Janelle Monae

i dont like jazmine as much as andy k or lex (which sorta surprised me) but idk i think its also pretty good. i think in some ways its a weird comparison -- not that it was weird of dan to bring it up, because i think he was touching on something w/r/t ppl's ilx worldviews on this stuff (that tim's adjustment of might be more accurate but nontheless) but because at some level its like ... why are these being compared when they're going for such different audiences?

the 'problem' w the poll results is simply that one audience is more likely to write about music in these channels

how are you defining "in these channels"?

a lot of ppl writing about R&B are doing so more on gossip blog-type formats & might not even consider themselves 'critics'

Sorry for being a corny indie fuck.

rmde

Oh damn, that doesn't autoreplace anymore.

ha rev i like janelle monae -- not rlly the issue

I know, wasn't directed at you, mostly Alfred and Lex.

You're one of the few people (Dan too) who's articulated why the album works. I aimed my comment at so many critics and friends -- none of whom are particularly friendly to R&B -- for praising the album in exactly the same terms. I'm sorry for offending you.

Fair 'nuff.

Man. I get so exhausted by listening to both suites in a row sometimes that I don't end of listening to BaBopBye Ya but seriously on the first two and a half minutes of this, her phrasing is gorgeous. And I think I hear chromatic runs of chords on a piano in the distant background?

*don't end up listening to

Like, there's no reason why "Tightrope" should go from straightforward JB pastiche to ukeleles and turntables and "Happy birthday to you", but when it does, I lose my shit.

Apropos of nothing, that last bit sometimes reminds me of Herbert's Scale album.

the only thing that really bothers me about 'tightrope' is the moment when big boi raps about falling into the gap & suddenly i think im in a gap commercial

The fact that she can't really sing doesn't seem to me such a problem—she compensates for her technical limitations with vaudevillian pizzazz.

http://www.slate.com/id/2281158/entry/2282198

Janelle Monae as notably technically limited among vocalists outside of classical music? How much spice does Jody Rosen smoke?

Some his other criticisms I can at least sympathize with, but I think he's focusing too much on the incidental mumbo-jumbo and not enough on the music.

Also, if he's seen her live - and surely at this point he must have - then he understands how effective said incidental mumbo-jumbo actually is, and also her place her a long continuum of mumbo-jumbo.

Yeah, that's by far the most bizarre criticism I've read.

criticism of her*

I don't know if I've said this already
But I think people rag on Janelle's vox because they are mixed way loud
She's a great singer, everything about ArchAndroid is v cool except the mix... A/B it with other R&B records and you'll see, you'll see.

Eh? I didn't really notice her voice being too loud... If anything, I thought it was a bit lower in the instrumental mix than what is common in the pop music of the 00s; this was possibly done to enhance the late 60s/early 70s vibe many of the tunes have.

monae is technically limited? wtf. thats wrong. not like shes cassie.

Eh? I didn't really notice her voice being too loud... If anything, I thought it was a bit lower in the instrumental mix than what is common in the pop music of the 00s; this was possibly done to enhance the late 60s/early 70s vibe many of the tunes have.

No, exactly. It's mixed like a 00s pop record. Specifically, it's mixed like an Alicia Keys record.
The vox are way, way more present than any 60s/70s R&B that I can call to mind, save maybe Minnie Riperton

So I saw her show live last night and it was quite something. She can really move and hold an audience. During the encore she had everybody crouching down (and I mean, EVERYBODY) and singing along. Her band were so tight and she really does have a great voice - almost identical to how it sounds on record. I doubt it would have convinced any haters but if you've got even a passing fondness for her I would really recommend grabbing a ticket if you can, especially if the thought of a cross between a superstar performance and a really corny pantomine does it for you.

I relaly like Janelle. can't say I'm heavily into the 'concept' on the record, but the sound is amazing.

I listened to the album for the first time in maybe six months and have to say I enjoyed it a lot more now the dust has settled down. I've also sneakily sequenced in Sincerely Jane between Locked Inside and Sir Greendown, and that helps. I think it could also do with loosing a couple of tracks, but haven't decided which ones.

"Sincerely, Jane" is her most overrated song imo.

I think it's astounding.

Yeah a friend of mine who's living in the UK for 6 months went to the birmingham show and he was babbling with happiness afterwards, he had such a great time.

