CD Reviews: Gil Scott-Heron, Sade, The Watson Twins, Norah Jones
Posted: Feb. 9, 2010 2:15 p.m.
Gil Scott-Heron
I’m New Here
XL
Trailblazers can easily get lost – or be exiled by the culture they created. Gil Scott-Heron suffered both fates: the former because of his cocaine addiction and subsequent incarceration, the latter because rappers inspired by his 1970s work rose to prominence with little more than a glancing acknowledgment of him.
On “I’m New Here,” his first album in 15 years, Scott-Heron sounds as weathered and aged as an ancient bluesman, but his flinty poetry and gravelly voice still command undeniable authority.
And producer Richard Russell intelligently frames that authority with music bearing little surface relation to Scott-Heron’s underground-jazz past.
A mere 28 minutes long and thus astringently concentrated, “I’m New Here” mixes spoken interludes with covers (a brilliant, earthy take on Smog’s title track) and originals (the streetwise “New York is Killing Me”) that bend dub, electro and other modern forms to Scott-Heron’s will.
When he speaks of the devil, you know they’ve met, but “I’m New Here” suggests this trailblazer can find his way out of the darkness.
- Jon M. Gilbertson, Special to the Journal Sentinel
Sade
Soldier of Love
Epic
“I’ve lost the use of my heart, but I’m still alive,” a 51-year-old Sade sings on title track “Soldier of Love.”
Evidently, Pat Benatar isn’t the only ’80s icon who thinks love is a battlefield.
There is nothing new for Nigerian-born singer Helen Folasade Adu – a fluid interpreter of love’s desperation, both anguished and inspirational. her voice, husky yet sweet, still soothes like a lullaby.
On her latest album, the first in nearly a decade, Sade and band follow virtually the same format of musical minimalism and haunting vocal coloring as they have throughout her tenure as stoic jazz/soul/pop songstress.
“The Moon and Sky” finds Sade at her best, brazenly informing a former lover that he will never be free of her love, which in her estimation is equivalent to outer space. a touch of hyperbole that is not entirely abstract; we’ve all been there before, and know exactly what she is implying.
Though solid, “Soldier of Love” holds no stroke of genius the magnitude of classics such as “Sweetest Taboo” or “No Ordinary Love.” However, “Morning Bird,” with its haunting 60-second piano lead-in and absolutely brilliant writing, is a near bulls-eye: “How could you/you are the morning bird, who sang me into life/everyday, fly away.” It’s the subtle brilliance of a master craftsman.
- Geraud Blanks, Special to the Journal Sentinel
The Watson Twins
Talking to you Talking to Me
Vanguard
First, a sad truth: with the Internet dominating music’s modern supply chain and the industry’s consumer base continuing to drift toward the habit of single-track downloads, the ability to create a truly important album is probably dead.
Now, even if that statement is materially flawed, the Watson Twins’ third effort doesn’t quite smell like the stuff that might ignite a full-on social upheaval.
But on the heels of Norah Jones’ recent artistic experiment, “Talking to you, Talking to Me” plants itself at the bubbling center of an emerging trend of female musicians refusing to be typecast.
The Twins’ vocal interplay and closer-than-just-siblings harmonies are still the bold font on their calling card and – don’t worry, boys – they haven’t forgotten about the dual “come hither” vibe that stops just short of feeling fetishist, either.
But this time you’ll hear an off-grid character such as a late-night Hammond organ come on like a swampy soul fever, and it won’t break until confronted by an electric guitar that might as well be under attack by Jimmy Page, circa “Houses of the Holy.”
There’s flirty, ’60s girl-group pop and sultry piano street magic here, too. in short, this album is exponentially more dynamic that you’d expect. it has impact.
Is it important, though?
No. But the firmness of that answer has less to do with whether it should be and more to do with whether it ever had.
- Sam Seiler, Special to the Journal Sentinel
Norah Jones
Chasing Pirates Remix EP
Blue Note
Remixes are rarely the best – or the most representative – of any artist’s work, but Norah Jones has never been your garden-variety artist. The exceedingly smooth jazz-pop vocalist, who last year released “The Fall,” continues to push that album with an EP of remixes focusing on “Chasing Pirates,” the disc’s lead song.
Whereas the original chugged along a midtempo track of rumbling bass and cracking toms, the remixes veer into more exotic territory. Santigold and Snotty reimagine it as a sultry, buzzing lullaby, while remix collective Droogs drown it in sinister static and lurching percussion.
Unreleased studio track “That’s What I Said,” a subtly funky if forgettable number, comes to life in an “NYC” remix helmed by Beastie Boys Adrock and Mike D, which takes it into late-’90s hip-hop/electro territory.
While not essential, the “Chasing Pirates Remix EP” at least proves Jones’ good taste in choosing collaborators who broaden her musical horizons.
- John Wenzel, Denver Post
Norah Jones will perform March 19 at the Riverside Theater.
