Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It

Legit album of the year contender.

http://www.youtube.com/user/RaphaelSaadiqTV

legit your an idiot contender

u dom, doggie?

(sorry if you aren't, I'm just guessing based on shittiness of user name)

http://www.belvoir.army.mil/ncrmid/images/DetectiveLooking.png

Definitely one of the best of the year. It has potential to be a blockbuster...the songwriting is so good, and he has that sound down.

Yeah, this is a fantastic album, I do worry it's gonna get taken up by the chinstroke crowd but fuck it it's pretty much a 9/10er.

yeah...this is pretty damn good, and i'm generally kind of averse to modern attempts at retro soul, but the songwriting is spot-on and there are these little production touches like the vocal distortion that aren't really era-appropriate but sound great anyway.

big waste of rebirth brass band on here :(

i mean i guess i'm happy that he features my favorite trumpet player in the world for four bars, but you can barely hear it

ok maybe they're underused on that song but "Big Easy" is so so great

but anyway i hope he makes tons of $$$ on this

xp yeah, it's a good tune

the CJ Hilton guy who sings lead on the song that also has Stevie on it is a 19 year old kid from Baltimore, I've been trying to hunt him down for an interview.

seriously a fantastic record. all his stuff is amazing.

i wish i knew more of Saadiq's stuff, someone with the knowledge should do a search/destroy.

i'm no expert but i love instant vintage and some of those old toni tony tone jams

and he wrote "how does it feel" on voodoo

yeah I think I said this on a D'Angelo thread recently but I got a lot less interested in that dude when I realized my three favorite songs he's ever done (Untitled, Lady and Be Here) were all co-written by Saadiq.

In the 90s he was in a band called Tony Toni Tone. Robert Christgau is a huge fan of their 96 album, House Of Music...

House of Music [Mercury, 1996]
Launched by a hilariously gutsy Al Green hommage that knows the great man's every moue and off-beat, Raphael Saadiq and his henchmen give the r&b revival what for, constructing a generous original style from a varied history they know inside out--Tempts, Sly, Blue Magic, Kurtis Blow. And for almost every sound they provide a sharp song, which is more than Holland-Dozier-Holland and Gamble-Huff could manage when they were compelled to stick to one. Defeating second-half trail-off and a CD-age windiness the band isn't beatwise enough to beat, Saadiq's flexible, sensitive, slightly nasal tenor, spelled by the grain of D'Wayne Wiggins's workaday baritone, recasts the tradition in its image. Wasn't sampling supposed to strangle this sort of virtuosity at the root? A

yeah i know tony toni tone, the hits at least, but i mean he's had a ton of albums out w/ different projects, it'd be interesting for someone who's heard a lot of it to sort it all out.

house of music>>>>this (as far as retro soul).

tthe last 2 TTT albums are mostly brilliant

(xpost) agree. A little Motown Emulation goes a long way with me so this is my - thus far - least favorite of Saadiq's albums. And I love the cat.

This is my album of the year.

Keep meaning to check this cd out. I shoulda gone to see one of Saadiq's several recent shows at the Black Cat in DC. I saw Tony Toni Tone open for Prince a long time ago at the Capital Centre and they were great.

just bought House of Music for $1.75 at amazon. There's another one out there for $2.

digging this more than i thought i would

i bet geir would like it (since he only likes black people when they write good melodies)

does he like white people when they don't?

well, he's pretty into Blur.

pretty solid album all around. definitely captures the era nicely.....

The album is aight. "100 Yard Dash" and "Big Easy" and "Oh Girl" are jams. This kind of stuff lives and dies by the songwriting, though.

The album starts rockily, however, with "Sure Hope You Mean It", a clever rewrite of "How Sweet It Is" that suffers from a bad mix. Against Saadiq's exuberant delivery (he's a superlatively smooth vocalist), the percussion sounds slightly off-beat: The tambourine shakes before hitting on the beat, creating an audio illusion of being too fast, while the snare rolls into the verses sound too slow, like they've been manipulated from a faster performance.

^^^this is dumb

yeah i read that graph a couple times before i gave up on trying to understand it

can you imagine if every indie record with a shaky rhythm track got evaluated that way on PF?

