Janelle Monae

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

^^that song is on the same level as tweet 'smoking cigarettes' & if u ask a normal person the diff between the two they would be at a loss minus "dude singing" -- anything else is music crit bullshit

so cos i dont like van hunt i have something against trad r&b? not at all (just how is van hunt trad R&B anyway? hes a total hybrid artist). van hunt is just DREARY. hes basically a repressed alt rock dude (for some reason a lot of his stuff makes me think of someone who likes the magnolia soundtrack, fiona apple or er jewel) and makes a hell of a lot of really insipid music that im guessing he thinks is deep or something. but anyway, dust, hold her hand and end of a slow dance are seriously good.

down here in hell with you is good too actually, but i hate his voice on a lot of his slower material. he sings them pretentious/self importantly. i think thats my main problem with VH. he often sounds too self conscious.

back to monae though, i hope she one day gets the budget to be able to stage some lavish stage shows. i imagine her coming up with something like the mothership but in a way artier fritz lang sort of way.

yeah back to van hunt though, you are just wrong & he has lots of great songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4j1-HIiWYo

ugh wack vid quality on that
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loLPh7y3eOY

"Down Here in Hell With You" is great! But so is this, which it's very much operating in the same territory as: http://www.56.com/u74/v_MTQ5MzkwMzE.html

That wasn't (quite) a value judgement.

vh's voice IMO is best when he sings at his full, or normal volume, but he spends too much of his albums trying to quieten it down and ends up with this sub curtis/pharrell/r kelly whisper thing. i dont know why hes opted for this as his main voice. it just sounds really feeble. like hes aiming too hard for delicate sensitivity. but it ends up sounding 'small' and weedy really and really exposes the limitations of his voice. his range isnt that good that he can sing in that register and pull it off.

or maybe he was just trying on purpose to emulate the weedy male R&B voice. not sure.

i dunno it really doesnt sound all that similar to me! i mean i know theres a prince vibe to dude's voice, but topically van hunt is going for something entirely diff