So what's the deal?
― Daver, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink
― jess, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink
― mark s, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink
the parts you will be made uneasy by: the slightly sleepy songwriting at times (I thought there would be more hooks), and the consciousness schtick (there's a reason she was asked to contribute to lilith fair vol. 3 hahaha). let neither of those bother you though. it is a little sleepy, but that just means you should get comfy. and content-wise it sounds something like an underground 'conscious' rap album might if made by a woman. and with funk and soul instead of rap.
the bass sound is really fucking excellent. on some of the songs it was straining my fancy headphones almost the whole time! (even most of my rap isn't low enough to do that unless I turn them way way up). a tribe called quest said something on the love movement about how they wanted the sounds to love you, and this album reminds me of that only it does it lots more, and the beats are better. although the scenario remix is a million times better than the (good) red+missy remix here.
― Josh, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Keiko, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink
― M Matos, Tuesday, 11 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Colin Meeder, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink
― mark s, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Josh, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Dave225, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink
guys the new record is really good
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 8 November 2007 23:53 (5 years ago) Permalink
ive never listened to her but i have a chance to see her for free. should i go
― deej, Thursday, 8 November 2007 23:55 (5 years ago) Permalink
if you dig jazzy kinda jammy funky shit, yes. it's like ohio players directed by ornette with betty davis singing lead.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 9 November 2007 00:00 (5 years ago) Permalink
you think she sings like betty davis?
― deej, Friday, 9 November 2007 00:02 (5 years ago) Permalink
not saying i disagree, ive never really listened to her
can't wait to hear it despite being less than impressed with the last one.
― tricky, Friday, 9 November 2007 00:04 (5 years ago) Permalink
-- deej, Friday, November 9, 2007 12:02 AM
Not in terms of vocal quality, just in terms of rawness.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 9 November 2007 00:06 (5 years ago) Permalink
I finally got The World Has Made Me the One Man of My Dreams (the title is kinda pretentious, but I wonder if it's meant to have queer connotations?), and it is pretty great! At first it sounded a bit formless, but now that I've listened to it more I really like the cosmic jamming and all the little intricate details. At the moment my favourite tune is probably "Elliptical". It somehow reminds me of "O Superman", maybe because of the vocal processing and the odd, evocative lyrics.
I really liked the jazz album Ndegeocello put out a few years ago too, but I completely missed Comfort Woman, and now I'm wondering if should get that one too. Does it sound anything similar to these two?
― Tuomas, Friday, 16 January 2009 09:14 (4 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, I just heard this lately and "Elliptical", "Elliptical", oh holy shit "Elliptical".
― The Reverend, Friday, 16 January 2009 09:22 (4 years ago) Permalink
wtf @ hoos comparing her to Betty Davis
You know, her upper register is gorgeous in it's own way and I never really knew she had it until I heard this album.
― The Reverend, Friday, 16 January 2009 09:24 (4 years ago) Permalink
Why does the AMG review claim this album has a bonus track called "Soul Spaceship"? At least my copy hasn't.
― Tuomas, Friday, 16 January 2009 13:18 (4 years ago) Permalink
ive never really liked her. the 'arent i saying something important' sanctimony of her delivery has always bugged me. and i was never a huge fan of 90s slap bass. but i love her cover of hendrixs may this be love.
theres nothing betty davis about her singing though.
― uk grime faggot (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 16 January 2009 13:55 (4 years ago) Permalink
worth seeing live though. saw her when she was doing her jazz album a few years back and then before that for the bitter tour, when she was going through her more serious joe henry ish phase.
― uk grime faggot (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 16 January 2009 13:56 (4 years ago) Permalink
I have nothing against "aren't I saying something important" attitude if it's well done. I do agree that she does get a bit self-important at times, but I also like how she deals with subjects that few others in her genre do. I can't imagine anyone else doing a song like "Barry Farms", for example.
Anyway, if you don't like her delivery you should check out the jazz album. She doesn't sing on it at all, and only 3 of the 8 tunes have vocals anyway. "Aquarium" (which is sung by Sabina Sciubba) on that album might be the best song she's ever written.
― Tuomas, Friday, 16 January 2009 14:21 (4 years ago) Permalink
i think i find her a bit monotone too. but ive not heard her music in years so i might find it different now. agreed that she deserves credit for broaching subjects that not many others do. i need to dig out peace beyond passion.
― uk grime faggot (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 16 January 2009 14:26 (4 years ago) Permalink
I finally got Comfort Woman, and it's pretty great, though I think the more varied and experimental stuff on The World Has Made Me... makes it even better. Comfort Woman is much better sexing music though.
