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Category: Reviews

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  • Chrisette Michele Evades the Sophomore Slump with “Epiphany”

    chrisette

    There haven’t been a lot of newcomers in the R&B field worth mentioning over the past couple of years, but Chrisette Michele is definitely a star on the rise. Most people first heard her distinctive voice singing the choruses of Jay-Z’s “Lost One” and Nas’ “Can’t Forget About You”. With a vocal delivery and phrasing straight out of early 20th century jazz, she applied that voice to contemporary rhythms on her debut album, I Am, which was a modest commercial success (and a Grammy winner).

    Two years later, album #2, Epiphany, is on shelves, and Chrisette has changed her style slightly. It’s a more youthful-sounding album:  a more vibrant, sunnier effort from a musical standpoint, and there’s a little more of a hip-hop knock to it from a production standpoint (in simpler terms, the beats are harder) Vocally, Chrisette has mostly dropped the jazzy inflections, but still has a very mature voice, sorta like a younger version of Jill Scott. Very similar musically to Ne-Yo’s Year of the Gentleman. Small wonder, then, that Ne-Yo himself did a lot of the heavy lifting on this record, serving as executive producer and co-writing about 2/3 of this album’s tracks.

    The cool thing about Ne-Yo’s productions is that he’s expanded his sound so that his songs aren’t immediately recognizable (unlike most other R&B and hip-hop songwriter/producers)-well, except for the ironically titled Another One, an acoustic-guitar-and-handclaps jam that sounds very much like Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable”. The album’s hit title track has a gently knocking beat, but Chrisette’s message is no-nonsense: “I think I’m just about over being your girlfriend/so I’m leaving”. It’s one of the better F.U. songs I’ve heard in a while, maybe because it’s so sweetly sung that you don’t immediately realize it’s a breakup song. Ne-Yo himself gives vocal assistance on the midtempo hand-clapper What You Do, with his Jackson-esque backgrounds providing the perfect complement for Chrisette’s tale of infatuation.

    Chrisette definitely earns her diva stripes with the big power ballads Blame it on Me and I’m Okay, but she also proves she can get down on the dance floor with the bubbly, effervescent Playin’ Our Song. She sounds completely natural on both ends of the spectrum. Mostly, though, Epiphany stays grounded in midtempo territory. That would normally signify a boring album, and there are a couple of songs here that just kinda float by, but the majority of the album is well-performed. There’s just no bells and whistles, and every once in a while you have to remind yourself that sometimes good music comes without flash.

    While Chrisette has changed her style ever-so-slightly, Epiphany isn’t going to scare away the fans who purchased her first album. It’s mature, well-crafted R&B, with classic melodies and lyrics against contemporary production. The songs have a little bit of bite in them, but there’s a high standard of craftsmanship here. Chrisette and Ne-Yo comprise one R&B partnership that I wouldn’t mind hearing again.

  • FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #35: Ass Burgers

    Rage Against The Machine's "Bullet In The Head"

    RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE  “Bullet In The Head”  b/w  “Darkness” (Epic Records #35-74927 promotional single, 1993)

    Now-legendary L.A. alterna-agit-punk-rap-funk-metal-core alchemists Rage Against The Machine rose like a phoenix from the ashes of the eternally-youthful (and forever broke) late-’80’s Revelation Records leftist hardcore scene in ’92, signed to Epic Records, released a stellar multi-platinum debut LP, took their face-melting show on the road with Perry Farrell’s first Lollapalooza tour and never looked back.  Critics balked.  How could de la Rocha, Morello & Co. hold the machine in contempt, much less rage against it, while simultaneously massaging the giant American corporate schlong to wargasm by selling their souls to a major?

    One word:  Platform.  The little toupeed, four-eyed midget spouting misinformed Biblical shit at the top of his lungs every Saturday from the town square sidewalk won’t get heard by anyone.  But the giant, towering behemoth on the big stage with the loud PA system and the pummelling electric guitar and thunderous bass will be heard by all.  At a time when students shelled out $20 for Che Guevara T-shirts, the RATM boys knew all too well that revolution sells.  Not only will it be televised, the networks will shuck for ad space.  The time was right.  Let’s get the word out.

