Play that beat!

Believe me, I adore playing an old school hit like nobody's business, but sometimes there's nothing better than putting on one of your favorite long players, enjoying it for what it is: a tip-top, start to finish "headphone masterpiece".



I like Britney Spears. Always have, always will. Not Britney Spears, but "Britney Spears." The pent up in-your-face-sex kitten that purrs and moans through my speakers whenever I press play on Ooops...I did it again, In the Zone, or even Gimme More; the sweet pure pop confection that goes in and out of my ears like candy in my mouth, thanks in no small part to all the men, women, and
children behind the 1's and 2's upping her "strengths" and fiddling with autotune.

So yes, I like Britney Spears. That is why, alone I sat a few years back, surrounded by young girls and their mothers to catch her Dream Within a Dream tour.(oh I think I forgot to mention my love and and adoration for onstage performer "Britney Spears". What a sight that was to behold? Well, at least for me. And, if you overlook that whole VMA fiasco at the top of September). But on this night I was also there to catch a glimpse and get a listen at another firecracker sure to light up the stage. Her name: Nikka Costa.

When I discovered this CD I could not get enough of it. Sure like the rest of y'all at the time I to perked my ears up with a quickness whenever Like A Feather hit the airwaves, but to stop there would have been a mistake, cause nearly seven years later, this CD still hits hard and makes me wonder why I only came back to it because I heard she showed face at a Mark Ronson concert recently and killed it. [Little known fact, the then little known DJ produced her most popular aforementioned hit Like A Feather].

Let's just get the obvious out of the way: There's nothing to skip here. Real Talk. Track one introduces you and pulls you in, and though Track two goes the slow route, the party doesn't slow down or make you run for the exit, for it's the first of many tracks where Nikka showcases that one thing that truly pulls you back in time after time: Her voice.

Yeah she's got Mr. Ronson on the 1's and 2's, and ?uestlove providing some much needed percussive bass on the ebullient ramshackle groove that is Tug Of War, a song that wants to fall apart at the seams, but never does.

Yes, it all works, every genre, every nod to some groove from years past because of the urgency, playfulness, and grit that lies beneath Ms. Costa's voice. Peep the way she plays it cool cause it called for on the unabashedly honest Just Because, then watch as she flips the script and leaves "Your sorry ass behind" on the tour of Led Zepplin's terrain also known as Hope it felt good.

Yeah...Before Amy went Back to Black and Christina tried [and mostly succeeded] in going Back to Basics, Nikka came with it, reminding us all that everybody's got their something, and she ain't never lied...
KEY TRACKS: Like A Feather/So Have I For You/Nothing