2:24 in this tune = one of my favourite moments in a pop song.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 26 May 2009 13:25 (3 years ago) Permalink
This one's like the "O Superman" of the 00s, totally brilliant!
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 26 May 2009 13:32 (3 years ago) Permalink
i saw her london show, it was pretty great although utterly, utterly rammed. got chatted up by an incredibly drunk romanian woman who was on her second bottle of wine and kept complaining about the number of "dykes" in the audience. i was like well, you are at a meshell ndegeocello gig you know...
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 26 May 2009 14:00 (3 years ago) Permalink
Hahaha!
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 26 May 2009 14:02 (3 years ago) Permalink
So, apparently she has a new album called "Devil's Halo" coming out October 6th. I'm pretty excited about this, the more I've listened to The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams, the more I feel it's her best album ever (and it's not like she's made too many bad albums). So my expectations are pretty high for this one.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 19 August 2009 22:20 (3 years ago) Permalink
That news release says the new album is "influenced by a wide breadth of sounds - from The Human League to Wu Tang to Yes". Sounds pretty cool, and something she could actually pull off.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 19 August 2009 22:23 (3 years ago) Permalink
any friend of my brother's is a friend of mine:
"another of the Bunnybrains’ famous fans is acclaimed pop singer and bassist Me’Shell Ndegeocello, who as of late has been collaborating with Seward on a soundscape project. “Being around Dan is experiential and insightful,” she says. “The Bunnybrains are a mind-child that opened the door to my courage.”
― scott seward, Wednesday, 19 August 2009 22:33 (3 years ago) Permalink
That's nice for your brother! She's so cool!
― Tuomas, Thursday, 20 August 2009 19:40 (3 years ago) Permalink
yeah, they live in the same town and hang out. she has played live with his crazy band too.
― scott seward, Thursday, 20 August 2009 19:48 (3 years ago) Permalink
So, the new album came out this Tuesday, anyone heard it yet? My local music store only gets it next Tuesday, so I have to wait until that. I'm sorta tempted to to download it before that, but then again I like the old-school kind of feeling when you get the actual physical record in your hands, and it's still a mystery before you put it on your record player.
AMG gave it 4,5 stars, apparently it's a more stripped-down and conventional album than The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams. I really like the experimentalism on her previous few albums (especially on The World Has Made Me...), so it's interesting to hear how she pulls off this change of direction.
― Tuomas, Friday, 9 October 2009 11:08 (3 years ago) Permalink
im totally out of touch with what shes doing these days. though the last thing i heard was a bit laswell-ian in all the base-covering.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 9 October 2009 11:54 (3 years ago) Permalink
fuck im out of town when shes in chi -- and shes playing literal blocks from my apt
― i got nothin (deej), Friday, 9 October 2009 11:57 (3 years ago) Permalink
New album is really good. Has a great cover of "Love You Down" (feminine nouns intact, of course). That's all I have to say about it at this point, as it seems to demand a good deal of unpacking, which is as I would expect from her.
― The Reverend, Friday, 9 October 2009 21:59 (3 years ago) Permalink
Ooh, I can't wait until Tuesday to get to hear it!
― Tuomas, Saturday, 10 October 2009 07:19 (3 years ago) Permalink
"Lola" is so awesome, just keeps kicking into higher gears.
― The Reverend, Saturday, 10 October 2009 08:37 (3 years ago) Permalink
Bit like a proggier Bitter.
― your way better (Eazy), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 03:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
Woah, I wasn't looking at the track list, and the "Chelsea Hotel" cover comes out of nowhere!
― your way better (Eazy), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 03:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
kind of thought this was maybe her most direct/immediate album since the '90s. the lyrics are just gorgeous.
the moment on "oysters" when she murmurs "everybody talking 'bout changing the world / the world ain't ever gonna change / but you can always change it for me..." <3 <3 <3
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 2 November 2011 07:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
prince covers : http://uheardat.blogspot.com/2011/08/meshell-hearts-prince.html
― sisilafami, Wednesday, 2 November 2011 13:24 (1 year ago) Permalink
a friend of mine just played drums with her on a gig (not a meshell gig, backing up arooj aftab...anyone go to that?)
― this is unusual for batman. (Jordan), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 14:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
The NYC club listing below is not clear--are they playing Pakistani music?
An incredible incredible stupendous stupendous group of humans will walk and run and dream and weep through an evening of songs by Arooj Aftab and Grey Mcmurray.
The Sea Gazing Family Band for the night of October 29th 2011 will be:
Arooj AftabMathias KunzliJoshua ValleauConor ElmesNorman VladimirGrey Mcmurrayand Meshell Ndegeocello
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 2 November 2011 14:24 (1 year ago) Permalink
pakistani jazz?
