Janelle Monae

but she's so original!

:-)

would be interested in a rev defense of the album

― mr. milquetoast (J0rdan S.), Saturday, May 22, 2010 12:10 PM Bookmark

most of it isn't really that theatrical or high-concept, though maybe the few songs that are + her image/marketing make it seem more so than it is. it certainly is less all those things than Metropolis (which I certainly do have reservations about), while being much musically richer. even when it is theatrical, she still pulls it off in better fashion than she did before, because the music is so vibrant. tbh, i really don't think she's dropped her pretences so much as gotten better at artifice, which always means hiding your cards in plain view, if that makes sense. hence, the bowie comparison upthread is apt.

fwiw kev, "Tightrope" and the Of Montreal joint are both pretty far at the wonkier end of the material here.

btw, curious to know who you're thinking of here:

the artists who have been putting out music in this vein in recent years, a lot of it better than this, without the pretension & distractions

i was referring to this post

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.

― Skank Bloc Polonia (Andy K), Thursday, May 20, 2010 8:32 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark

the last decade or so (even the last five or three years) has been a pretty remarkable time for mainstream r&b, and if you can't recognize that, or which songs/artists/albums have been great over that time period, i'm not going to listen when you say "now this is how you do r&b!!" because you are wrong and have had blinders on

J0rdan, I get what you're saying here -- but what about those of us who dig E.Red/Terius, Ciara, plenty of other mainstream "traditional" R&B, but also really dig the Monae album? Is there anything "blinders on"-esque about enjoying all of the above?

no

i'm talking about a specific set of critics here

I don't really see anyone on that list as doing what Monae does here (Jazmine and Yahzarah aren't far at all from The Audition-era Monae), although there are certainly commonalities.

Nothing is grabbing me from this album at all yet, as much as I like her.

I really like (and genuinely surprised by) the quasi-brazilian stuff that pops up on a couple tracks

i was referring to this post

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.

― Skank Bloc Polonia (Andy K), Thursday, May 20, 2010 8:32 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark

― mr. milquetoast (J0rdan S.), Saturday, May 22, 2010 3:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

do u even listen to this stuff. i mean im a big van hunt fan, but this is diff

nb ive only listened to 2 tracks

of the jm i mean, obv listened to way more van hunt

I haven't been able to read all the thread, so maybe I'm missing something -- but I wasn't implying that all those artists sound alike. "Genre-bouncing antecedents" = antecedents in that they are all genre-bouncing. Not sure how it could get turned into something else (if it did).

btw this album is currently the 6th higest rated album in metacritic's history

are you trying to say that this isn't the sixth best album in music history, because i just paid cash money for it and will be very disappointed if it isn't at least slightly better than

7 Madvillainy by Madvillain 2004 93

8 Live At Reading by Nirvana 2009 93

9 The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads [2004 Version] by Talking Heads 2004 93

10 Love And Theft by Bob Dylan 2001 93

11 Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards by Tom Waits 2006 92

never forget

@perpetua Wow, it would be great if Community never did another awful, awful, awful, awful episode like that ever again.

update: this is not the sixth best album in music history.

hater

eh, i'm no hater. just hasn't knocked me over on first -- casual -- listen. i'll listen again, more carefully. i mean, there's certainly nothing as immediately grabbing as, say, umbrella, but admittedly, that's a high bar to hurdle.

i do like the -- maybe brazilian? -- touches in at least one of the songs.

I wasn't implying that all those artists sound alike.

I realize that, j0rdan kind of was, though.

Only Brazilian-ish thing I can remember is "Locked Inside."

Part of "BabopbyeYa", too.

My favorite thing here is the least fussiest: "Say You'll Go."

I also hear some in the background vocals of "Dance or Die" xp

shit, I just realized a lot of this album reminds of Kid Creole & the Coconuts! <3 <3 <3

I mean, if "Faster" doesn't sound like Kid Creole, what does it sound like?

yeah, my girl made the Creole connection too.

