Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III)

Taylor's Choice:

Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III)

Hipster Review:

I remember reading about Janelle Monae in Spin magazine (back when I wasted my time reading magazines) a few years back. The piece consisted of her talking about art and the impact that it had made on her throughout her life. She also stated her belief that music was an art form with the potential "to change the world". While this usually is a generally pretentious statement made by musicians to show off, listening to Monae's music reveals that she means it when she says it. Her music is expansive, (other)worldly, risky, and celebratory. She pushes musical boundaries not simply because she can, but because she aims to push herself and to allow her music to reach as many people as possible. She might succeed too: the music on ArchAndroid goes left and right, taking influence from funk, soul, classical music, swing, folk, art rock, and hip-hop to make a unique blend of pop music so dense, it makes a rock look like sponge cake. But unlike some high-shooter projects that go for quantity rather than quality, The ArchAndroid benefits from Monae's ability to limit her ideas and stop when she needs to (granted, the album is nearly 70 minutes long, but only three songs go past the four-minute mark, and very few of them drag). The guest appearances by Big Boi and Of Montreal are some of the album's high points, particularly the single "Tightrope," where Monae's funky side shows best. Overall, The ArchAndroid is an ambitious, messy (in a good way), and incredibly exciting album. Experience it at your own caution - but don't let it stop you from enjoying it.

Hipster Rating:

8.7

Friend Review:

Alright, so Janelle Monae (I’m just gonna type her name normally without that goofy accent over the “a” because those things are a pain to put in and you guys know what I mean)is another act I haven’t really heard of but I gave it a listen and like always came up with some opinions. I’ll go ahead and start with the high points. Two tracks, “Cold War” and “Tightrope” are very enjoyable to listen to. The fast tempos and Monae’s impressive vocals keep the listener interested throughout the entire song. Like I’ve mentioned in previous posts, these two tracks would be very fun to drum along to because they offer many chances for experimentation. Then there is “Come Alive (The War of the Roses)”. This track is an absolute gem. The instrumentation is just about perfect, one of the grooviest bass lines I’ve ever heard and jazzy drums create one spicy tamale to dance along to. The shrieking guitars intertwining with Monae’s passion-filled screams is in all honesty one of the best tracks I’ve heard all year. While these three are very impressive tracks, they do not make up for the slower parts of the album. First off, at a running time of an hour and eight minutes, the album is about twenty minutes too long. I could do without the two overtures which I think would be more appropriate in a Star Wars soundtrack. Maybe they’re necessary for the “album structure”, but whatever, I didn’t dig them. Anytime Monae feels like slowing things down a bit it drags on far too long and gets boring very quickly. The vocal distortion or tuning or whatever the crap is going on in “Mushrooms & Roses” is absolutely painful to listen to. The few good songs on this album don’t make up for the long boring parts.

Friend Rating:

5.5

Coming up on next, Champ by Tokyo Police Club!

Erykah Badu- New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)

Taylor's Choice:

Erykah Badu- New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)

Hipster Review:

Return of The Ankh is Eykah Badu’s fifth studio album and the second part in her New Amerykah saga. In contrast to her previous album Third World War, which was strongly political in tone, Return Of The Ankh is lyrically introspective, reflecting on love and other personal themes. Also, whereas that album was musically all-over-the-place, mainly drawing from funk and electronica, this record finds Badu returning to her soul-rooted sound, using both sampling and live instrumentation. But whereas previous albums such as Mama’s Gun were musically sparse, Ankh is sonically dense, and most tracks find Badu experimenting with her sound palette much like on her previous outing. This density brings great warmth to the music, in a way that previous releases have lacked. And the lovelorn lyrics make the album all the more inviting, calling you to explore Badu’s world and enjoy every minute. While there are moments on the album that stray too far into indulgence (most noticeably in the 10-minute finale “Out My Mind, Just In Time”), the experience as a whole is extremely enjoyable. I found this to be one of the best records I’ve heard so far this year, and I look forward to more trips into Badu’s Amerykah.

Hipster Rating:

8.7

Friend Review:

I gotta say, R&B is not a familiar genre to me. In fact, I think this might be my first real experience with it. Regardless, one of the reasons I wanted to do this blog in

the first place was to discover new music so what better way to open it than to review something completely new to me

The first thing I noticed while listening to this voice was Erykah Badu’s voice. It’s… kinda whiny. Maybe it’s just me, but this was a thing I could not get past. There was no point in the album where I was simply wow’d by her singing, it almost seemed detrimental to the album. The reason I say this is because at many points in the album the instrumentation in fantastic. I would kill for my drums to sound the way ?uestlove’s do on “Window Seat”. The piano has a great jazzy sound in just about every song that it’s featured in. There is one thing that I’ve found R&B is useful for: throughout the entire album I was imagining myself drumming along. Many of these songs will become a staple in my jams at home, and because of that, this album will remain on my iPod. However, I can’t imagine myself ever listening to one of these songs without being behind a kit. I found many parts of the album to be cheesy, particularly the whole “sonic” sound Badu said she was trying to go for. In relation to this, the album seemed too “sample-happy”. The point I noticed this in was “Umm Hmm” when it felt like part of the time when she sampled “Take Some Time” by Ndugu & The Chocolate Jam Co. it just didn’t match up with the song. Also, it seems that the album at times drags on. “Fall In Love (Your Funeral)” and “Out My Mind, Just In Time” seemed like they would never end. Besides “Window Seat” which was quite nice (despite the controversial video), there were really no gems on the album; it all just seemed like background music that you would feel but not actually notice.

Unfortunately, I will likely not listen to this album again in its entirety. To me, all it’s good for is its use as a drum-along track. Despite my complaints of the album, however, it was not terrible. There is nothing in it to make me hate Erykah Badu or R&B as a whole. It simply was not my cup o’ tea; and for that I will give it a very average score.

Friend Rating:

5.0

Coming up on Wednesday, "Survival Story" by Flobots!