― this is unusual for batman. (Jordan), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 14:43 (1 year ago) Permalink
I'm loving the Prince covers gig...sounds incredible...who she playing with??
― The Pastiche Liberation Front (sonnyboy), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 19:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
On the Prince gigs she's been accompanied by guitarist Chris Bruce, keyboardist Keefus Ciancia and drummer Deantoni Parks,
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 3 November 2011 04:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
Liked my first listen to Weather last night...
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 3 November 2011 13:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
think my favorite meshell album is still the world has made me the man of my dreams but weather one might be second? it's restrained in comparison to both world and devil's halo but it still has all this detail.
― mutant slow drum (BradNelson), Thursday, 3 November 2011 19:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
man the "chelsea hotel" cover is just completely draining to listen to, in the best way
― mutant slow drum (BradNelson), Wednesday, 9 November 2011 01:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
this is on spotify by the way
― mutant slow drum (BradNelson), Wednesday, 9 November 2011 01:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
i love how the differences in mood and performance between the intimate love songs where she's cocooned w/her gf and the bleak heartbreak songs are so slight and subtle that the whole album ends up variations on one overall mood
― all i see is angels in my eyes (lex pretend), Wednesday, 9 November 2011 01:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
lex convinced me to listen to this and this is great!
if prince released an album this good all the rock critics in america would collectively shit their pants at once
― the 500 gats of bartholomew thuggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 9 November 2011 01:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
Collective Soiled
― Neanderthal, Wednesday, 9 November 2011 02:07 (1 year ago) Permalink
This album is kind of too subdued for its own good? Enjoying the live Prince covers a lot more.
― The Reverend, Friday, 18 November 2011 11:17 (1 year ago) Permalink
i'm disappointed with this new album, i miss the flights of melody.
― sisilafami, Friday, 18 November 2011 15:40 (1 year ago) Permalink
live in London tonight iirc
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Friday, 18 November 2011 16:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
This album is kind of too subdued for its own good?
i don't hear that it's any more subdued than meshell usually is...
i am going tonight! first time i'm seeing her live. hyped
― all i see is angels in my eyes (lex pretend), Friday, 18 November 2011 17:17 (1 year ago) Permalink
Here's an excerpt from a review of her last week at a club near Washington DC
One must not show up to a Meshell Ndegeocello show with a set of expectations based on listening to one or two of the records she’s made over the past two decades. On each outing, she embraces a new set of creative impulses and totally immerses herself in them when bringing the recordings to the stage. On Tuesday at the Birchmere, an artist known for nasty funk and sultry rapping gave a delicate performance that fit the spare character of her recently released “Weather” album.
To watch Ndegeocello is to observe a musician who bares naked emotion that creates connection while still being staunchly committed to doing things her way. And that means disappointment for the exuberant fan who repeatedly shouted for 1993’s provocative dance jam “If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night).” It was clear it wasn’t going to be that type of party once she quietly took the stage accompanied only by her guitarist and eased into an acoustic take on the melancholy love song “Grace.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/vocalist-meshell-ndegeocello-embraces-her-soft-side/2011/11/16/gIQABeUGSN_story.html
― curmudgeon, Friday, 18 November 2011 17:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
so she's like the r&b jandek then
― yo zuccotti (J0rdan S.), Friday, 18 November 2011 19:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
http://soundcloud.com/naiverecords/meshell-ndegeocello-petite
― littledotheyknow (D-40), Saturday, 7 July 2012 20:54 (10 months ago) Permalink
^^^^ that is amazing
second fantastic ndegéocello/migs collab of late after this
― bitch I'm on the 242 (lex pretend), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 14:57 (10 months ago) Permalink
she has a new album out tomorrow called "Pour une âme souveraine (A dedication to nina simone)".
― sisilafami, Monday, 8 October 2012 21:33 (7 months ago) Permalink
!!!!
― Cap'n Hug-a-Thug (The Reverend), Monday, 8 October 2012 22:14 (7 months ago) Permalink
oh wow, i saw that she was doing a tribute tour (a la prince), but didn't think she would do a record.