Against Saadiq's exuberant delivery (he's a superlatively smooth vocalist), the percussion sounds slightly off-beat: The tambourine shakes before hitting on the beat, creating an audio illusion of being too fast, while the snare rolls into the verses sound too slow, like they've been manipulated from a faster performance.

This sounds awesome

I got to do some work in the old Toni!Tony!Tone!/En Vogue studio and it was awesome. love this guy, have yet to hear the album PF reviewer as usual doesn't know wtf he's talking about.

I mean lolz what does he think of all the weirdo syncopation on Voodoo fr instance

yeah, the track feels good and it's intentional. great laid-back shuffle on the drums and some nice raw tambourine.

still loving this record btw.

good convo between me, Bozelka, and Crutis about this here album (with some tangents)

kjb (11:09:58 PM): treat yourself to RAPHAEL SAADIQ!!!!
rev (11:10:41 PM): love saadiq but his new album is so worthy and boring
kjb (11:10:56 PM): worthy? what do u mean?
crut (11:10:56 PM): worthy and boring
rev (11:11:41 PM): it's a well-made but boring and formalism
rev (11:11:56 PM): haha that barely made sense at all
rev (11:12:37 PM): basically, fine craft but no excellence
crut (11:12:43 PM): yeah
kjb (11:12:50 PM): gotcha but I love the shit out of it
crut (11:12:53 PM): that's a good description
kjb (11:13:05 PM): u don't dig it either, crut?
crut (11:13:06 PM): it's not funky enough
rev (11:13:26 PM): "Still Ray" >>>>> The Way I See It
crut (11:13:59 PM): it's prob better than sharon jones
crut (11:14:05 PM): I need to listen to it again
kjb (11:14:13 PM): oh big time even though I love her...amazing live!
rev (11:14:26 PM): sharon jones: much better live than on record
rev (11:14:35 PM): actually, prob best live show I've ever seen
kjb (11:14:36 PM): it's the truth
kjb (11:14:46 PM): just brilliant
crut (11:14:47 PM): awesome
rev (11:14:49 PM): ^^^
rev (11:15:28 PM): when I saw her, she covered "There Was a Time" which is my favorite JB song
rev (11:15:32 PM): XD
kjb (11:15:50 PM): when I saw her, she was critizing Bush/Iraq and this dude came up to her (small club) and said something like "I"m an Irish-American and I fought for this country and I hate what you're saying!"
kjb (11:16:05 PM): and she just stared this fucker down and started ripping him a new one
rev (11:16:17 PM): hahaha
kjb (11:16:23 PM): and the band started to hold her back and she was "no I"m all right"
kjb (11:17:28 PM): "hey that's all well and good 4 u but I have every right to say my piece and tons of African-Americans fought for this country and got no parade, etc."
kjb (11:17:41 PM): intense shit but i loved it
rev (11:18:14 PM): v awes
kjb (11:18:28 PM): what I LOVE about The Way I See It is now short it is....it's almost scandlous.....the 2-minute songs make me guffaw at the end
kjb (11:18:38 PM): scandalous too
kjb (11:19:13 PM): one of the many things I love about it, that is
rev (11:19:42 PM): another problem is I kinda feel like he subsumed his personality to the period pieces
rev (11:20:38 PM): like, he could write better, more personal songs, but he felt it wouldn't be in line with the concept
kjb (11:21:45 PM): true but I'm a sucker for hooks and songs and I guess craft
rev (11:23:06 PM): I don't really feel like the hooks and songs are there tho
rev (11:23:23 PM): they are, but they're so perfunctory
crut (11:24:01 PM): it's not raw enuff
kjb (11:24:28 PM): well it IS a Motown (not even Stax) simulation
kjb (11:24:53 PM): what did u thnk of TTT's House of Music?
crut (11:25:38 PM): it's not catchy/hooky enough to live up to the Motown sound
rev (11:25:38 PM): the fact that it IS a Motown sim is reason #1 it has no excuse for weak tunage!
crut (11:25:44 PM): ^^^^ rev otmm
rev (11:26:04 PM): HoM: v good, but prefer Sons of Soul
rev (11:26:31 PM): "Let's Get Down" and "Thinking of You" are prob my fave TTT singles tho
kjb (11:28:04 PM): well there ya have it...as a hooks/song guy, I can't stop playing the thing
rev (11:28:44 PM): it prob has more in common with northern soul obscurities than the sound of young america
kjb (11:29:19 PM): true
kjb (11:30:15 PM): speaking of which, Bimble told em today that Joy Division stole a riff from (northern?) soul obscurity Nolan Porter!!!
kjb (11:30:19 PM): em = me
rev (11:30:58 PM): wouldn't surprise me that much

love the sound, performances and production of this album but the songwriting is pretty weak, as are the lyrics. its motown lite, for duffy fans.

