music-and-concert-reviews-you-wont-see-anywhere-else
Q-Tip Returns To Maraud Your Eardrums Once More With The Renaissance
In the 9 years since his solo debut, Amplified, former A Tribe Called Quest frontman Q-Tip has gone through some serious label issues. His planned second album, Kamaal the Abstract, was shelved by Arista Records right before its’ release for being uncommercial, while various other album titles and release dates have come and gone. Tip, meanwhile, has kept himself busy by working as a club DJ, occasionally hosting VH-1 specials, reuniting with his Tribe brethren […]
FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #10: Halste Whilste
VARNALINE “The Hammer Goes Down” b/w “Hear The Birds Cry” (Zero Hour Records ZHS7-11 white-label promo, 1996)
The “Lo-Fi Explosion” that seemed to take over the U.S. after the first few Ween, Pavement and Guided By Voices records was short-lived. Much to my dismay, actually. I mean, for all that I may kvetch about the sound-quality of certain discs, or that some recordings leave me with “listener’s fatigue” (fancy studio-lingo for an earache), I found so many diamonds-in-the-rough during that period that I secretly wish it never ended. Maybe it’s still going on somewhere, wherever there’s disenfranchised suburban kids with guitars and tape-recorders in their bedrooms. But ultimately, home-studio equipment has become too advanced, and too ubiquitous. Anyone can make an Aja-quality recording in his or her own kitchen these days with Pro-Tools and a decent computer. But back in the ’90’s, that stuff wasn’t as readily available. Talented songwriters like Varnaline’s Anders Parker had to use a 4-track and lots of elbow-grease to get their point across, and that gave the songs an extra power, an almost subterranean quality, that made them stand out from the pack.
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John Legend’s Evolver: Can the Crooner Get Down?
Photography by sry85.
When it comes to smooth, mature soul music, John Legend is the man to beat. The protege of Kanye West, Legend (born John Stephens) has amassed strong sales, five Grammy Awards and critical kudos for his first couple of albums, Get Lifted and Once Again. He’s become known as the R&B singer you can take home to mom, a piano man in the mold of Lionel Richie and Brian McKnight. However, he’s also got a more pronounced hip-hop vibe and a wink-nudge, sly sexuality that’s a refreshing change from the crassness found in most R&B and hip-hop lyrics these days..
Legend’s third album, Evolver, has been talked about as a departure. The spacy 80s synths of the bouncy first single Green Light certainly isn’t what you’d normally expect for the buttoned-up crooner, but a rap from the irrepressible Andre 3000 and the fun groove makes the song swing.. With Evolver finally in stores and online, two questions need to be asked. 1) Is the entire album a departure for John Legend, and 2) Can he make it work?
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