i have a gig the night she comes to town, but purposefully took the opening slot so i can go see her. :)
― have a sandwich or ice cream sandwich (Jordan), Monday, 8 October 2012 22:21 (7 months ago) Permalink
I will have to check that out
yeah her prince tribute was a+, nina will be aces
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 8 October 2012 22:23 (7 months ago) Permalink
Is the album gonna be covers of Nina Simone songs? I love both Simone and Ndegeocello, but I'm not sure if she's the best to cover her... Would love to be proven wrong, though.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 9 October 2012 08:39 (7 months ago) Permalink
tracklisting on Amazon plus a few details below
1. Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood 2. Suzanne 3. Real Real (feat. Toshi Reagon) 4. House Of The Rising Sun (feat. Toshi Reagon) 5. Turn Me On 6. Feelin' Good 7. Don't Take All Night (feat.Sinead O'Connor) 8. Nobody's Fault But Mine (feat. Lizz Wright) 9. Be My Husband (feat. Valerie June) 10. Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair (feat. V 11. See Line Woman (feat. Tracy Wannomae) 12. Either Way I Lose 13. To Be Young, Gifted and Black (feat. Cody Chesnutt 14. Four Women
Meshell Ndegeocello, the American singer-songwriter, rapper, bassist and vocalist and her musicians Chris Bruce (guitar), Jebin Bruni (keys), and Deantoni Parks (drums) recorded a tribute to Nina Simone and play some of the tracks made famous by the icon of black music. Meshell also invited a few guests to take part of this dedication to Nina Simone, such as Sinead O'Conner, Lizz Wright, Valerie June, Toshi Reagon and Cody ChesnuTT.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 9 October 2012 16:19 (7 months ago) Permalink
I don't know why she didn't record an album of Prince covers...the clips of her doing them in concert sounded great...
― The Pastiche Liberation Front (sonnyboy), Tuesday, 9 October 2012 16:48 (7 months ago) Permalink
i bet that would get into some weird territory both legally and personally, i read somewhere that they're not exactly close personal friends? would love to hear that record though.
― have a sandwich or ice cream sandwich (Jordan), Tuesday, 9 October 2012 16:59 (7 months ago) Permalink
otm
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 9 October 2012 17:01 (7 months ago) Permalink
Yep, Prince might try to block it. For an interview with her that I did, she said:
Ndegeocello, who said in a 2000 interview that her goal was to tour as Prince’s bass player, answered a bit cryptically when I asked if she had ever performed with him. “He's an amazing musician, an amazing player, an unparalleled creator. He wasn't the nicest dude to me.”
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 9 October 2012 17:05 (7 months ago) Permalink
prince why u gotta be mean 2 our girl?
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 9 October 2012 17:16 (7 months ago) Permalink
I mean could/would Prince block that...I mean I know he's not as keen as Larry David on the whole lesbian issue but that would be a whole nother level of 'WTF'...oh yeah I forgot...he's Prince...
― The Pastiche Liberation Front (sonnyboy), Tuesday, 9 October 2012 17:49 (7 months ago) Permalink
The versions of "See Line Woman" and "Four Women" are so good. I kind of wish the guest vocalists would go away tho.
― Cap'n Hug-a-Thug (The Reverend), Wednesday, 24 October 2012 07:12 (6 months ago) Permalink
fuck. The World Has... is a masterpiece.
― Cap'n Hug-a-Thug (The Reverend), Friday, 26 October 2012 09:53 (6 months ago) Permalink
I mean, I already knew I loved this album but it's completely undoing my head right now.
― Cap'n Hug-a-Thug (The Reverend), Friday, 26 October 2012 09:54 (6 months ago) Permalink
:D
― IMP of the perverse (Drugs A. Money), Friday, 26 October 2012 14:51 (6 months ago) Permalink
― Cap'n Hug-a-Thug (The Reverend), Friday, October 26, 2012 9:53 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Tim F, Friday, 26 October 2012 19:21 (6 months ago) Permalink
― IMP of the perverse (Drugs A. Money), Saturday, 27 October 2012 06:50 (6 months ago) Permalink
that album cracks my head open slightly wider every time i listen to it
― Rolling "2 chainz" draadje (The Reverend), Saturday, 22 December 2012 21:55 (5 months ago) Permalink
kinda f'ed up world when she's probably best known for that van Morrison cover mellencamp did years ago, she's basically a genius.
― LIKE If you are against racism (omar little), Saturday, 22 December 2012 21:59 (5 months ago) Permalink
yeup
― Rolling "2 chainz" draadje (The Reverend), Saturday, 22 December 2012 22:48 (5 months ago) Permalink
Otm
― when worlds coincide (Drugs A. Money), Sunday, 23 December 2012 03:47 (4 months ago) Permalink
my brother celebrating his birthday the other night!
― scott seward, Thursday, 21 February 2013 01:36 (3 months ago) Permalink
! <3
― The Reverend, Thursday, 21 February 2013 01:46 (3 months ago) Permalink
WHOA
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 21 February 2013 04:09 (3 months ago) Permalink
super cool!
― harvester of lols (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, 21 February 2013 06:52 (3 months ago) Permalink