Scorpeze explains it all…

Jazzanova- Of All the Things (2008)

“the world is changing/getting smaller everyday/easy to get someplace/but hard to get away…”

You may know the German production team Jazzanova or you might not. But you should.

Jazzanova is a 6 man team based in Berlin. Some of the guys are musicians, some are programmers, some are DJs, one is a master recording engineer. I’ll let one of the guys explain in detail.

“Stefan and Roskow are more or less responsible for programming our tracks. They work also on their own projects or for others, but they mostly work on Jazzanova projects. And there’s Axel who does all the mix-downs. He records all the artists for Sonar Kollektiv. Claas, Alex and me are concentrate on our work for Sonar Kollektiv, our record label. Claas takes care of all the contract things and all that. There are always teams of two who work on a Jazzanova track, so it’s one of the programmers or engineers and one of us, one of the DJs. This team works on a track from the beginning to the end. And once it is done, they come to the other members of Jazzanova and all of us listen to it and we join with ideas and criticism and all that. But more or less a Jazzanova tune is done by two, one of the DJs and one of the guys who are on the computer and programming. Axel is responsible for the sound. He has a perfect ear, so he is for good for all sounds…”

-Jurgen von Knoblauch of Jazzanova

People sat up and took notice when they released their debut album In Between in 2002. Besides that, they have done a slew of remix work. Heads have deemed In Between a classic. For my money, this album is the far and away winner.

While In Between is mostly built on sonic collages and makes extensive use of sampling, OATT is almost exclusively organic. Amy Winehouse’s  breakthrough album Back To Black (produced by Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi) sent hordes of producers to the lab to record dusty drums and acoustic basses to try to replicate the 60’s feel of Back To Black. Most of them failed. While they got the sounds right, they failed to write any interesting material. Perhaps the most egregious example of this was ex-Tony Toni Tone frontman Raphael Saadiq’s terrible album The Way I See It. Ray painstakingly re-created the sound of Hitsville but instead of writing some great songs, he chose to simply re-arrange already existing 60’s songs and hoped no one would notice. Ray’s album was a prime example of what I called “musical theatre on wax”. There are tons of bands out there who dress up in 60’s/70’s gear, rip off old records, and think theyre doing something ground-breaking. They aint.

On this album, Jazzanova touches on the sound of the mid-60’s without falling into the fetishization trap.  They avoid this by writing absolutely stellar and original songs and producing them like new records instead of old ones. That is how you keep real music going w/out being retro.

Luckily, they venture out of the 60’s on roughly half of the album. Unlike the last album, each cut features a vocal. The choices are inspired.

With most albums by beat driven artists, even the fans don’t pay much attention to what is being said and what messages are being communicated by the artist. Folks tend to focus on the production and not much else. As long as the vocal is in the right key, its all good.

The overlying theme of this album is self-reckoning. Each cuts details this in different scenarios. Mediations on heartbreak, maturity, love, racism and isolation set the tone. Expressed though a selection of mostly male vocalists, the lyrics are haunting and deeply personal-making this a moody album. Each vocalist contributes their own lyrics making kudos due all around. I have been spending quality time with this album for the last few days, and certain songs are resonating very deeply with me.

Jazzanova musician Stefan Leisering matches these emotional poems with outstandingly sensitive musical compositions that support the intent of the lyrics without outshining them with garish production tricks. He gives each song the music it needs to flourish. His music is deeply soulful and elegant.

Fat Freddy’s Drop lead singer Dallas Tamaira aka Joe Dukie turns in a deep piece on self-reflection entitled What Do You Want? British vocalist Ben Westbeech accurately illustrates the sorrow of foreseeing the end of a romance on the melancholy second single I Can See.

Indie Renaissance man Phonte gets both sides of his talent showcased on two cuts. On the album opener Look What You’re Doing To Me, Phonte sings about the deeper side of loving someone. On So Far From Home, Tay’s rhymes let us into the other side of traveling the world with your music. Most rappers present worldwide touring as a non stop party. Tay talks about the loneliness and the subtle racism that some Europeans exhibit toward Black people when we’ve been taught to believe its all good for Black musicians in Europe. Its a very ballsy move on Tay’s part to use his guest spot on a Europeans group’s album to talk about this.

So Far From Home is clever musically because of the sample used. Jazzanova samples their own song, Let Me Show Ya, for the basis of So Far From Home. Not only is Let Me Show Ya their own song, but its also a song from this same album. Nice.

The clever musical references dont stop there. Jazzanova recruits sensual soul master and native Detroiter Leon Ware to remake his own 1981 underground seduction classic Rockin’ You Eternally. To further tip the hat, they have fellow Detroit crooner Dwele to provide backing vocals. Even better, its almost identical to the original musically. Somehow, it still seems like a fresh take on the song.

The Germans continue their musical world tour by having 70’s Brazilian disco/funk/jazz trio Azymuth team up with fellow Brazilian vocalist Pedro Martins for one of the album’s shining moments. The result is a gorgeous, slinky slice of Brazilian jazz entitled Gafiera.

One of my favorite female vocalists, Bembe Segue, steps out of her comfort zone to contribute the only female vocal on the album. Singing over a straight ahead jazz arrangement, her song Morning Scapes lends some air to the heaviness elsewhere on the album.

Detroit is well represented on the album as Motor City bassist/vocalist Paul Randolph lends his soulful vocals and lyrics to 3 songs.  Besides the aforementioned first single Let Me Show Ya and Lucky Girl, he takes the lead on the album’s masterstroke. The closing cut is a jazzy reading of Morrissey’s scathing Dial A Cliche. Randolph’s vocal on top of the subdued arrangement lend the song a new poignancy. The most famous line of the song “Grow up, be a man, and shut your mealy mouth” packs an emotional wallop.

To summarize, this is one of the best albums I’ve heard recently. It may even be my Album of the Year for 2009. If you don’t have this album, get it right damn now. It is a work of genius.

My man Primus Luta is a scientist of music. Literally.

He gets under the hood and looks at the mechanics of how music w0rks. After he breaks it all down, he puts it back together in the form of some pretty dope shit.

Some time ago, he asked me to lay a bass part for this song. Unfortunately, due to situations we were going through with Windimoto, I didnt finish my part as promptly as I liked (I dont jerk people around if I say Im gonna do somn…..mostly).

When he sent me the track, it was pretty bare bones….so I figured there was a method to the madness…and that shit was harder to play than you think it would be…

When he sent me an early mix months later, I was blown away to hear myself in the middle of a jazz-fusion smoker…

I was sworn to secrecy…until now.

