RE: My last rites about Voodoo...

From: BAO (tunde@arches.uga.edu)
Date: Thu Feb 24 2000 - 21:25:06 MET

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    opinions are like assholes.

    On Thu, 24 Feb 2000, Dirk van den Heuvel wrote:

    > Well I bought both the new D'Angelo CD and Angie Stone CD and overall I'm
    > very disappointed by both of them. It's not anything as abstract as what
    > their influences are or aren't, or that I am or ain't diggin' their
    > vibe/sound/etc, it's just the songs aren't that good. Plain and f'ing
    > simple. These are the kinds of CDs that compilation tapes (or mini discs in
    > my case) were made for. Take the 3-4 great tracks off the D'Angelo album and
    > the 2 tracks I like off Angie Stone and put them on a mini disc compilation.
    > I hardly buy any music we don't distribute. When I do it's almost always
    > r&b. I had high hopes for these records. I WANTED to like them. But,
    > listening to them I was struck with the feeling that the songs just weren't
    > at the level I expected. YMMV but that's my opinion.
    >
    > Dirk van den Heuvel (dirkv@groovedis.com)
    > Groove Distribution
    > http://www.groovedis.com
    > Your Guide To The Underground
    >
    > -----Original Message-----
    > From: Deep Soul [mailto:jjeudy@hotmail.com]
    > Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2000 11:24 AM
    > To: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
    > Subject: My last rites about Voodoo...
    >
    >
    >
    > I think that a lot of people who are downing the album have put themselves
    > outside it's reach. To say that it doesn't encompass that old-skool soul
    > flavor is to clearly miss the mark. Influences of greats like Sly, Marvin,
    > and Prince are well apparent. However, D'angelo adds a jazzy yet still
    > soulful spin to his expression. In comparison, a song like "Heaven Must Be
    > Like This", or "Your Precious Love" done by both D'Angelo and Erykah Badu
    > would probably be more palatable since it's more of a classic soul style.
    >
    > It's ironic that Stimp mentioned how much he disliked "Voodoo" and how much
    > he liked "Black Diamond" by Angie Stone. Both artists have worked together
    > for several years and are VERY close friends (close like D being the father
    > of one of her children!) If you check closely, most of the songs written on
    > Voodoo are co-written by Angie Stone. "Everyday" on Angie's album was
    > co-produced with D'Angelo.
    > Not surprisingly, I get similar enjoyment from both of these albums.
    >
    > Initially, I had reservations about Voodoo since hearing Devil's Pie which
    > came out back in '98. For me, I thought this was what to expect of D's album
    > and thus I wasn't pressed on getting it. Now that it's out, yeah there's
    > tons of reviews, shots and praises about the album. My General Rule: why am
    > I going to let the opinion of people swayed by winds of expectation and
    > their own biases affect how I feel about an artist and his music.
    > There are only two entities to really compare this album with: the generic
    > radio tune from the various urban hit factories
    > (BadBoy/Timbaland/DarkChild/etc); and D'Angelo's first album, Brown Sugar. I
    > shouldn't have to explain the differences in the first category. But it's
    > really into looking where D has been to what he's trying to do now that the
    > real enjoyment comes. I loved Brown Sugar and it definitely stands out among
    > less aspiring r&b albums, but it still left me wanting for something. Maybe
    > someting personal that I DID get from Badu, or more recently Amel Larrieux
    > (foreshadowing...) Even he admits in his liners that he could easily have
    > used the same formulas and aproach towards this album and enjoyed similar
    > success as he did previously. But this was personal project to expand his
    > artistic self and to honor those possesive forces and people that drive him
    > to make music. "Untitled" is out and out an ode to the now untitled artist.
    > Instead of drum machines and snappy samples, you have talent the like of Roy
    > Hargrove, Charlie Hunter, Ahmir Thompsoin of The Roots, and Raphael Saadiq
    > to add a living spirit to the album. Listen to each song... Recognize that
    > each is done without overdubs or looped orchestrations. This isn't radio
    > playlist music for passive ears. Every cuts is a live jam that echoes in
    > your mind when you open yourself to it. You can't just browse through it
    > like you can a Marvin Gaye or otherwise more "formatted" album because the
    > format is different. The same way you can just browse through Miles Davis or
    > Sun Ra.
    >
    > What I would tell anyone about this album is to ignore everything that you
    > have heard and remove all expectation. Listen and enjoy it like you would
    > that smokey jazz club away from the pop life. See if you too get caught up
    > in the voodoo.
    >
    > Deep_Soul
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    >



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