Janelle Monae

also

Its most recent antecedent is André 3000's The Love Below

only listened to it once so far but not really being moved to listen again. so busy and hyperactive, but in a kinda annoying attention-seeking way.

Here comes the flood:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14271-the-archandroid/

somebody was just telling me last night that Matt loved this album; makes sense given his taste. I really need to give it a serious go.

the occasional orchestral swoons and production idiosyncracies remind me somehow of st. vincent.

― establishment man cloggin up ur spills (Hunt3r), Tuesday, May 18, 2010 11:32 PM (2 days ago)

I was just listening to this album for the first time when Sir Greendown came on it made me think of St. Vincent so much, no bad thing at all.

Yeah I am really loving this album on first listen. I was totally smitten after the Letterman performance.

ya i was curious what its pitchfork score would be...i have a few hipsterish friends who normally dont touch pop/r&b who have been all over this

which is cool of course except when they tell me that janelle monae isn't pop/r&b

basically the last opinion i'd ever look to read about this album would be coming from a fiery furnaces stan, so thanks 4 making that happen pitchfork.

Its most recent antecedent is André 3000's The Love Below

Oh good lord no. I listened to the first two tracks and thought it kind of overwrought but promised to go back. I still will, but I find that whole approach massively offputting.

"Monáe's sci-fi mythology is an inspired addition to the rich canon of Afrofuturist art"

!!!!!!

i have a few hipsterish friends who normally dont touch pop/r&b who have been all over this

no 1 DING DING DING warning bell in my book - as a litmus test it's never wrong

Its most recent antecedent is André 3000's The Love Below

My first thought too. It's failed eclecticism.

Oh no. Oh no, I'm not gonna read a Pitchfork review which is gonna make me hate on something I would otherwise normally be all over.

Is this out? Or rather, is this out in the UK? HMV only had Metropolis when I went to look for it last night.

xp i feel like for the next 25 years any time a black artist makes an ambitious, genre-crossing album its going to be compared with the The Love Below. perhaps not incorrectly in this case, but its a comparison thats not necessarily indicative of quality

the comparisons are more due to monae's attention-seeking consciously kooky image, surely? black artists make "ambitious, genre-crossing" albums quite a lot - i don't even feel like sonically this album IS that ambitious or genre-crossing, as noted above it's really retro in a pretty straightforward way (general concept apart)

i have a few hipsterish friends who normally dont touch pop/r&b who have been all over this

Always a bad sign.

Eclecticism need not mean ambition.

So, this album isn't as immediately involving as I thought it would be, but I do feel like a lot of the naysaying is premature. It's okay if this isn't the best album in the world; it's still pretty enjoyable and Janelle is like massively, scarily talented.

Is this out? Or rather, is this out in the UK? HMV only had Metropolis when I went to look for it last night.

― The Curve Of Blinding Energy (Masonic Boom), Thursday, May 20, 2010 1:15 PM (12 minutes ago)

Play has this listed as coming out on July 12th. I'm already searching for the cheapest way to import it.

Genre-bouncing antecedents released after The Love Below: albums by Jazmine Sullivan, VV Brown, Van Hunt, PlantLife, YahZarah, Me'Shell Ndegéocello, (maybe) the Rebel Yell, etc., etc., etc.

ambition wasn't the right word (although i do think this album is ambitious). but this type of NEXT LEVEL r&b/hip-hop music is going to be compared to TLB whether its good or bad

b.o.b's album being an example of the latter

ya my point is that this album is way closer to jazmine sullivan than andre 3k, but how many reviews are gonna mention the former and how many the latter

whoa, this is a disco musical. Erykah on Glee.
TONS of interpolations/ripoffs/homages throughout; this feels really personal
still can't tell if I'm enjoying it, but it's such a jittery puppy of an album in a lookatmeLOOKATME! way. I love tightrope tho' so willing to give this more than just one full listen to get me.

, PlantLife, YahZarah, Me'Shell Ndegéocello

My thoughts too.

I was totally smitten after the Letterman performance.