Luta is finally ready to release the Heads project to the world. Of course, there is a concept to all of this shit. I’ll let Luta explain it himself in the links below, but I will say this, Luta’s version of Come Clean is related to the 90’s hip-hop classic of the same name.

The musicians on the song are:

Drums, Keyboards, Programming and Additional Percussions by Primus Luta
Bass by Scorpeze
Guitars by Takuma Kanaiwa
Saxophones by Tomchess
Percussions by Zach and Claudia

First, check the song (and his remix using our parts) below:

Now, dig Luta break it all the way down here (it’s pretty interesting):

http://comeclean.avanturb.com/

Peace,

Scorp

Phonte (formerly of Little Brother) and Nicolay, better known as The Foreign Exchange, have officially started their own label called +FE Music.

The first release is the album by vocalist YahZarah entitled The Ballad of Purple St. James on May 4th.

Treat yourself to the first single, Why Dontcha Call Me No More.

Written by Phonte, YahZarah, and Nicolay and produced by The Foreign Exchange (Nicolay and Phonte), it aint what you’re used to…but its dope all the same…the song is a slightly humorous take on the conflicting feelings you have for an ex-lover that aint no damn good.

Get the single…….FO DE FREE! at +FE Music’s website here:

http://www.theforeignexchangemusic.com/2010/03/why-dontcha-call-me-no-more.php

Thank me in moments in time further ahead than the present.

Peace,

Scorp.

My friends,

I know that it is difficult to wade through a sea of neverending wackness to find the good shit…ESPECIALLY in hip-hop…

But I will offer my assistance…

As we all know, its hard to get people’s attention long enough to listen to your music…and sometimes talented artists have to settle for just letting their work float in the universe and hoping that someone somewhere will hear it and connect.

tREBLEFREE is a hip-hop producer (not beatmaker) born and raised in my hometown of Detroit, MI where he still resides. What sets this man apart from his contemporaries is his musicality, attention to detail, his inventiveness, and subtle yet wicked sense of humor…

His songs are soulful and packed to the teeth with a funky sense of rhythm and emphasis on groove rather than just making whatever sonic dressing fit the drums. Rather than just the stoic “ba-boom-boom-bap” boring rhythms that other hip-hop producers give you, tREB’s music has actual movement rather than just accompaniment…

DVS Jackson is nowhere near your average emcee. A product of Chicago–years ago you could have found him buggin out in the house clubs just as soon as rippin flows in a cypher. DVS attacks you with vocal dynamics, wordplay, zany humor, intricate flows, and just straight up bizarre imagery that leaves your head spinning. After you’ve absorbed all of that, you realize that there was a solid concept hidden underneath it all. He is the aural equivalent of a Magic Eye image.

The unorthodox artistic approach of both men created an inevitable partnership.

Taking on the personas of the scathingly sarcastic Muppet critics Waldorf & Statler, tREB and DVS have decided on a unique presentation of their work together…

They will release 5 Waldorf & Statler EPs (they call it a “cinquilogy”), with one to be released each quarter. The 2nd EP has just dropped.

Get thee ass to their Bandcamp page and download BOTH existing Waldorf & Statler EPs…….FO DE FREE!

http://waldorfandstatler.bandcamp.com/

Listen to it (yes, the whole thang, if you want!) below:

Do not let this thang pass you by….Don’t let GOOD art go unnoticed…

Thank me at a moment in time that will occur in the future.

Peace,

Scorp.

Late last year, El DeBarge was granted an early release from prison.

Recently, he was interviewed on the Brian McKnight show.

In this short but insightful interview, El is looking good, sounding good, and seems to have a firm grasp on his life.

Couple quick facts:

Did you know that El produced the majority of DeBarge’s work? He also played ALL the keyboards on the In A Special Way album.

El is also a virtuoso keyboardist. Seriously. Like jazz level.

He also produced, played keyboards, and sang background uncredited on a few songs on his brother Chico’s 1997 comeback album Long Time, No See.

Check it out:

God bless this brother. He has walked a hard road. I know very well that creative types deal with a pain that most people cant understand–thus why so many turn to drugs for relief.

I hope that he continues on a righteous path and he keeps God close for the rest of his days.

Im gonna break from the Favorite Albums of the 2000’s series to talk abt a few topics…

First up. The music industry as we know it is a wrap.

Let’s take a moment to be honest about what is happening here.

if you are doing music in any professional capacity right now, make sure that you are doing it because you love the craft.

If you are doing music because you dream of fame and riches, do yourself a favor and stop.

If you’re a great singer and you’re gearing up for American Idol tryouts–save your energy and talent. That shit a TV show. Period. It IS NOT a singing competition.

The music industry has done itself in. The cold, hard facts of it all is that good music and musical talent count for jack shit these days. While there have ALWAYS been successful acts who are mostly style over substance in popular music, we are now in an era where marketability is the MAIN factor in getting over in the industry.

and 9 times out of 10, even THAT wont blow you up.

It doesnt matter anymore whether your music is good or if you have any talent. Even if you have the marketability, that will only get you so far.

Tastemakers run the music industry these days, both mainstream and underground. So no matter how good you are or are not, it will be for naught unless a person of influence of some sort co-signs you or takes you under their wing. Which is nothing new, but the bad part is that most of the current tastemakers are douchebags with awful taste in music and culture. More on that later.

Even if THAT happens, the public still has to buy into your hype and that, my friends, is a variable that NO ONE can control.

Now, let’s be square here. This is not coming from a place of bitterness or frustration. In no way am I tryna piss on your dreams, kids. Check out Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, he’s a mutli platinum artist and producer, he will tell you the somewhat the same thing here.

This is just the pure, hard reality of the industry climate right now. Me personally, I’m satisfied with the way my music career is progressing. I make the music I want and it stands or falls on its own merit. Whatever mistakes are made, I take responsibility and learn from the experience. I knew what I was getting into going in. I dont harbor dreams of limos, industry parties, and pretending to be annoyed by the paparazzi. I’m not that kind of person and I dont need that kind of validation.

But there are many cats out there who do need that, and DON’T know what they’re getting into. The dreamers are still out there, and they still believe in the Cinderella fairytale.

Now what DOES concern me is how the music industry will rebuild itself. While the old industry business model had huge flaws, it still had legitimate purpose.

While the underground cats were whooping it up a cpl years ago celebrating the fall of the major label system, they were missing the big picture. When one system fails, another system must take its place. As of yet, no one has presented a BETTER business model than the one we had before. Is there one? Of course. Has it been implemented or even proposed? Shit, no. Not even close.

The internet changed the game completely. Before that, a personal computer was mostly just a trinket only useful for business, science, and educational purposes. With the advent of the internet, social networking, and inexpensive professional audio/visual technology, making a studio quality record and package has become feasible for the everyman. The personal computer quickly became a staple of everyday life and it empowered and connected the unheard masses. Independent music used to have the stigma of inferior quality and presentation because the musicians involved did not have access to the tools that the pros had.