    Rage Against The Machine's self-titled 1992 debut LP

    Married to Japanese corporate giant Sony, Epic Records (who over a decade earlier had begrudgingly released The Clash’s budget-priced 3-LP Socialist manifesto, Sandinista!) squeezed out this little promo 45 in ’93, probably to fan the flames of RATM’s blazing Lolla showcase.  Side A is their notorious smackdown, “Bullet In The Head” from ’92’s eponymous debut LP.  According to the sleeve art, the track clocks in at 4:67.  Very cute, guys.  Just close your eyes & smell the mosh pit.

    Play \”Bullet In The Head\” by Rage Against The Machine

    I probably should’ve warned you…these clips are full of F-Bombs.  But you knew that already, so hopefully you covered Junior’s ears.  (He hears nastier stuff daily on the playground, I assure you.)  Anyway, as great as “Bullet…” is, side B holds the real gem here with the non-LP “Darkness” (also known as “Darkness Of Greed”).  This soft/LOUD/soft showstopper later became widely available on a rarities comp, but for a brief and shining moment, I wore the crown of Mixtape King through mere possession of this promo.  Get your crowd-surf on…NOW!

    Play \”Darkness\” by Rage Against The Machine

    Since the days of this earth-shattering debut, RATM released more stunning LPs (including one of covers), got banned from this and censored from that, and broke up and reformed several times.  Tom Morello took his guitar pyrotechnics to the very successful Audioslave (as well as projects such as The Nightwatchman and Street Sweeper Social Club), while Zach de la Rocha’s long-talked-about collabs with ?uestlove and El-P never fully materialized.  But their style, sound, intensity and hands-on activism still remains as a heavy influence to today’s youngsters.  So I’m warning you, always keep one eye glued to the RATM website, ’cause you never know when or where they’ll turn up, amps cranked and fists raised.  And you won’t want to miss it.

    NEXT WEEK: I cry tears in my coffee.

  • The More Things Change: Of Montreal Concert Review

     

    May we never go go mental, may we always stay stay, gentle. Of Montreal’s flamboyant front man, Kevin Barnes, undoubtedly relishes in the irony of these lyrics as he performs what he dubs the “sissy dance” and shares the stage with four people in black, body-hugging one-pieces, and alien masks. For the next song, the actors peel themselves out of their extra-terrestrial leotards and put on tuxes and huge animal heads. They bumble around on stage, often roaring at or colliding with the band members.

    You’ve got to hand it to a band capable of producing such a bizarre spectacle. Even if you don’t like the music, you can’t help but watch and wonder what they’re going to do next. Trying to discern a narrative thread is impossible – the folks sharing the stage with the band change their costumes ten times during the show, wearing everything from hot-pink, one-legged flared onesies to jungle furs. During one song, the guitarist simulates humping one of the animals with the head of his guitar.

    An Of Montreal show is organized chaos. It’s like Carnival on stage. The audience goes along for the ride, largely because they maintain at least a vague belief that there’s some method to the madness.

    The show, especially the costume changes, reflects a band that constantly destroys borders and boundaries – even the ones they themselves have established. Whether during a two-hour show or a 10-year career, Of Montreal’s sound never stays the same. They reinvent their sound and aesthetic, and aren’t shy about borrowing inspiration from other bands and performers. The songs on their most recent album, Skeletal Lamping, provide funky pop hooks while pushing the band into new terrain. Barnes has fully embodied the alter ego he began developing for their previous album, Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer? He wears face paint, a puffy purple shirt that would make Seinfeld proud, and shiny red platform shoes. The overall effect offers a “Ziggy Stardust for the new millennium” vibe, while his voice and the band’s backing suggests a Scissor Sisters sound mixed with hints of psychedelia.

    Despite the band’s varying visual and aural aesthetic, their set list revolves around songs from the Sunlandic Twins era that have emerged as classics. These songs provide an armature for the mad dash costume and chord changes. Just when Of Montreal seems to be veering off the map (or stage), just when the audience starts wondering who or what they’re listening to, the band plows into a song like Oslo in the Summertime, which grounds both them and the audience. They push the envelope, but just when the audience gets antsy or uncomfortable, they rein it back in and reestablish their vintage quirky and contagious pop.

    Of Montreal might spin heads with their musical ADD, but any band that refuses to rest on their accumulated success and instead chooses to reinvent itself both on stage and in the studio deserves props, which the audience was more than happy to give them. Their encore of The Party’s Crashing Us, brought down the house and left the audience with the sense that while the band might continue morphing, they’ll always be a sight to behold.