i forgot about bozelka, is he still on the board or is he just under some unrecognizable username now?

he actually sounds bored tbh, like it was a rote exercise in retroism, and he had to hold back while making it. not that thats a bad thing - some of his lyrics and songwriting has really gone downhill since leaving TTT (dwayne needs to come back) but saadiq sounds like he just went down this road cos there was no other option for a guy like him these days, so he took the starbucks soul route.

i like this album and the songs sounded very good live, but really the 2 at the end that kind of break out of the production aesthetic a little ("Never Give You Up" and "Sometimes," not the terrible Jay-Z remix), totally destroy the rest.

im surprised its not being promoted more. youd think theyd sell him as the 'authentic' retro soul artist.

you're thinking way too fucking hard about the motives and marketing behind this album. guy's been paying tribute to the same music for 20 years, he's just doing it a lil more overtly and slavishly now, for better or worse.

errrr that overtness/slavishness is precisely what makes it so different to anything hes done before. before it was always balanced with a bit of modernity.

"Big Easy" will likely make my top 15, but the rest is masterful cryogenics.

He's starting a tour of the states at the end of the month. recommendations from anyone whose seen him live before?

I don't tremendously care for the album, but I imagine this stuff would play v. well live.

I saw him open for John Legend a couple months ago...pretty sharp set, although it was pretty much only the new album (+ that Lucy Pearl song), done in that style with the band in retro costumes and everything. i imagine as a headliner he does a wider variety of material.

I can't wait for CJ's album whenever that comes out.

I saw him open for John Legend
― some dude, Monday, February 2, 2009 4:23 AM (1 week ago)

this is so RONG btw

watching him perform on pbs @ lol harvard - who knows who his sidekick lady is omg ws

i hounded CJ for an interview for like 2 months and kept getting the runaround...maybe i'll start bugging his sister again, i still wanna talk to dude.

There's this song on his myspace "Losing You" that just blows my mind and I can't find an mp3 of it anywhere, I've been looking for months. I read somewhere that he had an entire Marvin-esque album ready to be released but it got canned and the stuff he's doing now is more modern-sounding.

anyone see him play live? he's coming next week

GO GO GO GO GO GO

FUCKING FANTASTIC LIVE SHOW

^^^seconded

lex has he played in london and i missed out?

amazing!!

can't wait!

aw, he's playing in chicago on thursday, wish i could go

holy SHIT was that a great great show

yayyyyyyy im so happy he's coming next week.

I was going to see him live with Janelle Monae but I had a class that I couldn't afford to miss :-\

he played london in...november or december, i think? at the jazz cafe. i remember seeing him and solange at the pigalle really close to each other.

saw him last night. it was o-k. i mean, the band sound great and his backing singers, the girl esp, really put their guts into it, but those new songs are just SO inoffensive. still, was surprised hes a pretty nifty dancer when he wants to be, he sounds great live, but the show was too made up of the new album for my liking (and yes i know hes there to promote the new album but still). he did a few lucy pearl songs, and some from the previous two solo albums, but waited til the encore to do TTT songs, which made my night, even tho he only really did like one verse/chorus/bridge/chorus for most of them. but there were so many songs he left out that i wish he had done instead of stretching out the newer ones unnecessarily. the band just seemed to be chugging away half the time in classic 60s motown revue style but without any real climax or anything. i know he really wants to get that winehouse/duffy/ronson money but i hope he puts his limp retro exercises away for the next album.

Almost everyone I know who's seen him on this tour reports a different set list (not song-for-song, just different emphases each time), which is something I like.