Now you can record your album on your laptop and have it sound pristine. You dont have to worry about rushing because you dont have money for blocks of studio time. You or your graphic artist friend can put up a website and design the packaging. With a few clicks, your album can be available for sale or free download all over the world for anyone who wants it. Fuck the major labels. Sweet, right?

Wrong.

With any professional craft, there is a bar of entry. A set of requirements or skill level you must meet in order to practice said craft on a professional level. If you play sports, you must prove yourself in smaller capacities before being allowed to play professionally. The major label standard used to be that bar of entry for musicians. With the new DIY ethic in music, that bar has been far lowered if not completely obliterated. Now almost ANYONE can have a record in the marketplace.

The problem here is that we now have a glut of highly visible, commercially available, independent music of wildly varying quality. So there’s alot of wack ass music to sort through. How do you find the good stuff? The die hards say, “GET OFF YOUR LAZY ASS AND SEARCH!…”

Well, you could do that. But the thing that theyre missing is that the average person isnt that passionate about music. Sure, people LIKE music, they may even LOVE it, but its not a driving factor in their everyday lives. Teenagers may consume music voraciously, but they need music to be presented to them. The majors have that market sewed up. Adults have lives. Jobs, children, spouses, finances, career, homes, etc. Those lives cut down on the disposable income one has to go out  and take a chance on buying a terrible record, or to splurge on music in general. Those lives also cut down on the time one has to devote to looking for the perfect beat.

This is why the major label system worked for so long. They have money. Lots of it. They have power and influence. The service that the major label system provided for the average music fan was this:

-Discover talented person
-Supply talented person with the best of what they needed to present their talent(studios, producers, songwriters, musicians, instruments, etc…)
-develop talented person to be presentable and understandable to the masses
-introduce talented person to the masses
-generate interest in talented person through promotion (concerts, television appearances, press, radio)

In short, the majors delivered the good shit to your doorstep…you didnt have to search for the new hot shit cuz it was on the radio, on TV, in magazines, at the local concert hall opening for your favorite artist…the poster is in the record store, the artist themselves are even in the record store…

All of that takes money and influence–which the majors have in abundance.

out of the millions of aspiring musicians, the major picked the best and brightest and said to you, “HEY! This cat is DOPE! Youre gonna love their music!…”.  if you wanted a taste, all you had to do was turn on the radio or check out Ed Sullivan, or American Bandstand or Soul Train.

Now, let’s keep it one hunnid. There are many flaws and loopholes (too many to go into detail here) in that system that would allow a truly talented artist to get passed by or slip through the cracks or to allow some half-talent to blow up. But for the most part, that was a solid business model. Pick a talent, groom them, then tell the world about them.

It just so happened that the industry got extremely arrogant at the same time that the internet was coming to power. Music sales were at an all time high in the 90’s. The money was rolling in hand over fist. The majors decided to follow the money. They got rid of the record/music/creative people and hired a bunch of suits to mind the bottom line. The majors believed that they could sell water (wack ass artists) to a well (an easily manipulated herd mentality public). Two things shattered that dream. George W. Bush and Napster. With Dubya came an America that was vulnerable enough to allow 9/11 to happen, effectively ending the peace and prosperity of the Clinton era. Napster allowed listeners to not have to pay for the amazingly shitty records that the industry was pumping out. You could get the 2 or 3 jams off the albums and be done with it, saving yourself a bundle. it doesn’t help that the industry thought it was smart to eliminate singles a short time prior to the sea change in American lifestyle.

Even worse, now we face the mentality that “music is free”. Many people have become cynical to the point that they believe it is their RIGHT to get music without paying for it. They feel no shame in stealing music and do not attempt to fill the artist’s coffers in other ways. They ignore the fact that any artistic endeavors must be patronized in order to survive.

Fact: Manufacturing ANYTHING requires an investment.

Even if an artist is completely DIY, they must pay for:
-equipment/instruments
-musicians/featured guest artist appearances
-computer
-internet access
-software
-electricity
-distribution fees/expenses
-pressing CD’s and promotional materials
-living expenses (food, clothes, bills)

Snidely, these people say, “WELL, TOUR TO MAKE YOUR MONEY!”

L-O-fuckingL.

How do you tour when you cant afford to make a record? Who will book you if no one knows who you are? Who will pay for hotels, transportation, and food? Who will come to the shows???

Music is NOT free. The experience of ENJOYING MUSIC is free. The rest of it has a bill attached to it. Even going to a club to dance has a price tag.

Shit, it takes money to even LISTEN to music. You gotta get that mp3/CD player/computer from somewhere.

So. It’s over.

The majors are sitting still while everything burns down around them. Independent artists are just faces in a crowd. A really big fucking crowd.

So let’s say that you overcome these obstacles. You got records out. You play shows. You got buzz (read: co-signage from a tastemaker).

We still got that one variable. The public.

Easy, right? Give em good music and youre all set, right?

Wrong again.

Today’s 20 yr old was born in 1990. Which means that they’ve been raised listening to the rapidly devolving crud that passes for popular music all of their lives. The last musical movement of any real significance was grunge. Grunge was dead by 1995. After that, manufactured pop has dominated since then. After grunge, we got stuff like Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Britney Spears, and the like. That same manufactured vibe permeated all other genres of popular music. Hip-Hop relinquished its underground status, sold out, and became the pop music of the early millennium. R&B went pop. Country went pop. Jazz continued it downward spiral. No one cared about art anymore. Artists and execs only cared about numbers–and because of the internet, numbers became important to listeners, too.

So back to that 20 yr old. He dictates the direction the people with the money will go in because he consumes the most music, whether he paid for it or not. The problem is he has been raised listening to garbage (and I dont mean the band of the same name). His musical tastes are horrid because they are not based on musical quality. His musical tastes are shaped by conformity, sensationalism, spectacle, tabloid culture, branding, and cult of personality. This kind of kid is the one who ends up being the aforementioned tastemaker in the industry.

You want to win over the public with your original, skilled, and heartfelt music? Good luck, my friend.

And the underground doesn’t really exist anymore. The underground value system and aesthetics are basically the same as the mainstream now. The only difference between being underground and mainstream these days is number of records sold.

