Archive for the ‘Urban’ Category

Sam’s Critique Corner: Prince “1999″

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
1999

1999

Prince’s first of many, many multiple-disc outings, 1983’s 1999, a vague concept album, was the effort that would contain his first excursions into the surreal, those weird moments that dot his best and most eclectic works, despite the fact that its length comes from the six-to-nine-minute length of most of the eleven songs here rather than a plethora of material. It may indeed not have quite the same sprawl as other great double albums, not least Prince’s own later masterpiece Sign ‘O’ the Times, but even though some of the longer funk grooves don’t always pan out the way they should, 1999 is at times even more solid than his previous classic Dirty Mind from back in 1980, as well as certainly more solid all throughout its seventy minutes than Controversy, his self-titled 1979 sophomore effort or his debut For You. The opening three-song salvo of the anthemic title track, the absolute classic “Little Red Corvette” and the robo-rockabilly romp “Delirious”, is just perfect; the title track sets up the mood, of course, and opens things perfectly, while the utterly sensual “Little Red Corvette” remains one of his finest songs ever, and “Delirious” is one of the album’s small pleasures that pays off big time. A few of the longer grooves, which all come after its opening trio of excellent cuts, don’t pan out as well as they should, “Let’s Pretend We’re Married” being a prominent example of a groove gone a bit too long, but others, especially “Lady Cab Driver”, are get-down party foot-movers that make the album all the tighter and more consistent. It was something of a transitional album for Prince, coming between the electro-funk of Dirty Mind & Controversy and 1984’s blockbuster landmark Purple Rain, but it’s also one of the absolute finest albums in a catalog filled with great records. Few of Prince’s later works have matched up to this since its release in 1983.

  1. Release Date: 1983
  2. Rating:

TRACK PICKS: “1999″; “Little Red Corvette”; “Delirious”; “Lady Cab Driver”

Posted in Dance/Electronica, Funk, Sam's Critique Corner, Soul and R&B, Urban | No Comments »

Sam’s Critique Corner: P.M. Dawn “Of the Heart, Of the Soul and Of the Cross: The Utopian Experience”

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
Of the Heart, Of the Soul and Of the Cross: The Utopian Experience

Of the Heart, Of the Soul and Of the Cross: The Utopian Experience

From its grandiose title to song titles such as “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss”, “To Serenade a Rainbow” and “In the Presence of Mirrors”, P.M. Dawn’s 1991 debut makes a convincing case that they, not De La Soul, were the true ‘hippies of hip-hop’. Their philosophy, dripping in new age spirituality, had little to no appeal to the often lyrically nihilistic hardcore rap audience with little to no street cred, not to mention their blatant R&B/rap fusion that couldn’t be clearer, especially when they sample Spandau Ballet on “Memory Bliss”, which became an unforgettably ethereal, smooth & romantic #1 hit in the fall of ‘91. Of the Heart, Of the Soul and Of the Cross may not have been welcomed with open arms in the hip-hop community, in the midst of gangsta rap especially, but it was one of the decade’s finest rap crossover hits, if not the absolute finest above all, seemingly creating its own sort of psychedelic soul-rap, cloaking their hybrid of hip-hop & R&B in a spiritual & philosophical context that recalled that of both the 1960’s and the music of peak-era Stevie Wonder. This is hip-hop for peace & love, equality, brotherhood and good times, whether Arsenio Hall wants to call anyone the ‘hippies of hip-hop’ or not. Of course, it doesn’t stick to one formula, as the hip-house of “Shake” proves, or the techno-inflected “On a Clear Day”, or the epic closer “The Beautiful”, which sounds almost like P.M. Dawn’s response to The Smiths’ “How Soon is Now?” with it’s funky guitar backing, psychedelic perceptive lens and menacing dancefloor thump, not to mention the poetic, profound lyrics, which are spoken rather than rapped or sung. This may be rap fit for playing during a joint-passing session, but it doesn’t date itself with hokey, preachy cliches, as did such later ‘hippie-hoppers’ as Arrested Development; instead, The Utopian Experience gets by on the sheer mastery of craft shown here, and it stands as an achievement the group (or, perhaps, most of the other conscious, peace-loving alt-rap groups of the 90’s) were never able to equal or top.

  1. Release Date: 1991
  2. Rating:

TRACK PICKS: “Paper Doll”; “In the Presence of Mirrors”; “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss”; “The Beautiful”

Posted in Alternative Rap, Pop-Rap, Rap & Hip-Hop, Sam's Critique Corner, Soul and R&B, Urban | No Comments »