Nostalgia. Ultra.
07/Frank Ocean/Channel Orange
That moment on Nostalgia/Ultra. Frank and his girl of the moment. He cues up the music, she disapproves. That new Radiohead may be the bees knees in your personal habitat, but she'd rather hear Jodeci.
That moment. That moment right there. So much bigger than it appeared at the time. So much...
____________________
I never stopped listening to R&B. No matter the form or label attached. Male fronted. Female fronted. Contemporary. Modern. Whatever. And yet, after my umpteenth spin of Channel Orange I found myself saying, "I didn't know they still made albums like this anymore..."
This is not a slight against R&B's present state or condition for the last couple of years, it's just that when you put on Channel Orange, something feels different. Something that was lost now seems found. Freedom. Creativity. Room to just be. Tell stories. Not at all salacious. My moms and them's music is in here. Neo-Soul is in here. Change is in here. Rebirth.
Now I'm not here to label anyone a savior, a "voice of a generation", or a light in a room that's been dark for too long. I'm just celebrating talent, and praising the product. The product and work of a creative young man asking us to give him the freedom and room to create and tell his stories and just be.
We can have Radiohead AND Jodeci, baby. And that, like Channel Orange, is pretty damn refreshing.
KEY TRACKS: Thinkin' Bout You/Sweet Life/Pilot Jones
08/Schoolboy Q/Habits & Contradictions
09/Joey Bada$$/1999
10/Alabama Shakes/Boys & Girls
11/Hot Chip/In Our Heads
12/Grimes/Visions
13/Santigold/Master of My Make-Believe
14/Japandroids/Celebration Rock
15/Bat for Lashes/The Haunted Man
16/Fun./Some Nights
17/the xx/coexist
18/Solange/True
19/John Mayer/Born & Raised
20/The Walkmen/Heaven & 21/Grizzly Bear/Shields
22/Beach House/Bloom
23/Lower Dens/Nootropics
24/Cat Power/Sun
25/Prinzhorn Dance School/Clay Class
No comments:
Post a Comment