"Neon Valley Street" v. much sounds like a Lauryn Hill song.

the Of Montreal joint is pretty easily the worst song here (sorry, kevin)

^^^^^^^

Yes, I was thinking this album is going to create a lot of Of Montreal haters overnight.

It probably wouldn't annoy me half as much as it does if it felt more like a collaboration than a cast-off from the last Of Montreal album.

otm

I can barely detect Janelle Monae on it

i spent the winter on the verge of a total breakdown while living in Norway
i felt the darkness of destroying a Janelle Monae song

I would like to point out the fact that an Of Montreal song has come out on Bad Boy Records.

I think there's a huge difference between this and The Love Below in that this is very full-sounding, maybe even a bit overstuffed at points, whereas a lot of stuff on Love Below sounded very half-sketched. Not that this sounds like The Love Below at all.

I would like to point out the fact that an Of Montreal song has come out on Bad Boy Records.

ma$e jpg pls, for old tymes sake

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/21178103/Mase+M.jpg

"it's the young harlem nigga with the 'heimdalsgate like a promethean curse' sound"

harve pierre, are you the destroyer?

LOL @ all the contrary/reactionary-ness in this thread.

this album is ten times better than the love below. not nearly as try hard. and while its cool to hate anyone who gets the indie rock/hipster vote, it just feels dumb in this context, cos monae IS just the type of R&B artist it would be nice to see more of. enough of all the 'oh but jazmine sullivan and amerie are just as boundary breaking' argument, thats like comparing britney to idk, pj harvey. theyre working in totally different traditions/lineages. and its not like straight up r&b doesnt get the p4k vote either, so that seems a stupid thing to get worked up over. monae IS special. she IS more ambitious. she IS more 'intelligent'. if you wanna compare her to badu, joi, adriana, etc (not van hunt though, hes so boring, apart from dust and hold her hand anyway) thats cool, but it just doesnt work to compare her to mainstream shit. anyway, its an overambitious debut, im fine with ranking it just as that and not much more. shell figure out that shes trying a little hard (though less than dre3000 was) soon enough.

this album is ten times better than the love below

really? okay, i'm gonna re-listen now (while i continue editing this interminable response brief).

personally i think more than one janelle monae is enough

well the love below is fucking dogshit

personally i think more than one janelle monae is enough

I agree.

van hunt strikes me as a dude who decided he wanted to "sound like prince" but didn't realize that when people say they want to "sound like prince" they don't mean "sound like current prince"

half of love below sux, but it has some jams. still not nearly as good as this tho (altho archandroid doesn't have anything near "hey ya" obv)

Songs I will still rep for from Love Below: She Lives In My Lap, Prototype, Hey Ya, Behold a Lady, Pink and Blue, Vibrate, Spread
Some days I can even get with She's Alive and that fucked up jitterbug Favorite Things.
I would absolutely not call this dogshit.

this album is ten times better than the love below. not nearly as try hard. and while its cool to hate anyone who gets the indie rock/hipster vote, it just feels dumb in this context, cos monae IS just the type of R&B artist it would be nice to see more of. enough of all the 'oh but jazmine sullivan and amerie are just as boundary breaking' argument, thats like comparing britney to idk, pj harvey. theyre working in totally different traditions/lineages. and its not like straight up r&b doesnt get the p4k vote either, so that seems a stupid thing to get worked up over. monae IS special. she IS more ambitious. she IS more 'intelligent'. if you wanna compare her to badu, joi, adriana, etc (not van hunt though, hes so boring, apart from dust and hold her hand anyway) thats cool, but it just doesnt work to compare her to mainstream shit. anyway, its an overambitious debut, im fine with ranking it just as that and not much more. shell figure out that shes trying a little hard (though less than dre3000 was) soon enough.

― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Sunday, May 23, 2010 2:45 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

without having heard the record yet, based on her 1st one i agree w/ this

& van hunt aint that boring yall. titchy saying so makes it sound like hes got something against trad R&B in general. this track is 5 <3's out of <3<3<3<3<3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjqtmfBeyjI