J.Lo album, the question isn't "How does she sound?" It's "Have her handlers come up with enough decoys to distract you from asking the question to begin with?"

On "Rebirth," Lopez's fourth CD - in stores today - her overseers have come up with something less stirring than the title implies. There are good ideas for songs, but nothing quite clicks.

Take the single, "Get Right." It goes for the kind of triumphant horn hook that proved so commanding on Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love." But there's no tune. Only on the remix, buttressed by Fabolos' cheeky rap, does this bland ditty get some hip-hop spice.

The single sets the pace of the record, a far more upbeat affair than Lopez's last CD, "This Is Me ... Then."

That's a positive change. Her previous CD, cut when Lopez still basked in the glow of the Ben Affleck affair, found her singing too many ballads. Not only were the songs too gooey, they demanded far more emotion than Lopez could possibly muster.

"Rebirth" keeps things so snappy, it even includes Lopez's first semi-rock cut, "Cherry Pie" - though she proves no more competent at that genre than Ms. Jackson's similar stabs.

Lyrically, Lopez tries to keep things lighter, too. Wary from the public excoriation of her last love - which resulted in 2002's appalling "Dear Ben" - you'll hear no hymns to Marc Anthony here.

Lopez's most autobiographical piece, "I Got U," finds her damning those who snicker over her fast-fading affairs, warning us not to judge her "just cuz of things in the past."

Too bad the music doesn't communicate the fire or flippancy she intends.

Ultimately, you can't blame Lopez for that. She's barely more than a hologram on the CD to begin with. But without more zippy hooks, and bouncy melodies provided by others, we're too often left to ponder the cipher at the CD's center.


haha

Watch J. Lo surprise everyone when her next album is torch, or a jazz record or gospel, lol

I read that J-Lo review this morning. Too funny.
I'm sure the record will sell pretty well, but' we'll see whether or not music fans have had enough of Jen "the singer."