As far as numbers go, right now, even your big mainstream acts are only selling a few hundred thousand, AT BEST. There are only a handful or artists seeing platinum.

here are some figures from a recent Soundscan chart:

1 BOYLE*SUSAN I DREAMED A DREAM 136,566 -73 510,166 3,103,828
2 LADY GAGA FAME 82,148 -51 168,568 2,387,666
3 KEYS*ALICIA ELEMENT OF FREEDOM 79,801 -71 279,584 779,093
4 BLIGE*MARY J. STRONGER 62,181 -81 330,354 394,005
5 SWIFT*TAYLOR FEARLESS 59,701 -73 224,270 5,329,167
6 BIEBER*JUSTIN MY WORLD 51,837 -67 156,789 727,914

8 BLACK EYED PEAS E.N.D. (ENERGY NEVER DIES) 47,190 -55 104,050 1,786,825
9 LADY GAGA FAME MONSTER (8 TRK) 44,212 -62 115,482 570,475

11 GLEE CAST GLEE: THE MUSIC, V2 43,791 -57 101,920 429,206
12 YOUNG MONEY WE ARE YOUNG MONEY 43,195 -70 142,118 185,696
13 EMINEM RELAPSE 40,862 -68 127,625 1,735,358
14 RIHANNA RATED R 39,571 -56 90,727 498,595
15 BUBLE*MICHAEL CRAZY LOVE 35,021 -74 136,628 1,222,070
16 VARIOUS NOW 32 34,547 -63 93,133 674,654
17 UNDERWOOD*CARRIE PLAY ON 33,501 -78 152,873 1,183,086
18 GLEE CAST GLEE: THE MUSIC V1 32,105 -64 88,865 641,933
19 MAYER*JOHN BATTLE STUDIES 31,826 -65 90,342 698,068
20 LADY ANTEBELLUM LADY ANTEBELLUM 26,810 -68 83,874 1,351,745
21 THICKE*ROBIN SEX THERAPY: THE EXPERIENCE 25,820 -58 60,828 209,824
22 JACKSON*MICHAEL MICHAEL JACKSON’S THIS IS IT 25,254 -77 108,776 1,287,045
23 JAY-Z BLUEPRINT 3 24,830 -58 58,730 1,514,758
24 KINGS OF LEON ONLY BY THE NIGHT 22,794 -47 43,164 1,708,713
25 BROWN*ZAC BAND FOUNDATION 20,953 -66 62,264 1,456,148

27 NEW MOON (TWILIGHT) SOUNDTRACK 20,393 -76 83,491 964,575

30 JONES*NORAH FALL 19,525 -77 86,260 629,450

33 JACKSON*MICHAEL NUMBER ONES 17,958 -70 58,923 4,063,578
34 BOCELLI*ANDREA MY CHRISTMAS 17,768 -94 283,683 2,207,202
35 GUCCI MANE STATE VS. RADRIC DAVIS 17,704 -58 42,176 191,076
36 LAMBERT*ADAM FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT 17,236 -72 61,683 433,834
37 BROWN*CHRIS GRAFFITI 16,903 -72 60,364 232,908

40 SWIFT*TAYLOR TAYLOR SWIFT 15,858 -65 45,935 4,622,024
41 BEYONCE I AM…SASHA FIERCE 15,321 -56 35,184 2,658,822
42 50 CENT BEFORE I SELF-DESTRUCT 15,266 -47 28,950 349,153
43 SONGZ*TREY READY 15,130 -45 27,333 438,434
44 RUCKER*DARIUS LEARN TO LIVE 14,785 -70 49,586 1,240,902
45 CYRUS*MILEY TIME OF OUR LIVES EP 14,690 -78 67,653 1,212,336
46 NICKELBACK DARK HORSE 14,685 -59 35,456 2,533,617

So yeah, man. Its over. At least the way that we know it.

However, there is SOME hope. That hope lies in the ability of someone, whomever that may be, to promote GOOD music (there’s TONS of good music out there going completely unnoticed) again and creating a new retail model to make that good music attractive again. Promoting bad music is how we got here in the first place. That is how we lost the listener’s trust and good faith. Retail and industry would have to come together to make that good music affordable, interactive, and widely available.

The prices have to come down, point blank. CDs should be $5 dollars instead of $10 (it can happen…rmbr in the 90’s when CDs were $15?) and even LESS for digital copies (I’d say $3).

Digital copies need to have downloadable artwork, liner notes, and interactive content. Like what we did with Sinister Beauty, even though we may not have been the first to do that (*pops collar*, and I see some folks have followed suit).

People like vinyl for various reasons. So the industry is smart in bringing it back, but the prices need to come down on that, too. I’d say $10–$12 max.

Record stores are gone, but they need to come back. I suggest the mainstream/corporate stores carry ONLY the Soundscan top 200 and the top 20 in other genres(jazz, latin, dance, country, etc.). That way, they can have better control of inventory and returns. These mainstream stores should offer to special order ANYTHING that is commercially available. They should also sell any digital music that is available. There should be a checkout station for digital music where a customer can tell a cashier what they want, pay for it, then have the cashier upload the purchase to a reusable download card or USB that will allow the consumer to put the music and content(liners, pictures, etc.) on their computer OR have the content uploaded to their listening device right then and there if they choose. Even better, buy a digital album in the store and send it to any email address you choose.

There should be small specialty stores for mainstream and underground records in specific genres/niches. A store that does only metal, a store for only country, a store for only jazz, hip-hop, dance, etc…These store should carry the vinyl for the top selling releases and of course, do special orders. Diggin spots (aka used record stores) should handle mostly catalogue stuff, thus driving up traffic for them because the Top 200 stores wont have that inventory. This saves consumers the headache not knowing where to go for what they want and saves store owners from deciding what to stock. Again, both the mainstream and specialty stores need to be JUST big enough to fit shoppers and inventory comfortably. The only stores with size should be the diggin/catalogue stores. No more mega stores–too much overhead.

People will never tire of the hands on shopping experience. Its in the human nature to look and touch. So bringing record stores back in a SMART way can only help.

We need record people (aka A&R) again (see my next blog) on both a mainstream and underground level. Those label people who will seek out the good shit at shows, parties, online, and through submissions to sign, DEVELOP, and thoroughly promote artists that have the potential to build a long lasting career.

Its going to take people with vision, loot, and courage to make it happen…and I think it will happen.

I dont have all the answers, but I do believe these are starts to a new and successful industry model. Don’t completely destroy the old model, just modify it and eliminate the parts that don’t work.

Until then, people, all we can do is stop living by the old ways, stop believing in fairy tales, keep grinding, and continue to make, BUY, and spread the word about the best music we can.

I look forward to your comments.

Peace,

Scorp

One of my friends asked if Voodoo was on my favorite albums of the 2000’s list. I told her no. She said I should write about why I have excluded it.
I agreed.

Let me start by saying that I really do like Voodoo. It’s a good album. But its not great. Furthermore, its not terribly interesting. Granted, this is my opinion only.