I still play the album a lot--the songs are great.

i think i prefer the "gospeldelica" of Instant Vintage--btw, Rev, you need to hear this...NOW!--these days, tbh. this is still a terrific album, tho. afrofutureism vs. retro-soul?

instant vintage wasnt futuristic.

if thats what you were implying.

kinda, yeah. retro-futuristic?

dunno. what makes it futuristic? i think ppl overuse that term wrt black music. it was just a good R&B/neo soul album. quite of its time when it came out imho.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/apr/24/raphael-saadiq-interview

"I feel like a lot of white bands do it all the time," he says. "I didn't want to see another white-boy band come out and do a Motown sound, while all the black dudes are singin' with that thing (autotune) on their voices, rappin' and doin' all kindsa tap dancin'. I was like, 'No! I'm not gonna let the Killers come out and be in some suits an' some ties, and somebody else comes out doin' the Beatles, when I eat and sleep that!' Not to take anything from them - I love it when bands like the Killers or the Kings of Leon go back and pull somethin' from the past and make it theirs, I think that's the best thing. But I don't see too many urban groups doin' it."

says it all right fucking there

why cant the-dream be more like kings of leon?

;_;

Raphael Saadiq led a band reminiscent of Motown soul — and for an unexpected bit of Detroit, also belted a protopunk song from Iggy Pop and the Stooges, “Search and Destroy.”

A review of Saadiq at Bonnaroo

ha! he rules.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYuyeAnSLsM

^ that is pretty great.

his daytrotter session is outstanding:
http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/raphael-saadiq-concert/20030483-3737977.html

Instant Vintage is a fucking classic. I don't like dude's recent stuff.

"Still Ray" is one the most blissful songs there is imo

^^I have recently come to adore this trak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooz85nVYfiU

YES YES YES YES

<3<3

i'm coming home to you
wear something seethrough

so iiii can seeee your heeaaart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXHs0t5VQM4

Just gonna call a spade a spade here. Terrible song, terrible video, and Raphael Saadiq sounding like the Strokes in 2011 is NAGL as it comes.

Would rather listen to the Fat/Beach Boys' "Wipeout."

otm!

this is really terriblr

As usual, I kind of dig things that people on ILM hate.

its the most generic pastiche of 50s rock cliches ever what is there possible to like abt it

this shit is bankrupt as fuck

Saadiq was good when he was doing his "gospedelic" thing. This is just bad.

Oh come on you big babies. That's a good song. There's so much crappy music out there, why do you have to tool on Raphael? He's real good goddamnit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

its the most generic pastiche of 50s rock

There isn't a single 50s thing about that song dawg.

he is really good, which is why I expect better of him than this.

There isn't a single 50s thing about that song dawg.

― kornrulez6969, Thursday, January 20, 2011 10:47 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ok early 60s??

sorry i dont remember the exact recording dates for the surfaris

Instant Vintage is a classic. I have no interest to hear anything else from Saadiq, as talented as he is. It's just not an aesthetic I have any interest in.

the hate is way OTT in this thread. I put the song on expecting it to be next level bad and it's not at all!

don't really get the Strokes compare, Raphael is clearly trying to pay homage to early surf-tinged rock 'n roll, not the 00s replication of it. other than the vocal production, there are too many sonic details he gets right for it to be a copy of a copy. The main criticism I can give is that he took the stock sound and didn't do anything particularly new or interesting with it, more or less just filled in a template.

honestly this isn't something I'd spin a lot but I can say I "liked" it for sure. it's pleasant to my ear, not a standout but pleasing nonetheless.

I mean it really isn't much different than what he did on The Way I See It, going for retro but he just did it with a different subgenre.

i dont like 'the way i see it' either for the same reason so *shrug*

whats the pt of becoming a trad 60s revivalist

Um, because it's a genre in and of itself just like anything else?

He may have gone a little overboard with the throwback suits and big black glasses, but there's definitely some merit in recreating a sound and doing it well.

i guess, if u want to play a lot of weddings

but like, you're a talented songwriter! make something original! u can reference the past w/out mimicry

xpost guess nobody bothered to tell the neo-soul movement then

uhm didn't you love Cee-Lo's "Fuck You"?

the best neo soul isnt blind mimicry! there is no record in R&B history that sounds like voodoo, its more a spiritual inspiration than anything, a recognition & acknowledgement of tradition & an appreciation of 'grown folks' aesthetics

'fuck you' is a more likeable song

it also feels massively irreverent

don't really get the Strokes compare, Raphael is clearly trying to pay homage to early surf-tinged rock 'n roll, not the 00s replication of it. other than the vocal production, there are too many sonic details he gets right for it to be a copy of a copy. The main criticism I can give is that he took the stock sound and didn't do anything particularly new or interesting with it, more or less just filled in a template.

The Strokes thing came up cause I was trying to figure out exactly what his reference points were then realized it didn't matter because the end result ended up at the Strokes (and not good Strokes). Like obviously that's not where he was going for at all, but that's where he ended up.

sounds like the same problem as the last album (except this time its surf rock). he gets all the period details right, but the songwriting is just bloodless.

instant vintage was cool but saddiq solo has never really done it for me imo. much preferred the tonies to anything hes done since. house of music did 'retro' so much better.

Has anyone heard the album he did between Instant Vintage and The Way I See It? Pretty much never seen anyone talk about it ever. I haven't heard it either fwiw.

idk I think the songwriting on The Way I See It was impeccable. this new song is less impressive because it's a stock melody/chord progression, but it goes into 'likable' for me because he sings it with panache. not that this is a song that I'll ever play a lot but "terrible" it ain't, to my ears.

of course its not terrible. impeccable seems the right word. it just doesnt feel like more than a slightly soulless, albeit fun and technically faultless exercise in period recreation.

as far as period recreation I do much prefer the second Amy Winehouse album. anybody who begins a song with "what kind of fuckery is this?" is a winner in my book.

idk I think the songwriting on The Way I See It was impeccable. this new song is less impressive because it's a stock melody/chord progression, but it goes into 'likable' for me because he sings it with panache. not that this is a song that I'll ever play a lot but "terrible" it ain't, to my ears.

otm. even though i like 'way i see it', i was really hoping he would move back towards modern r&b (or some combination with the live instruments/motown sound thing) though.

as far as period recreation I do much prefer the second Amy Winehouse album. anybody who begins a song with "what kind of fuckery is this?" is a winner in my book.

― i love tampon spaceship (San Te), Friday, January 21, 2011 6:20 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the thing w/ the retro details on that album is that they all seem to serve her personality
which isnt the case here

Yeah. Saadiq has a personality (although obviously not as outsized as Winehouse's), but you'd never know it from his recent material.

Ok. I'm listening to As Ray Ray now and so far it is awesome and shits all over the snoozy retro bullshit he's doing now. Real sunny LA funk vibe like he spent the whole time kickin it with DJ Quik.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKLur3mWKgI

It's fun as opposed to "fun". Way less on a neo-soul tip than Instant Vintage too.

And it has style that is all Raphael's and not borrowed from a bunch of old/dead peeps.

Ok, how the hell did this album slip completely under the radar?

So "Rifle Love" and the song where he does the Curtis Mayfield impression are corny (maybe endearingly so?), but I've never cared for his Smokey impersonation either. Other than that, this album is banging.

ive got that one -- copped from emusic iirc when i was a member. good 1

Teedra's on a couple Ray Ray tunes.

instant vintage is still > as ray ray... what a shitty title

alright haters, get ready to fall in love again. amazing video (w/cutty from the wire). really good song. he's doing a 70s southern soul thing which to me sorta has vibes of wu tang w/the modern production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeKaHBMKows

Lots of folks were going who is that guy (Saadiq) playing guitar on the Grammys with Mick Jagger (doing a Soloman Burke tribute)

http://www.spinner.com/2011/02/13/mick-jagger-grammys/

I didn't know until I read it somewhere (and had wondered why Jagger paid the guitarist so much attention).

alright haters, get ready to fall in love again.

otm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghetto_Golf

cutty in the video!

Suddenly looking forward to this album. Jesus.

WUT xxp

listening to him on gilles peterson's show. the songs are actually good (the larry dunn solo on one of them is A++++), with good playing, production, nice arrangements, etc etc, but his lyrics are so fucking inane, it renders the whole thing hollow. another dissapointing album. shame cos id like to see a R&B guitarist/singer get popular.