For those who haven't seen... Dan's assessment of "massively, scarily talented" is on full display here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys4GpR6v0TQ

She is gonna be HUGE. And the album's fantastic -- her debut was promising and this album delivers in all the right ways. Really pleased that the production isn't a detriment to the songs, it all sounds great. And for those considering it too *whatever* for a start-to-finish listen (read: 2010 music fans have ADHD), then why not start at track 7, then move to tracks 6-8, then 5-9 and just keep branching out? Start with what you know, then piece the rest together as you move outward in each direction.

For those on the fence, pay no attention to those saying her crossover fanbase is a warning sign. Music critics choosing to judge an artist by his/her/its fanbase is pretty much lowest-common-denominator music crit. Lex, Alfred, I respect both you guys' stuff more than most music crit I've read recently -- seriously, you're better than that.

i have a few hipsterish friends who normally dont touch pop/r&b who have been all over this

no 1 DING DING DING warning bell in my book - as a litmus test it's never wrong

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Thursday, 20 May 2010 14:13 (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

must have been so terrible 4 u being strongarmed into gushing reviews of solange/amerie/cecile/etc over the years, i had no idea

not to mention solange - but it's definitely something like jazmine sullivan's album that i'm thinking of. stylistically so diverse, much much more so than janelle monae, yet i don't think any of the buzz about it was for its "ambitious, genre-crossing" qualities - it was more about her wonderful soul voice,

cecile?!

why don't p4k reviews have comments

She reminds me a LOT of Raphael Saadiq.

things i immediately don't like here: broadway smile, jazz hands, you like me you really really like me!, heavily derivative to the point of occasional eyerolling, trippydippyhippy futurism
things i immediately do like: solid orchestration, taking a lot of chances, catchy tunes that run the genreblind gamut, janelle still sounds great

xp to lex: http://www.fluxblog.org/2004/05/587

was fluxblog really the first mp3 blog?

Then there's the Kevin Barnes collaboration.

The #1 thing I like is that her singing voice sounds EXACTLY like she sounds on the record. That girl is a force of nature; like she is approaching Celine-levels of technical excellence in the way that she sings.

coz: depends on your definition of an "mp3 blog" but by almost any estimation, fluxblog wasn't the first mp3 blog. He was certainly one of the earliest to get a lot of attention and grind out interesting regular material on a week by week basis though.

in a perfect world, tightrope would be the song of summer 2010

I must say, the more I play it the more I like it.

Yeah, in retrospect I underrated that one. "Cold War" is also terrific.

It's okay if this isn't the best album in the world; it's still pretty enjoyable and Janelle is like massively, scarily talented.

― Have a slice of wine! (HI DERE)

OTM though I still think this is more pomp and guest stars than it should be.

this:

http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/05/the-joyful-noise-of-janelle-monae/56897/

might make u mad at this album.

It made me mad at the dude who wrote it, although I did lol at the last two lines.

The Killer of Sheep reference is kinda ummm?

Opening line: "I must confess that before I listened to one song off Janelle Monáe's new album, I had already decided that she was the most important pop artist out right now."

although I did lol at the last two lines.

HAHAHAHAHA just read these and yes, dear heavens, so lol worthy.

artists referenced in 6 paragraphs:

lady gaga, beyonce, kanye, jay-z, justin timberlake, lil wayne, toni morrison, janet jackson, prince, charles burnett, julie dash, parliament-funkadelic, samuel delaney, octavia butler, kid cudi, kanye again, lady gaga again, Arrested Development, Joi, TLC, Outkast, the Dungeon Family, Goodie MOB, Gnarls Barkley, Ursher, Lil' Jon, Ludacris, Young Jeezy, Gucci Mane, T.I., dionne farris, joi, badu, andre 3k, cee-lo, left eye, jermain dupri, fiona apple, ani difranco, lauryn hill, santigold, mia, j*davey, mars volt, and the entire genres of crunk, trap, sissybounce, and juke

"Ursher"

dionne farris!!

Honestly surprised there's only been one Nellie McKay comparison so far on this thread. (The difference for me being I don't like McKay much.)