Before Voodoo was released, those who had been involved or were present at the sessions engaged in a great deal of hyperbole taumbout how D’ was the heir to the throne and how this album was so deep and complex and would set your ass on fire. Bad move.

What we got 5 years after D’s rough hewn debut, Brown Sugar, was an album that is textbook example of style over substance. Yes, there are some inspired moments, and some glimmers of brilliance, but like I told a friend some years ago, this aint knockin Innervisions off the turntable.

Lemme explain.

The first problem is that in this age of lowered expectations, people saw fit to call D’Angelo a musical genius. I have not seen nor heard proof of this genius. What have we seen or heard from him that has not been done before or better?

Singing in falsetto? Marvin Gaye, Prince, Michael Jackson, Philip Bailey, Eddie Kendricks, Russell Thompkins, Jr. of The Stylistics

Fusing hip-hop beats/sensibilities with R&B? Teddy Riley, Dallas Austin, TLC

I sincerely hope that playing keys isnt enough to get you the genius tag.

Is it his songwriting/composition? Shit, Damn, Motherfucker is based on the first 5 notes of the E minor scale. Profound lyrics? Jonz In My Bonz aint gon get it. The song Brown Sugar uses the drug as a woman metaphor that has been around since drugs and women. Untitled, lyrically, was just hollow compared to the sensuality of the music that carries the song (“love to make you wet/in between your thighs…” is just not an appealing statement). But, I will admit that there were a couple lines on Voodoo that were well written

The fact that he’s a hood dude doing R&B? 99% of R&B artists are hood dudes.

So I’m left wondering where the genius tag is coming from. Well, no I’m not. The truth is that D’Angelo is a musician and we dont have those in popular music anymore. It blows kids minds just to SEE someone Black playing an instrument these days, nevermind if theyre any good at it. Black folks have become so detached from music itself that the actual craft of playing music is almost alien to them. The reasons for this are too numerous to go into here. In Black music, people only care about the vocalist. There are NO (not ONE) commercially viable Black bands. That speaks VOLUMES. The acts in Black music rarely accompany themselves with an instrument while they sing.The actual music part of the music industry isnt a factor anymore, at least not when it comes to Black folks. We think that all music comes from machines and old records. That’s just fucking pitiful and sad.

So when folks see a Black singer who accompanies themselves on an instrument, they figure that that person MUST be some kind of wunderkind, a prodigy,…even a genius. See Alicia Keys or John Legend.

I think Im the only person in the world to notice that Brown Sugar is made up of half-songs. The intro, verses, hooks, and bridges are done by the 2 min mark. Some of the songs LITERALLY have the first 2 min of music cut and pasted on after the singing is finished. Some of the grooves were cool, but nothing that would blow your head apart. The hype comes from the fact that here’s a dude doing music somewhat in the way it used to be done. Which brings up another problem with Black people and Black music–fetishization of Classic Black music. We are content to go thru the motions of making music like they did in the days when music was really good as the rule rather than the exception. We will play the instruments but we wont put forth the effort to come up with something not only satisfying musically, but original. Plinking out vanilla whole note chords on the Rhodes and playing really rudimentary stuff on bass and drums (“boom-clack/boom, clack” (c) Badu) behind it does not a soul legend make–just as playing dress up in your parent clothes doesnt make you an adult. Im not saying that D is guilty of this, but the acts who came behind him on the neo-soul bandwagon were.

Let’s remain clear: Im not saying that D’Angelo doesnt have any talent. He does. He had tons of potential. Unfortunately, that potential has not been fully realized. It takes time, study, and practice. Prince’s debut For You only hinted at his potential. Same with Stevie’s Music Of My Mind. How could we know that the guys who made the Dancing Machine album would make an album like Triumph? Sheeeit, Im sure Prince thought he had his stage shit DOWN until MJ sonned him on stage in front of James Brown in 1983. Look at Prince on stage before and after–there was a massive game upstepping in that period. Actually, Prince did the same thing to D’ after Voodoo dropped. Prince invited him on stage at Paisley Park and then proceeded to son him somn awful. I can see P like, “oh, you a legend???…you a genius???…well, let’s see if yo ass can hang wit me…”. Instead of learning from his sonning like P did, D’s spirit was broken and he hasnt been the same since.

That fact kinda backs up my theory that they dont make Jesses like they used to. You can break a new school cat pretty damn easy. Back in the day, Black folks had to be strong and rise to challenges cuz the world granted you no breaks, you had to sink or swim. My generation were the first Black kids that our parents confused nurturing with enabling, and it hasnt stopped. As a result, we have a nation of people, of all races, that are comfortable with excuses instead of achievement.

But I digress. What I gathered from Brown Sugar is that D’ liked girls, weed, hip-hop, and old records. So when the Black boho musical intelligentsia said that this next record was the real and true deal, I couldnt wait to dive in.

Upon my initial listens to Voodoo, I was happy to see the start of what I thought would be a musical talent growing before my eyes. We had been told that Voodoo was only the first step and that the music would keep coming to reveal the genius that lay within Michael Eugene Archer (where did the name D’Angelo come from?). Voodoo is a great first step, like Music Of My Mind, For You, Cant Buy A Thrill, etc. But we soon found out that that was it–there was no more to come.

While the album is enjoyable, the work within doesn’t justify a 5 year gestation period. This album could have been cooked up in a month, honestly. You want complexity and depth? Go check out Embrya by Maxwell. THAT album is some next level shit. Voodoo is a collection of simple, but nice grooves that are fine to groove to but doesnt re-invent the wheel. And D’Angelo is no musical genius on par with Prince, Stevie, James, Al, Curtis, etc. Now here’s the kicker. There is NOTHING wrong with that.

It is okay to be an above average musician. True genius is few and far between. I love the music of Hall and Oates. Are they geniuses? Hell naw. But they are very good at what they do. Roy Ayers? Love him. Genius? No. Commodores, Slave–great bands. Geniuses? No. Part of it is nature and part of it is nurture. It takes time to get to that master level. D was not given the time. His peers dropped a heavy crown on his head and left him to his own devices trying to wear it.

D has hinted that he feels a scary spiritual connection to Marvin Gaye. There are some obvious parallels, but one thing sticks out. Marvin Gaye thought of himself as a fraud. He didnt think that he was as good as everyone said he was (he was wrong). D has that same problem. All of his people are telling him that he is a musical genius of the highest order and that he is the Savior of Black music. The only part about that is that theyre the ones who are wrong, and deep in his heart he knows it and it tears him apart to try to live up to that expectation knowing that he’s not from that stock of musician. He fears being exposed, thus the lack of released work. What’s worse is that his peers point to his struggles as proof that he is a special breed, because all great soul men and artists are tortured, arent they?