I know, extraordinary black talent - not worth listening to because it's not English Department material.

if youre being sarcastic, theres a diff between decent, passable lyrics, and lines that really just sound lazy. im not wanting him to be gil scot heron or curtis, just sound like a little bit of effort was made in that dept. i think the problem is prob that hes thinking that lyrics that would have worked fine in the 50s/early 60s are still acceptable today. hes gone too far with the period details and ended up very anonymous.

hes thinking that lyrics that would have worked fine in the 50s/early 60s are still acceptable today

What are you talking about? Please quote the lyrics that you find inane and then explain why you think they would have worked in the "50s/early 60s" but are not "acceptable today" .

She knows I like it like that
She knows where exactly is that
She knows I like it like that
That girl is going on my hat
She knows I like it like that
She knows where exactly is that

i suppose 'acceptable' could be substituted for 'harmless'/'inoffensive'/'forgettable'

tbh those lyrics arent terrible, theres just something about the saadiqs ongoing retro enterprise that seems too inoffensive. he can do better than trying to latch onto the retro bandwagon.

I'm not crazy about the retro thing. It got him an NPR All Songs Considered concert in the US at SxSW (they'd never broadcast Trey Songz or Jazmine Sullivan). But can his retro approach reach both an r'n'b audience and an NPR/Pitchfork audience?

who is his audience in the states? i didnt think he was even doing that well with this stuff. cant imagine the p4k crowd like him retro or as he was (instant vintage era), so the only ppl i think whod be into him are those of a certain age, people who like lite starbucks-type stuff or as he prob hopes, ppl into winehouse, joss stone, or adele. i thought he would get marketed as the 'authentic' answer to what theyre doing. i feel sorry for artists like him and badu (whose last record was actually v similar to what saadiqs doing, she was just mining from a diff, later era) - they always get lost in the shuffle. :|

That girl is going on my hat

?!

that line at least has the added bonus of not making much sense, which makes it seem a bit more interesting than most of the others. saadiq used to have a really good sense of humour but he seems to have lost it somewhere. if i was at his label i would FORCE him to get write with dwayne again.

i feel sorry for artists like him and badu (whose last record was actually v similar to what saadiqs doing, she was just mining from a diff, later era) - they always get lost in the shuffle. :|

― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Wednesday, April 6, 2011 3:59 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark

wtf are you even talking about

the badu record was critically acclaimed & got mad airplay, the saadiq looks to do the same

I know, extraordinary black talent - not worth listening to because it's not English Department material.

― welcome to stalinois (u s steel), Wednesday, April 6, 2011 3:16 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

considering this was us steel it may not have been sarcastic :-/

also curtis had plenty of hammy lyrics fwiw

im not in the states so i dont know how well theyre doing. but i never think of these guys as really getting the p4k type crowd on board, just a large R&B audience, despite the good write ups. and yeah i know curtis had lots of hammy lyrics but he had plenty that werent. better ratio than saadiq in any case. r&b has never been about lyrics i know blah blah

yes it has!

I guess I would understand you better if you explained what genre "is about" the lyrics, and what you look for in them.

it is about lyrics, i dont know what saadiq's lyrics are like on the rest but they didnt bother me on 'good man' the way the weeknd's do or something

saw him on Later with Jools last night, had to turn it off after 30 seconds. oh dear.

All my favorite R&B artists (Aretha, Otis, Smokey, Al Green, EW&F, Gaye, Prince, Stevie Wonder, O'Neal) have written or sung great lyrics.

x-post
"Oh dear" what?

but i never think of these guys as really getting the p4k type crowd on board, just a large R&B audience, despite the good write ups.

That's the p4k crowd's loss.

yes yes some of my favourite R&B artists have had great lyrics from marvin to curtis to erykah and donnie, i was pre-empting anyone who was gonna come in with 'oh but R&B has never really been about lyrics'

in fact i dont want to get into that sort of thorny discussion right now, i have other things to do

oh dear this is some ultra ultra bland cringeworthy awfulness with facial expressions reminding me of Glee.

What, this thread?

x-post
Do you like what he has done in the past solo or with Tony Toni Tone?

Ha

this was my first experience of him. not a good one.

had to turn it off after 30 seconds

That was quick considering it was your first experience with him.

I still haven't gotten around to the album in this thread's title, need to do so before the new one comes out I suppose.

Always loved "Ask of You" from the (lol) Higher Learning soundtrack.