So I saw her show live last night and it was quite something. She can really move and hold an audience. During the encore she had

everybody crouching down (and I mean, EVERYBODY) and singing along. Her band were so tight and she really does have a great voice - almost identical to how it sounds on record. I doubt it would have convinced any haters but if you've got even a passing fondness for her I would really recommend grabbing a ticket if you can, especially if the thought of a cross between a superstar performance and a really corny pantomine does it for you.

― o0o00h really? (boxedjoy), Sunday, February 27, 2011 11:40 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

just seen the mcr show with my daughter and hugely impressed. her stage presence is fascinating, highly skilled performance but without hipsterness, attichewed, ego. spontaneity *can* be very drilled, but she and the band found completely the right balance.

sorry for formatting idiocy.

yeah i was at that gig last night too. hadn't heard her stuff before (well the odd youtube vid but didn't like much) but was blown away by the whole show, delightful life-affirming stuff. she badly needs a Big Pop Hit as she's too brilliant not to be gaga-level massive in the next few years

I was playing this on the way into work and it basically reminded me that it is a blessing to be alive

Yea I spun it again thw other day and it was like nectar

count me in for hoping she takes "the leap" into superstardom as well; she's way too damn talented

"she badly needs a Big Pop Hit as she's too brilliant not to be gaga-level massive in the next few years"

OTM. I was at the Birmingham show last week - amazing in both how great she was live and how she was still only playing relatively small venues.

I was also at the Manchester gig yesterday - it was wonderful. It would be a dman shame if she doesn't become more popular in the next year or so.

Good album. I think this has a much more unique sound than many would give it credit for. There is some precise variant of brooding that runs through much of it that feels distinctive to me. I don't recognize that as an imitation or twin of anything else.

Yeah I had another listen to it and it definitely has broken from "flavor of the month" to "something I will listen to for a long time". It reminds me Sufjan Stevens Illinois album for some reason, maybe because it's a critical favorite in spite of being so damn long, but I really hope she doesn't go down the same path of burnout. She seems to be way more talented, so who knows.

I sat on a thesis committee for an ad/PR major last Friday whose project was to construct a promotion campaign for a local singer-songwriter whose models are Janelle Monae and Erykah Badu ("alternative R&B").

What was your plan of 'attack'?

never seen or heard anything quite like the hype that's been going on all over the web since last night's BBC showing of her performance at Glastonbury. just insane. she was trending on UK twitter for a good 6 or 7 hours after.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBeAwmow1eA

I love how her shirt gets progressively more untucked.
Cape!

that's basically cos she was awesome. about half the set here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/festivals/glastonbury/2011/artists/janellemonae/

shame none of her other material is as funky

review from monae's recent local show opening for bruno mars- "amateur hour performance art":

Just when it seemed as though wunderkind Bruno Mars -– he of the coy, boyish charm and the golden songwriting pen and the voice you could just pour over ice cream –- could do no wrong, well, then he does.

He picks Janelle Monáe as his partner on the “Hooligans in Wundaland Tour,” leaving many of us out there in the undersold 1stBank Center crowd Sunday night wondering, “What just happened?”

Mars has Cee Lo Green on speed dial following their brilliant collaboration on “F**k You,” and he even manages to make B.o.B. look like a genius (“Nothin’ on You” was a Mars vocal highlight Sunday night, even without the Atlanta rapper’s silly but infectious rhymes all over it).

But Monáe and her amateur performance-art hour was so tedious and painful, I don’t know what even Mars could have done to fix it. Were those cape-clad dancers dressed as “Star Wars” Ewoks or extras from the “Scream” franchise? The “Alice in Wonderland” backup singers made no sense with the rest of the cast’s “Matrix” saddle shoes and Monáe’s Grace Jones sunglasses. And the song choices could not have been more jangling. We went from Nat King Cole’s “Smile” to “I Want You Back” from the Jackson 5 to Monáe’s own funkadelic “Tightrope.”

Give the Grammy award-winning singer props for the groovin’ 11-piece band, and during “I Want You Back,” there were moments it sounded as though Janet and Michael were in the house. But those dance moves have got to go –- everyone lying down on the stage as legitimate choreography went out in, um, 1978.

lol

brilliant parody imo

Congrats on scoring a #1 hit ... as a featured guest on a Fueled by Ramen release.

man that song is so bad. The voice epitomizes everything I hate about a certain kind of male singing.

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