Well, sorta. Alot of artists, great and not, are tortured. Some people are just tortured without the special gift part. Some greats are not tortured at all (see Stevie, Curtis).

The grooves on Voodoo are pleasant enough. Some of them touch the hem of funky. Some of them have a nice soulful feel. Some of them are just there. For an audience of lowered expectations, the fact that he fits the Johnny Bravo suit is enough to hoist D on their shoulders and call him the soul messiah.

As an artistic statement, what is Voodoo saying? What sentiment stays on our minds after the album has concluded. Well, we already know that D likes girls, weed, hip-hop, and old records. What does Voodoo tell us? It tells us that D likes girls, old records, and that he feels pressure to live up to expectations. Voodoo doesnt really have much of a perspective, whether inwardly or outwardly. Marvin let us know how he felt about the state of the world on What’s Going On. Stevie wanted to take us on a journey through life itself on SITKOL. MJ showed us how to make a perfect pop album with Thriller. It is my opinion that all truly great albums have some kind of statement, whether intentional or not-either overt or underlying.

Voodoo is the aural equivalent of a good ass sandwich. It does its job, doesnt offend, and gets you by. A great meal satisfies deeply, urges you to savor each bite, and stays with you for quite some time. We need both in our lives.

I say that if he chooses, let D continue to make good ass sandwiches. Without all the external pressure, maybe one day he’ll learn to be a great chef.

Al Green – Lay It Down (2008)

Rest In Peace Willie Mitchell.

When a legend attempts a comeback long after their heyday, the emotions are mixed. We hope that they turn in an album that hangs with their best work. But knowing what usually happens when a legend attempts a comeback long after their heyday, deep in our hearts we know that that it isnt gonna go down like that. At best, they will turn in an album that is respectable. At worst, they will turn in an album that should be stricken from the record. Lay It Down is the ONLY album that I know of by a legend made long after their heyday that stands eye to eye with their best work.

In 2003, it was announced that Al Green would reunite with the producer of his best work, Willie Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell is credited for the success of Al Green as much as the artist himself is. Willie Mitchell is known for creating the legendary Hi Records sound–a folksy, bluesy, swampy Southern stew that is instantly recognizable as the essence of Soul music.

The reunion of Al and Willie yielded the album I Can’t Stop (2003). Expectations were high, but the album itself did not conjure the magic of those 70’s Hi Records hits. Al and Willie gave it another shot with Everything’s OK (2005). The magic still was not there.

At some point, Reverend Al crossed paths with two men who know the deepest secrets of Soul. Ahmir Thompson is best known as ?uestlove, drummer and leader of the hip-hop band The Roots. James Poyser is a gospel keyboardist turned music producer out of the same Philadelphia camp as ?uestlove. The two men refer to their production team as The Randy Watson Experience. ?uestlove is a music nerd, bar none. Obsessively learned about the smallest detail of the classic Black music of the last 40 years, he can accurately mimic any classic artist’s sound. Though he has done so sparingly throughout his career, it would be with Rev. Al that he would get to go all out.

Strangely enough, most legendary artists adamantly refuse to revisit the sound that built their legend. ?uestlove once related a story of putting together a track for Earth, Wind, and Fire. He meticulously re-created their classic sound. Upon hearing what he had come up with, EWF leader Maurice White was disgusted. He bitterly exclaimed, “THIS AINT 1975!” before handing ?uestlove his walking papers. Mostly because of age, and being reared in the era of true artists where competition was fierce, these legends fear being relics. They want to be included in what is going on right now. Worst of all, and understandably so, they want to capture the ear “of the kids”. They tend to ignore the fact that reaching “the kids” after you reach a certain age is almost an impossibility. They dont realize that it would be best to appeal to their existent fan base and do what they do best instead of trying to fit uncomfortably in a mode where they dont belong. A prime example: listen to Prince’s attempts at emceeing.

Who knows how Thompson and Poyser convinced Rev. Al to go back to the essence and stay true to the Al Green sound. The result is Lay It Down. Listening to the album is like stepping into a time warp. Everything you remember from Al Green classics is there. You could easily slip the vinyl for Lay It Down into the jacket of any 70’s Al Green album an confuse an old head. For commercial reasons, Rev. Al is forced to share the spotlight with some contemporary artists guesting on the album. Anthony Hamilton, John Legend, and Corrine Bailey Rae show up and distract us from Al’s show. The only worthy guest is Hamilton. Hamilton’s voice is mined from the classic soul tradition, so when he and the Rev trade verses it sounds natural instead of forced. Hamilton knows that he’s in the presence of greatness and approaches his guest spots knowing that he must justify sharing a track with a legend. Even on Green’s classic albums, songwriting could be a problem spot. Thompson and Poyser remedy that by writing songs with the Rev. that are fully formed and stand on their own outside of the context of the album. The standouts are the aching title track Lay It Down, You Got The Love I Need, and Stay With Me (By The Sea). Luckily, the public and the music press were hip enough to appreciate a true return to form by a living master. Lay It Down debuted in the top 10 of the pop charts and has become the Reverend’s most successful album since his days of dominance in the 70’s. No matter what age you are, if you love soul music, this album is must-have. Hopefully, the Rev. has the good sense to not block the blessings and continues to lay it down.

Sy Smith – One Like Me (2002)

Sy Smith is an underground musical journeywoman. TV, film, commercials, stage, records, etc., she’s been there, done that. She is the only artist on this list whose catalogue I am not familiar with. This EP is the only work of hers that I’ve heard all the way through. Sy wrote, produced, and released this EP on her own with help from long forgotten 90’s producers Somethin’ For The People and Bay Area jazz/soul group Soulive.

Each of the 5 songs are winners. They show her versatility and talent for writing. Smith crafts a proud and playful persona on the EP. Backed by live instruments, Smith resists the temptation to go retro, it all sounds current. She gives up on love and becomes a female mack in the opening cut, Lover’s Crime. She teases a reluctant lover (without being vulgar or trying too hard hard to sound sexy) on the strutting groove Bad On You (featuring tastefully restrained backing vox by Anthony Hamilton). The title track is a clever mediation on embracing one’s individuality without the smarminess that female artists tend to indulge in on these type of songs. Love and Peace is a flowery ballad that showcases a more traditional vocal approach. The closing track, Found A Place, alternately floats and thumps over gorgeous chord progressions.

Again, this EP was self-released and little heard so I dont know where you would cop this from if you wanted it. But its definitely worth the effort to find. It’s an easy accessible listen that you’ll be glad you found. Maybe if you hit her on Twitter she’ll hook you up.

