Janelle Monae

Don't do it dog latin!

okay, forgive me for not realising this was a squillion-post thread and that it had been done to death already.

I'm just warning you as one of the people who expressed "in a way this isn't really an R&B album" type sentiments earlier on the thread.

No mention of this at all so far?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xP9edv-RcA

http://www.jmonae.com/blog/janelle-monae-featured-on-the-for-colored-girls-soundtrack/

Not that I have anything to say about it on first listen, except that it's okay. I am interested in seeing the film. When I saw a broadcast of this play (okay, "chorepoem") on TV, it was pretty wrenching.

choreopoem, god, get it right.

There's something about "Without a Fight" that reminds me a bit of "Crazy."

There is just so much more music on this damn album than anything else this year.

It feels like about 5 hours worth of music crammed into one and change.

"chorepoem" seems fine to me, idk

Nah, it's actually pretty good, or that's how I remember it. It's been many years since I read it or saw that TV broadcast, so it's hard to say.

Oddly, despite making a big deal of the typo I didn't even register what it would actually mean.

haha, i have such a crush of shame on this album tbh (if it wasnt already obvious to everyone)

couldnt resist pulling its pigtails again

interested in xgau's dislike for this he touched on in his essay

did he ever review it

he said what a lot of ppl in this thread said

this ended up being my record of 2010 fwiw

xgau nailed it

She's no Wussy.

She's no Joy of Cooking

she's no woman

he said what a lot of ppl in this thread said

― J0rdan S., Monday, January 17, 2011 3:47 PM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

link?

Janelle Monae

smartass

link?

― *gets the power* (deej), Monday, January 17, 2011 4:14 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

i don't feel like searching for it but iirc there were a few ppl that thought that all the pizazz lacked strong songwriting behind it

I thought he was asking for a link to xgau

The Dean's 2010 essay (I have not read this myself): http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/Live-Albums/ba-p/4025

im asking for a link to his writing about janelle that apparently echoed the haters in this thread

'faster' is still one of the best songs of the year imo

I think the last link I posted is what people are talking about.

that was the essay that inspired my initial question

Okay now I've gone from attempting to be a smartass to being confused. Too bad in Christgau's world being a "technical singer" can't coexist with being expressive. Why can't Janelle Monae sound more like Corin Tucker?

I don't know why I am letting myself get upset. The ArchAndroid never seemed like Christgau's sort of thing.

That pan inspired me to pull this out again for our MLK weekend family holiday, and I can't listen to "Wondaland" now without thinking of Christmas elves singing and dancing to it.

Bopped my head to "Wondaland" while standing in line for a coffee on Sunday morning.

I think Xgau really misses what makes the album incredible, which isn't depth of feeling or great songwriting, but the vibrancy and colorful sound and just how fucking jam-packed it is. I honest to god feel like there is ten times more fucking music on this album than anything else released this year.

Yeah but I think that kind of position now feels critically compromised by its constant linkage with maximal indie e.g. Flaming Lips or Animal Collective or Of Montreal (duh) or whatevs.

Which isn't to say that it's actually wrong in this case, but I can see why a lot of people who kneejerk against the Janelle hagiographies are quick to dismiss that kind of argument or (unfairly?) punish Janelle for "depth of feeling" et. al.

Like, I think the argument for this album that might actually sway sceptics or would-be sceptics probably would be one that talks in terms other than ambition or scope or breadth etc.

I still think (possibly unfairly) that people are more upset that Janelle isn't a Jazmin Sullivan-style bellower than anything else, so they don't know how to hear emotion in her delivery. If she was white, this supposed lack of emotion in her music would never even come up.

i think it would code to a lot of critics as a hipper affect, if it did. whereas for her its just that shes not *real* enough or w/e

(i mean that in the felt-performance way not the authenticity way)

I am not sure I understand what you're trying to say.

Are you saying that if people bought her performance style, its divergence from both big-voiced bellowing and no-voiced monotone would be seen as a strength rather than a weakness?

I don't think I've said this before (because I'm not sure how to elaborate on it), but I think Janelle Monae's vocal models, a lot of the time anyway, are less R&B than jazz. The way she is emotionally positioned in relation to the music reminds me more of someone like Ellla Fitzgerald. I admit the fact that I'm not really very conversant with either jazz or R&B vocalists means you all have good reason not to take this too seriously, but maybe someone else who would know what they are talking about could run with this idea?

Also, I don't think what Reverend is praising can be paraphrased as: "ambition or scope or breadth etc."

If she was white, this supposed lack of emotion in her music would never even come up.

― Indolence Mission (DJP), Tuesday, January 18, 2011 2:17 PM Bookmark

otm

no i like janelle. im saying that for white ppl doing similar distancing it codes as 'hip affect' -- her performative distance codes as professional, overly rehearsed, not emotionally on the surface, & theres a bias in favor of 'raw emotion' when it comes to black artists a lot of the time ime

by the end of the album she rather explicitly makes the jazz connection via "BabopbyeYa"

xp: Ah so I was sort of right, and yeah I totally agree with you.

Also the thing about Ella Fitzgerald otm, too.

She doesn't want to be Aretha, she wants to be Stevie.

you know its really interesting ive been reading this elijah wald book on the history of popular music in the 20th century, and he talks a lot about how early rock broke with the traditional songwriting style of sinatra etc esp the style performed by mitch miller ... the 'raw emotional' thing was looked down on, and it became a generational divide thing. its part of why johnnie ray was the first white guy to top the 'race record' charts was because he *got this* -- as did teenagers.

the book also argues that circa the beatles, the popular music scenes diverge irreperably along race lines, so you have black & white musical traditions entirely separating in a way that they hadnt w/ swing & pre-beatles rock ...

im not making an argument here but these are interesting contextual pieces i think

esp the style *produced* by mitch miller, i mean

i wish i could explain in more detail / more clearly but i dont have time at work :-/