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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: The Roots

  • No Plastic – Kiss You Back

    As I stated in February, I decided to stop buying actual CDs and buy all my music through iTunes. Let me update you on my iTunes journey.

    The month of April saw me purchase three full albums through iTunes. The first was Diddy’s anti-bitchassness group Day26. The album was standard R&B fare and earned Diddy another number one record, but failed to set the world on fire. But what does these days? Marketed as a new New Edition, the boys from Making The Band put together a few songs that worked like Silly Love, the first single Got Me Going, the dreamy Co-Star, and hard hitting Exclusive.

    Next was Mariah Carey’s not so fulfilling E=MC², which should’ve been titled The Emancipation of Nick Cannon. Just kidding Nick. Actually, I’m impressed that the dude had it in him. Before, I remembered him most from giving the movie audience that serious drumming face in the movie Drumline, but now he’s the guy that put that ring on Mimi’s finger. Though I didn’t like the album much and thought it was smack dab in the middle of her career works, iTunes did give me one extra song that wasn’t on the CD version. Though, I’m not sure if it was a truly bonus or not because it was the track 4real4real featuring Da Brat and though she might’ve been cool in 1994, the words “featuring Da Brat” might be the worst marketing in music today. Ok, that was wrong of me. But actually, at least we know that Da Brat is still working. Also included with the extra song was a digital booklet (iTunes version of the physical CD booklet) and the Touch My Body video, which is impressive for how well a late 30s Mimi looks.

    The third full album was the best of the bunch. Before I even tell you what it is, I have to ask, “Who is the most consistent music group in the game today?” You probably wouldn’t answer The Roots, but if they aren’t the most consistent, they are close. Their latest gem is called Rising Down and it’s probably the best album I’ve bought all year. From the killer Rising Up, with Chrisette Michele on the hook to the Talib Kweli assisting I Will Not Apologize, there’s not a bad song on the record. While they might not have the one or two head turning tracks on this album like they usually have, it’s still just damn good. Also included as an iTunes bonus is their duet with Fall Out Boy, Birthday Girl, which was vetoed off the original album and as first single for not sounding Roots enough. I kind of dig it, but I understand where they’re coming from.

    I also bought a bunch of one off songs. If you remember, April was the month of “Idol Gives Back” and instead of donating money, I bought a few tracks including Carrie Underwood’s George Michael cover of Praying For Time, the group version of Rihanna’s Don’t Stop The Music (my kids can’t get enough of this one), and Snoop Dogg’s Can’t Say Goodbye featuring Charlie Wilson. On that same day, I also purchased Bon Jovi’s Bad Medicine and Fuel’s Leave The Memories Alone with the latter being the theme song to the Nature Boy’s Ric Flair retirement. I just had to throw one wrestling reference in.

    Lastly, I purchased Digital Underground’s silly song Kiss You Back. One day, it was in my head and I decided to get it so I could hear it a few times. Without iTunes, I would’ve had to find a used copy of Sons Of The P, and that wasn’t going to happen without making a trek to a used record store some 30 miles away.

    The next edition of “No Plastic” will feature the return of some Boston boys and a man on a mission to get some grown assed respect.

  • The Musichelpweb Midyear Report Part 2: The Good, The Bad & Lil’ Wayne

    Hey Folks,

    In addition to this fine site, I also occasionally write (but mostly comment) for a couple of other sites, one being my friend JayVee’s site, The Round Table. You can find it at theround-table.blogspot.com. This column was originally written for them. Enjoy!!

    Believe it or not, 2008 has not been a bad year for music-unless you happen to be a superstar. Particularly a superstar diva. Janet Jackson, Madonna and Mariah Carey have all released fairly underwhelming albums over the first half of the year-with Janet’s the best of a very weak bunch. Hip-hop has also taken a bit of a leave of absence-unless you’re one of those folks who thinks “The Carter III” is a classic, there wasn’t much to gloat about if you were a rap fan for the first part of this year.

    However, there have been some bright spots. Soul singers on the other side of the Atlantic continued their renaissance after Amy Winehouse set one hell of a standard (and you have to admit that “Back To Black” is a work of genius, no matter what you think of her personally) last year. In addition to the new Brit divas, a couple of vets returned after short absences with albums that rank among the best of their careers. And there’s still half a year to go.

    (more…)

  • The New Music Revue: Al Green’s "Lay it Down"

    There is a short list of singers for whom I will spout the cliche “I’d gladly listen to him/her sing the phone book!”. There’s Marvin Gaye. Stevie Wonder. Michael McDonald (I see you laughing, but the proof lies in the fact that I’ve bought his last two hellaciously awful albums). And then there’s Al Green.

    In several conversations I’ve had about who the greatest soul singer of all time is, Al’s name has been bandied about, and I can’t say I can put up a solid argument against. His heyday predated my existence, so I only got to experience songs like “Let’s Stay Together” and “I’m Still in Love with You” as revered classics, but even the gospel-flavored material he scored occasional hits with in the Eighties and Nineties was well-performed, even if musically the songs weren’t the equal of his classic Hi Records period. Hey, how many folks do you know that can sing the shit out of an Al B Sure! production?

    Over the past few years, Al’s reconnected with his pre-grits bath past, first by collaborating with peak-era producer Willie Mitchell on the well-received “I Can’t Stop”, then by releasing the solid follow-up “Everything’s OK”. His latest album, “Lay it Down”, attempts to merge his past with his present, and does so quite wonderfully. It’s not one of those albums that will make you jump up and slap your momma across the forehead, but you will marvel at the fact that the man still can induce tingles in the skin forty years after his recording debut.

    Roots drummer Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson and right-hand man James Poyser man the boards for this release, and they thankfully don’t turn The Reverend into a “boom bap” or even a “neo-soul” guy. They got a crackin’ band together and made a classic-sounding Al Green album. It may be a slight step down from Al’s classic material, but given the current soul music climate, I’ll take it.

    There are guests sprinkled throughout the set, but Thompson and Poyser wisely don’t turn “Lay it Down” into a Santana-esque star-studded collabothon. Anthony Hamilton (the modern-day singer best equipped to carry on Al’s legacy) provides the chorus vocals on the pillow-soft title track and pops up again to duet on the punchy “You Got the Love I Need”, Corinne Bailey Rae provides a nice female counterpoint to Al’s sultry growl on “Take Your Time”, and “Stay With Me (By The Sea)” finds Al and John Legend singing over one of those grooves that will instantly transport you to a lawn chair in some backyard on a Sunday afternoon.

    Those four tracks stand out the most because of the guest vocalists, but that’s not to say that the Reverend couldn’t hold this album down on his own. “What More Do You Want From Me” suffers from a case of oversimplified lyrics (actually, the whole album does, but who cares about lyrics when Al Green is singing?), but it’s another one of those back-porch grooves. And have I yet mentioned the man’s voice?? He can stutter and speak gibberish like he does on “Too Much” and still command the listener’s attention, while melting female listeners’ panties along the way.

    “Lay it Down”‘s surprise top ten debut has served notice that there is a market of people that love real soul music that is woefully under-catered to. With a Lifetime Achievement award from BET coming at the end of this month and a smattering of new fans who were very likely conceived (hell, at this point, their *parents* may have been conceived) to his music, it’s a very good time to be Al Green and he deserves every single accolade he and this album are receiving.