The Mars Volta – De-loused In The Comatorium (2003)/Frances The Mute (2005)

Some would say that it would be extremely unfair to call The Mars Volta the Led Zeppelin of the new millennium. So we wont say that. But goddamn if the shoe dont fit.

The Mars Volta is a rock band consisting of vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and mastermind/composer/producer/guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. The whole thing is Rodriguez-Lopez’s brainchild. Omar is a tiny Latin man whose creativity knows no bounds. After breaking up their critically acclaimed band At The Drive In, Cedric and Omar created The Mars Volta so that they could stretch out musically. It was also a way to deal with their newfound drug-free lifestyle. After many years of abusing heroin and crack, the duo decided that if they wanted to live they had to get clean. At least for Omar, this new musical freedom replaced the drugs. Omar writes music constantly. Seriously. He has released about 10 solo albums in the past 5 years alone all while doing albums with The Mars Volta.

Coming from the El Paso, TX punk scene, it can be said that Omar and Cedric are very weird dudes. They are all about abstract art, mysticism, and what lies beneath the surface. Cedric frequently writes and sings Spanish lyrics that are largely just made up words (check the song titles for reference). Even though there are loose themes, no one really know what Cedric is talking about, including Cedric himself. Most of it is just poetic free association designed to keep the listener searching for a meaning until they ultimately make up the meaning for themselves. Omar is even more far out than Cedric. But the real point to it all is that their music grooves harder than a motherfucker.

The thing that separates TMV from its peers is that the hardcore rock that Omar writes is armed to the teeth with Latin soul and complex funky rhythm. The easiest way to put it would be to fuse Santana, Fania Records, and Led Zeppelin–what you have will be pretty damn close to The Mars Volta. Im sure they would hate for it to be that easy, but its the truth.

Even though you couldnt call them retro, you cant help but to be reminded of the groove laden rock of the 70’s when listening to TMV. Yes, the guitar is the core, but you will just as often hear marimba, congas, organ, and piano. Instead of just power chords, you can hear Omar scratching out a funky ass lead guitar line.The icing on the cake is Cedric’s voice. Vocally, he is the son of Robert Plant. He emits a soulful high-pitched howl that reeks of a classic rock vocal tone. Dude is a bad ass singer, seriously. For these albums, the drummer was a Haitian brother by the name of Jon Theodore. If Omar’s funk psychedelia under Cedric’s soul wail wasnt enough to get you thinking about hedgrows and black dogs, Theodore’s rhythmically serious pounding pretty much excuses you for wanting to bust out Physical Graffitti after these albums are done.

Dont get it twisted, TMV are definitely not biters or clones. The soul they spill is far more authentic than Zeppelin, and much more dirty and dangerous than Santana’s Latin rock brew.

With all that these boys have going for them, they do suffer from one Achilles’ heel. They. are. pretentious. as. fuck. The wigged out concepts, the 15 min songs, the psychedelic babbling, the made up words, the dungeons and dragons nerdiness of it all can easily put one off. And it has for me. These first two albums are as good as they get in my opinion. The albums that have followed see the boys becoming far too indulgent in their weirdness. The focus is on being strange now rather than rocking the shit out of you. Its what happens when the artists takes themselves way too seriously and spend too much time trying to think above their audience’s heads. The success of De-loused and Frances gave Omar license to pump out loud mystic drivel that only makes sense to him and Cedric.

The rest of the band is along for the ride. Surrounding themselves with top-notch musicians such as the aforementioned Theodore, bassist Juan Alderete, keyboardist Ikey Owens and whoever the hell else is around (which includes Red Hot Chili Peppers Flea -who played all the bass on De-loused and John Frusiciante-who appears on every TMV album, and Theodore’s replacements Deantoni Parks and Thomas Pridgen), TMV albums are a clinic of fine playing. After De-loused and Frances, the grooves went missing and messy weirdness was left in its place.

Despite all of that, TMV has hardcore devoted fans. Some feel that the subsequent albums are improvements. Let them enjoy. For me, when I want to hear some truly exciting, soulful, funky, and blistering rock music, these are the albums I will reach for.

If I said that there was alot of music released in the last 10 years that I loved, I’d be lying…

I witnessed people hype up not-awesome stuff and pretend like they loved that music more than their own mothers in a effort to put on a brave face in the musically barren landscape were faced with these days…

but that’s another post…these are the albums (in no particular order)that really hit me as great fully formed artistic statements in the 2000’s…

Res – How I Do (2001)
Doc must be a fucked-up person. I say this not based on any inside knowledge, but just looking at the fact that he was the driving force behind 2 of the most well done albums in recent years (the other was his collaboration with Esthero, Breath From Another) and the artists he created these works with wont have anything to do with him after the fact. This album was a 3 pronged attack–Doc brought the music, Santi White (aka Santogold–yuk.) brought the lyrics, and Miss Shareese Ballard(aka Res) presented it all to us.

Doc served up music that was far beyond the neo-soul curve of the day. It wasnt quite R&B, not quite hip-hop, not quite rock, not quite pop, and not quite soul. It was all of those things at once, but without having the seams showing. But it grooves. Doc’s songwriting and production walk the tightrope of genre bending without trying and excels. Santi White’s imaginative lyrics are thought provoking and poetic without being pretentious and cliche–which is also amazingly difficult. But this doesnt take away from at all from Res herself as the singer who seals the deal and makes it all work.

With her limited vocal range, Res lets us into the world of a very different kind of chick. Not the one who dresses and acts strangely in a forced effort to makes you think she’s different. With those types, you ask them why theyre different and they dont know. It’s all a charade and ultimately just a plea for attention. Res, on this album, comes off as an aloof and observant coffee house philosopher. A young woman who’s not content to just wring her hands over her feelings and seek pity. She takes her emotions and experiences and analyzes them to their logical conclusion and is fascinated by it. She does not whine, pout, or feel sorry for herself. She takes a picture, pulls on her cigarette, and keeps it moving. Her slightly lower register and detached delivery gives the lyrics just the color they need to feel real.

She comments on the sheep mentality in “They-Say Vision”. She refuses the material gains of her criminal lover and walks away in “Ice King”. She casts a critical eye on the pretty, popular, rich guys in “Golden Boys”(oh, yeah, he song was inspired by Will Smith, not Mos Def). She knows that those guys have no depth, and even though the average girl dreams of being with those guys–she’s not impressed at all.

Since then, Doc has fallen off the face of the Earth. Res has drifted around–forming a retro 80’s rap duo with another girl, singing backup for Gnarls Barkley, released a internet only follow up album that no one really cares about, and currently is in a trio w/Talib Kweli and former Doc protege Graph Nobel called Idle Warship. Interestingly, the only one of the trio that made How I Do to get some limelight is Santi White, who broke up her tolerable faux-punk combo Stiffed and reinvented herself as M.I.A. clone Santigold. The Santigold project made Miss White a hipster darling–too bad the music is fucking terrible.

