Janelle Monae

last song is kind of dippy, as others have have mentioned

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2860/9504295145_cb8cd35748_b.jpg

rad, i didnt realise these actually were paintings

http://57821.tumblr.com/

got sucked in by the artifice

I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean. The artifice in the music? The artifice in the music was part of the music. I've only listened to the new album once, but I think the more ballad-like songs on the ArchAndroid were stronger melodically (and gaver her singing more room to stretch) than they are here, and what I like about those songs had little to do with the sci fi genre-smashing packaging (if packaging is what was meant by "artifice").

and the weirdly synthetic effect is like offworld cheap plastic flamingo ersatz exotica, akin to dr buzzards or maybe even the little thread david toop mined with his ocean of sound comps in the 90s

I don't think I've ever heard the Toop compilations (or if I have, I've forgotten what's on them), but there's definitely a continuity between this and some of the 90s exotica/cocktail revival stuff. I specifically thought I heard some borrowing from Esquivel on one of the later more faux Latin tracks. I don't have strongs feelings about it one way or another, but on first listen I'm not to taken with any of it. And next time I skip the skits.

I mean, I'm one of those people who don't normally listen to much R&B (though it's slipping back into my listening more via the UK this year), who like the ArchAndroid, and I don't feel I was "taken in" by anything.

i gotta say that all this android backstory shit is uninteresting
all smells of nth generation retread parliament but with the oily gloss of rock opera
that showiness, more=more sound is the one element of what I guess is afropunk that really doesn't work for me but it's a real live and let live genre
this shit totally capsized the new goodie mob album tho so I'm a bit gunshy.
has anyone talked explicitly about the broadwayization of fringe-now-becoming-pop R&B? I get that it's a massive can of worms with class and racial divisions implicit throughout but it seems like there's got to be a good essay or two on the subject out there.

like i'm sure that the dream gets invoked in there

and right on cue:
http://www.vulture.com/2013/09/jody-rosen-on-janelle-monae-the-electric-lady.html

i kinda sadly agree with the article; none of her later songs has thrilled me quite so much as the first two tracks of the ArchAndroid EP. but damn, she is a lovable spirit and the ideas are super cool. the singles off the new album posted in this thread are OK but don't give me a ton of hope, though I'll definitely pick up Electric Lady next week.

prob my fave janelle monae song is the first one i ever heard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9HqrPj7yqM

even before "ghetto woman" hits the nail on the head, this has a new amerykah 2 vibe to it (while obv still sounding like monae)

rap breakdown on 'ghetto woman' is \m/ tbh

The "It's Code"/"Ghetto Woman" twofer is Stevie as all getout

"q.u.e.e.n." remains awesome and i like "primetime" too but this album reeeeally didn't hit the spot for me, it's still too...busy

the rap breakdown on "ghetto woman" is awesome but i find the song's entire sentiment a bit off-putting, it's like...why would janelle play the #nicewhitelady role?

like it's just so patronising

This is so much better than her previous album.

why would janelle play the #nicewhitelady role?

Not sure where you're getting this from? Esp. since she said she wrote it in tribute to her mom.

Really, it's her version of "Black Man".

are any of these songs as good as "many moons"

I p much love everything she's done except that song :/

>:|

guess u hate dancing

I do.

dance apocalyptic is pretty great, imagine it might be on the radio all over the place the way Hey Ya was a few years ago, but maybe not.

Wow!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_0gMYq6Odw

well that's way better than the studio version

and it sounds way less busy

I love how she slaps her own ass at the end after Letterman's "Hardest working woman in show business" line

that song in the studio version has the same problem i have with 'tightrope' -- its catchy as heck but its so efficient it feels basically done by 1:30 in and then it just goes and does it two more times to hit the single-length mark.

monae would be even more amazing if she had lots of pink-flag era wire funk busts.

bursts, rather.

This starts off really really great, far more coherent and seemingly well thought-through than Archandroid. Have to admit my attention wavers massively after Suite V Overture - the first ten tracks work brilliantly as a short album, nothing after has grabbed me yet.

Probably too long, but take out the skits and the overtures, and I find that this drags less than The ArchAndroid tended to, particularly towards the end. I'm only one listen in, but I expect that I'll end up liking this one a lot.

man that Letterman performance made do a complete 180 on "Dance Apocalyptic"

it's a real good song but the instrumentation means i prob will never shake the feeling that i'm listening to a jingle for royal caribbean

http://i.imgur.com/YQgbMPV.gif

I'm very fond of the Prince collaboration – he still sounds great! It's the only song I kept.

'can't live without your love' is my lone abider... not particularly sure why

Janelle is super-Broadway; I hear her in the same vein as Heather Hadley and Anika Noni Rose with a 70s sci-fi funk veneer

it's a real good song but the instrumentation means i prob will never shake the feeling that i'm listening to a jingle for royal caribbean

Yeah, kind of. Then you listen for a bit more and realize it's a Bo Diddley song underneath!

http://persephonemagazine.com/2013/09/the-electric-lady-is-the-droid-youre-looking-for/

"I want a queer R&B canon so established that it has its own stereotypes, that the next generation of queer brown kids can scoff at and take for granted the way queer white kids often do with the Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge"

So Primetime is officially going to be the next single, which is a great decision. It totally deserves to be a huge hit for them both.

Really nice video, they really are both very watchable

http://youtu.be/Oxls2xX0Clg

"I want a queer R&B canon so established that it has its own stereotypes, that the next generation of queer brown kids can scoff at and take for granted the way queer white kids often do with the Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge"

lol – excellent

i like the last song

Man, if her albums could sound even remotely as electrifying as she does live, there would be no question about who rules all. She's astonishing in concert!

i agree - must as said up there "Many Moons" might be the best case

forks, where is "letting go" from?

i like the last song

― rap steve gadd (D-40), Friday, October 11, 2013 10:58 AM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark

best track

lettin' go was on monae's (self published i think?) debut ep but first made the rounds on the purple ribbon all-stars second mixtape which is fucking great.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Got_Purp%3F_Vol._2

I love "Prime Time" now. Unconditionally.

From the same debut/Got Purp, I highly recommend her cover of DeBarge's Time Will Reveal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ffFtQrCnY