This is my OG Saadiq jam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anemdasc_EY

oh dear this is some ultra ultra bland cringeworthy awfulness with facial expressions reminding me of Glee.

― reallysmoothmusic (Jamie_ATP), Wednesday, April 6, 2011 6:32 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Suggest Go Away

yup

If he's talking about "Radio", then he is otm.

iirc hes talking about raphael saadiq

I dunno, that was a pretty vague comment.

yes it was 'Radio'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lnx9J0elvw

The retro aspect is competent but too forced there. Saadiq was great live when I saw him as part of Toni Toni Tone opening for Prince way back when and he's done lots more since that Jamie ATP ought to consider for more than the 30 seconds he gave him on the Jools Holland show appearance.

Anyone own the new one? Andy Kellman and Xgau both love it. I've only heard "Go To Hell."

I mentioned it in the r and b thread to little response bit I like a lot

I keep forgetting about that thread. thanks.

this one is much better than the one this thread is named for imo

Yes, I do prefer Stone Rollin'.

Stone Rollin' is on sale for $3.99 at Amazon today. What a record. Definitely among my favorites of the year.

Thanks

Stone Rollin!

some fake song called Sugar Daddy currently being passed around as Raphael Saadiq feat E-40 and Too $hort apparently

My wife and I almost cried when they played 'Heart Attack' on an episode of Mob Wives (don't ask me how I know that).

I love this record.

I especially like the hidden track at the end with Larry Graham.

Got this cover he did of The Spinners 'Its a Shame' off some Levis Pioneer Session thingy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fSbyjf8aNg

"movin down the line" is so dope

this record is so much better than the way i see it

I dunno, its pretty close for me, I like the production on TWISI more.

Tony! Toni! Toné! > Instant Vintage > Lucy Pearl > Ray Ray > The Way I See It, Stone Rollin'

this record is so much better than the way i see it

Yes. TWISI sounded embalmed in spots. This one has all kinds of unexpected touches: mellotron, drum flourishes, etc. It's R&B prog in spots!

Which spots sound embalmed to you? Ive never heard that term as a criticism so just wondering what you mean really.

Stone Rollin is so good. It sounds like a greatest hits record.

This boasts my favorite Mellotron sounds in many years.

I keep forgetting about Stone Rollin'.

this fucking album

this alb is great but the most recent one just rolled like a stone out of my brain

i like the new one, even the more blatant genre workout stuff(chuck berry/marty mcfly blues on 'radio', the ray charles gospel thing on 'day dreams'), but 'way i see it' has better songs.

ha by 'this fucking album' i meant Stone Rollin. i hate being confused/confusing about what thread a record's about.

the way I see it, The Way I See It has more blatant genre workout stuff.

TWISI sounded embalmed in spots. This one has all kinds of unexpected touches: mellotron, drum flourishes, etc. It's R&B prog in spots!

― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, August 11, 2011 6:57 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark

yeah you were otm about this

it's more in the spirit of Instant Vintage than The Way I See It, really

it just hasnt grabbed me like tee dubz did. i'll give it another chance

Love it, of course, but hoping the next one brings more Mellotron prog-soul a la

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVFUr66Xk1c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwRA-mfsoiQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooTEU9fyTuo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSz_wE8aAAc

("East" has no Mellotron but might as well.)

And a blatant Charles Stepney homage (which would likely destroy the Stepkids songs I've heard) must be around the corner, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DR_NMtBEj4

thanks for the bump shipz! i gave this a spin earlier in the year but i must have been distracted cuz i forgot about it apart from the amazing "good man" - i was wrong to, cuz it's ALL pretty much amazing

This one has all kinds of unexpected touches: mellotron, drum flourishes, etc. It's R&B prog in spots!

just cribbing from different sources imo. and all the orchestration + double-tracked drums makes me think of motown-era stevie wonder.

and i'm not knocking it for that, it's cool, but TWISI just has stronger songs.

I love love love Stone Rollin'

Over You could be my favorite song of 2011.

i was just listening to over you-- fantastic. the whole thing is great.

ok im gonna listen to this again YOU GUYS WIN

The bass line on "Good Man" is fierce.

listening alot to this album again. who can tell me about violin riffs in rnb stuff, because over you and the song that follows both have it? and it is terrific, sinuous and hypnotic.