Q-Tip – The Renaissance (2008)
After Q-Tip’s solo debut, Amplified (1999), horrified and hurt the Black Boho nation that he fathered, he decided to try to find his roots again. Amplified, although a fine album musically–rubbed our faces into a grim reality. That reality was that the Black Boho movement was about to die a quick and violent death. The Q-Tip of Amplified was no longer a playful, witty, and warm quasi hippie, but a cynical leather clad street poseur who only interest in his sisters was purely lecherous. The charming young man who once sweetly wooed Bonita Applebaum became a guy who just wanted to fuck you in the back of his jeep. It was just one blow in a series that laid to waste the hope of a young Black culture that wanted to go against the grain and prove that Black was indeed beautiful. The final blow was the mixed reaction to D’Angelo’s much ballyhooed sophomore opus, Voodoo, and D’s subsequent retreat from public life and tragic descent into drug addiction and paralyzing insecurity. The saddest bookend was the death of Amplified’s chief collaborator and the Black Boho generation’s Quincy Jones, James “Jay Dee/Dilla” Yancey in 2006, a young sonic genius from Detroit that Q-Tip discovered and pulled out of obscurity.Q-Tip hired a band and cranked out 2 albums (Kamal the Abstract and Open) over the decade that his labels refused to release. The Black Boho backlash had trapped Q-Tip in artistic limbo.

In a show of pure Aries artistic will, Q-Tip finally saw record store racks with technically his 4th solo album, The Renaissance, released in late 2008. It was here that Tip’s musical evolution finally gelled. The Renaissance streamlined the clunky band experimentation of the 2 previous albums and blended it seamlessly with the beat science that made Tip a studio legend.

As an emcee, Tip had reached a new level. Dispensing his world weary wisdom and experienced musings with a dizzying display of both complex lyrical dexterity and homespun simplicity, Tip literally sparkles on the mic. Musically, Q-Tip responds to the absence of groove in today’s music by stuffing his record full of tasty soul riffs and funky rhythms using both samples and live instruments to maximum effect (see if you can guess which is which). Tip’s production treats the listener with tastefully sUbtle tricks that make one marvel at his attention to detail.

Most of all, what makes this album beautiful is its unabashed display of heart, soul, and maturity. Tip wears his emotion on his sleeve proudly and shows us that a fully realized man is not an emotionless caricature. He’s telling us that warmth and love for one another does not have to be preachy, sappy, or over affected. Love at its best….just is.

Tip writes a tender poem to a young love interest who seeks validation through society instead of the love he offers on Getting Up (the lyrics call to mind a certain person in my life to a T). He celebrates the presence of another lady (the music as love metaphor)on the Norah Jones duet Life Is Better. Hands down, this is the finest Jones has sounded outside of her own debut album. He finally pays a heartfelt, yet upbeat tribute to special people who have passed on in the closing track Shaka.

The Renaissance is a master class on what Hip-hop should sound AND feel like in this new millennium had our generation not lost its way.

Maxwell – BLACKsummersnight (2009)
Poor Maxwell. Even though he is technically a very successful artist both critically and commercially, he cant win.

His audience, while devoted, doesnt get him. He is far too advanced for them. His music is far more cerebral than anyone will ever notice. He is called “The Male Sade” and Im sure that makes him want to break shit. He is seen as the ultimate R&B loverman, and his art is simply reduced to a soundtrack for lovemaking. While it is that on the most superficial level, Maxwell is trying to speak to much more than that in his work.

He made the mistake of thinking that his audience was as intelligent as he is on his sophomore album, Embrya (1998). A staggering work of ambition and sheer genius that flew so far over people’s heads that it was considered a failure even though it still went platinum.

Each Maxwell album is built around a theme. Embrya’s theme was Max’s theory that until we find real love, we are not fully formed. Only when you experience true love do you grow into all you are meant to be. At the same time, it was an elaborate love letter to a woman that Max felt was THE ONE. The album was so far ahead of its time musically and conceptually that people didnt start to get it until many years later. It was then that the album started to get the acclaim it deserved.

Unfortunately, the relationship that inspired Embrya imploded and the next album was the breakup album Now (2001). Forced by the perceived failure of Embrya to connect, Max dialed down his maverick sensibilities. Even though he made things simpler, most people have no idea that Now is about a failed relationship. Maxwell dumbed down was still too complex for his audience to handle. The album debuted at Number 1 on the pop charts and sold platinum but still was viewed as a disappointment. Max responded by taking a very long hiatus from music.

Stories that Ive heard but will not repeat here suggest to me that Max needed to get himself together. Reeling from losing the woman that seemed to be a dream come true and and facing an unsure future in music, Max went underground to deal with things. Luckily, he came out on the other side unlike his soul brother in music, D’Angelo.

Max finally returned with what is said to be the first of trilogy entitled BLACKSUMMERSNIGHT. The album, which is actually titled BLACK, sees a more seasoned and reflective artist than the one who left at the beginning of the decade.

Max’s voice resonates with experience and gained wisdom. The music on BLACK is less eager to please than on previous albums. it coaxes rather than confronts. The tracks simmer to a boil rather than bursting from the gate. The stellar first single Pretty Wings showcases this approach. A subtle and gauzy track that cuts to the core of the listener with its earnestness rather than a fireworks display of emotion. This a new texture to Maxwell’s music that suits his new perspective.

The other standouts here are the almost U2-ish Help Somebody. The song is an urgent plea to recognize how being present in the lives of those around us unselfishly rather than thinking and feeling solely about ourselves all the goddamn time is a duty we should take more seriously. Love You is also a plea, but to a woman. He is asking her to let love grow naturally and just be cool and give him a chance.

The first two cuts, Bad Habits and Cold, hint coyly and pointedly to issues Max was struggling with during his absence. Bad Habits opens the album as Max apologizes for some of his more roguish behavior during his lost period. Cold, on the surface, is written as if its about a woman. All I will say is that its about something else and the woman is pure metaphor.

He employs a crack band here, but the other star of the album is gifted drummer Chris “Daddy” Dave of Mint Condition. Dave’s drumming articulates every mood and point with stunning accuracy.

Most people I know have shrugged this album off, but I guarantee they will get it in a few years. Poor Maxwell.

It debuted at Number 1 on the pop charts and has almost gone platinum (a feat in this industry climate).

Here’s hoping that the next 2 albums in the trilogy appear and that one day people will realize how truly bad this cat is.