The violin on Stone Rollin' reminds me of the violin on 'Miss You.'

anyone know what the instrument is on that keyboard part that plays against the strings on the long outro of "just don't"- likin that sound, too.

Just saw him singing about the Toyota Prius and playing guitar in a Toyota Prius commercial

new song with rob fonksta bacon on the guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRvD6fWJsJQ

album drops in august, titled jimmy lee

cant believe its been 8 years since stone rollin

Fantastic news. He takes his time, but the results are worth it.

Ooh I love this song. Not as retro as his other records.

yeah gives me hope he may scrap the throwback sounds of the last two records. Both are great and all but I'd like to hear him on a more adventurous/modern path.

Nice. Might be making things up, but it sounds like it was influenced by his work with Solange.

oh yeah def, that opening vocal melody

here's an interview from months back with some details
https://www.okayplayer.com/originals/raphael-saadiq-interview-jimmy-lee-album.html

Jimmy Lee tracklist:

01 Sinners Prayer
02 So Ready
03 This World Is Drunk
04 Something Keeps Calling
05 Kings Fall
06 I’m Feeling Love
07 My Walk
08 Belongs to God
09 Dottie’s Interlude
10 Glory to the Veins
11 Rikers Island
12 Rikers Island Redux
13 Rearview

yeah gives me hope he may scrap the throwback sounds of the last two records. Both are great and all but I'd like to hear him on a more adventurous/modern path.

― big city slam (Spottie)

i don't know, he really set the prog world on fire with all that mellotron all over "stone rollin", not sure he'd want to let that important fanbase down

stone rollin is really good i undersold it in my post. the production on it is great for sure, I'm just reading up on it now (had no idea what a mellotron was until today). i guess i'd just like the new record to groove/swing a little differently than the last two, altho i'd be perfectly happy with another record in the same vein.

He was a well-intentioned bore at Pitchfork last year, but I love Stone Rollin'.

Really excited for this! Stone Rollin' is such a brilliant record. Agree that it would be nice if he mixed things up this time round.

Interview about new album Jimmy Lee (out today):

http://exclaim.ca/music/article/raphael_saadiq_i_didnt_think_id_ever_make_a_record_like_jimmy_lee

Jeezus:

Jimmy Lee, who was only 42 when he passed away in 1998, isn't the only one of Saadiq's 13 siblings who died young or struggled with drugs. There was another brother, Desmond, who died by suicide trying to escape the clutches of his own addiction. Saadiq's brother Alvie was murdered over a drug-related dispute. One of Saadiq's sisters was a bystander in a police chase — her car was hit during the pursuit and she later died from her injuries. Saadiq learned about her death while recording the 1990 classic "It Never Rains (In Southern California)." There was yet another sister who survived her bout with drugs, but Saadiq says her life was "never quite the same" after getting sober.

Anyway, on first listen the album sounds fantastic. The rhythm section cooks -- kudos to the engineer. I'm still getting a hold of the songs.

This is pretty great.

I read the profile of him in the nytimes recently and yeah, the body count in his story is gut wrenching

Did he play all the instruments again?

this pops on a first spin.

That NY Times piece has me looking forward to this

This is a JAM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDOtGrjSlzs

dude has put out a protest album with an honest to god unadorned downtempo guitar gospel track stuck in the middle of it and it works. this album should maybe have a devoted thread if anybody feels inclined?

there is a lot here to unpack for sure

i had actually just been beating myself up as basic for thinking the most obvious comparison here is To Pimp a Butterfly when i finally got around to the uncredited Kendrick feature

that's a fair comparison

ok second time through. This is damn good!

Riker's Island tho

Awesome album. The bass playing throughout is quite something. Looking forward to spending more time with it.

the production on 'so ready' is elite

Saadiq is one of the quiet minor geniuses of modern music of the last 25 years (TTT, D'Angelo, Solange).

had a beer and a couple vape hits at lunch, this album is fucking me up so much! god damn he killed it

Truly looking forward to listening. "Instant Vintage" is a peerless classic for me.

wow @ "Kings Fall". Incredible performance and production

yeah, i've been listening to this all weekend; time for a dedicated thread
Raphael Saadiq - Jimmy Lee- "He Was My Mama's Son"