Electrik Red- How to be a Lady Vol.1 Terius 'n' Tricky make girl-pop magic

gonna go in with some electrik red antecedent youtubes now (aka some of my favourite songs ever)

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsu93Uw9m9k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9B3aqpaxaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkrSdfwgrV8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30ld7XSiWn4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9OLmPRt0w8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VQJ0Cs_Gmk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR4Jan8duO4

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

One vaguely similar R&B album is Mya's Mood Ring, which I think covers similar ground thematically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvi1ne27s_M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZnqCuaSu6I&feature=player_embedded

yes, that mya album! every time i play it i fixate on a different track. today - "taste this"

get ready cuz a three-six-oh's about to go down...

for they call me a silent storm...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXKo8sm2SLs

no more running, no more hiding
cuz my crazy ass will find you and get you back...

i didn't know she went by a last name! wha

whats that mya track that samples shuggie otis? a jam imo

"things come and go"! with sean paul! i LOVE that song.

tim f's review on pfork today

great review!

Now, cue the P4K masses to jump on board the bandwagon, rendering Electrik Red the #1 indie sensation of 2010! Next gig = Opening for Grizzly Bear + Solange in February.

Forreal, though. Great review, Tim.

Maybe they've changed things, but I think it's inexcusable for an 8.2 review to be listed fourth on the page, regardless of likely audience interest. Usually, IIRC, you have the featured review (score is irrelevant), then a neutral listing the albums according to the score they received.

My fave line: "If that sounds like a criticism, it's not meant to be: Electrik Red understand that we don't know what we want even when we sound like we do; if they seem to conflate love and sex a little too freely, well, life's like that when the going's good."

That was my favourite line to write actualy - the idea of a certain confusion between lust and romance is pretty important to my relationship to the album.

When I made it album of the week on our show (I naturally got to choose for R&B week), one of the co-panellists Mia (who is into metal, mainly) complained about how much the album seemed to focus on losing control, "giving it up" basically. (for contrast, she'd adored "He Ain't Wit' Me Now (Tho)" when I introduced it to her)

And I went on this long rant about the importance of not really being in control sexually and emotionally, and how real to life this felt to me, before suddenly thinking "oh wow I have just revealed way to much of myself on television!" I haven't watched the episode back but there's probably even a "penny drops" moment when you can see it in my eyes.

the importance of not really being in control sexually and emotionally, and how real to life this felt to me

Yeah, this is one of those things that I take for granted and colours why I like the album as much as I do. And I've just sort of assumed that it is a common understanding, except when I try to pitch Electrik Red to friends of mine and use this as a selling point it seems to be a sticking point instead, frequently.

Yeah it hadn't really occurred to me until I had this debate with Mia how a lot of people place a lot of emphasis on the R&B they like sounding confident, swaggering, etc. and feel uncomfortable with stuff that doesn't sound like that - like "Crazy In Love" may strictly speaking be saying similar things lyrically but Beyonce never actually sounds like she's not in control.

What's the name of the show, Tim? Is it on http://pitchfork.com/tv/ ?

http://dancingaboutarchitecturetv.blogspot.com/

Excellent! Thanks Tim.

mmm but don't electrik red always seem to own their lack of control? like, they submit to it, but that's a conscious decision in the first place...i don't feel they're ever powerless against their emotions, even on the "bed rest"/"devotion" tracks.

(nb haven't read tim's piece as am doing my own this week - can't wait to read it once i've filed)

i think there are times when submissiveness does rub the rong way tho, 'cater 2 u' was pretty awful although maybe it would have been easier to stomach if the music had made it ... i dunno. im not even sure what the music could do other than make it ironic. at best it could be one of those songs where you would be like "super catchy but kinda uncomfortable"

"cater 2 u" was weird because it was uncomfortably submissive but also not remotely convincing

Of course it's a conscious decision to submit, but that's where the power of it comes from. Would it make more sense if I rephrased Tim's "importance of not really being in control sexually and emotionally" --> "relinquishment of control sexually"? The possibly of power and control in the loss of it is something that plays out strangely and differently for a lot of people, and that is (to some extent) what ER traffic in - the Ashlee Simpson "La La" thing. I relinquish sexual control because I choose to do so, and in doing so, retain control. And like Ashlee, I think the bluster is in part to disguise the fact that emotions can and do get the better of them on occasion (viz. So Good, Friend Lover, etc.).

The supremely confident and swaggery tracks are as much about convincing yourself/themselves as they are about flaunting their strength, no? I mean, there's a performative aspect to all of the "I'm the shit, with this shit."

RE: Cater 2 U...I think there's a distinction that I'm having trouble fleshing out between straight-up submissive/servile stuff like that vs. what ER and others do. Need to give C2U a spin first - haven't heard it in forever.

Maybe they've changed things, but I think it's inexcusable for an 8.2 review to be listed fourth on the page, regardless of likely audience interest. Usually, IIRC, you have the featured review (score is irrelevant), then a neutral listing the albums according to the score they received.

I don't think this is actually true, PF seems to give top billing to pans and so-so reviews of high profile albums with good small albums getting lower billing all the time. And I think that's fine, their responsibility is to run accurate reviews and praise what deserves to be praised, not make sure it has optimal browser window real estate or give every good thing "best new music" branding (plus it's not even a matter of "likely audience interest" -- the ER album was a commercial flop and probably sold less than a lot of indie bands covered by PF).

OH NO IT'S THE 4TH ONE LISTED

Lex I think the idea of electrik red owning their lack of control is exactly what i was hoping to get across!

Agree re "Cater 2 U" btw.

One thing I like about Mya, and why she reminds me of Electrik Red, is how she plays with similar issues of control and its loss - tracks like "That's Why I Wanna Fight" and "Why You Gotta Look So Good" have a similar sense of honesty about how complex sexual politics can get and how often that's what fuels desire.

i agree, but i can't imagine mya ever being as brassy or forward as electrik red - even on "whatever bitch" she's pretty coy.

(wasn't referring to your rvw - haven't read it as i make a point of not reading other pieces on any act that i'm writing one on...)

NaomiER RT @BinkieER: d'angelo how does it feel video has got to be the most erotic video ever made . paul hunter is the man - TOT!
5 minutes ago from UberTwitter

BinkieER @NaomiER tot. if he could have just panned down a hair more . NOODLETIME
4 minutes ago from web in reply to NaomiER

wkiw these girls so much!

Yeah I meant more that I suspect we're 100% in agreement on this issue.

These girls are so great.

And, though it's been said before, 50% Canadian. ;)

i think there are times when submissiveness does rub the rong way tho, 'cater 2 u' was pretty awful although maybe it would have been easier to stomach if the music had made it ... i dunno. im not even sure what the music could do other than make it ironic. at best it could be one of those songs where you would be like "super catchy but kinda uncomfortable"

― unicorn strapped with a unabomb (deej), Tuesday, December 8, 2009 4:35 PM Bookmark

pretty much. the remix is awesome on a musical level but still kind of icky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY3yhoQlwzs

apparently binkie's pops was in kid creole & the coconuts?!

Lex provides another spot-on summation of what makes this album so great: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/dec/17/electrik-red-cd-review

Fantastic article Lex.

wah-hey! i did see that article and wonder if someone here wrote it

thx tim. the first thing i did after filing was sleep, and then the second thing i did was read your review, which i'd been holding off from! obv it was excellent.

it's surprisingly tough to review an album one has constantly been talking about for 6 months. so happy it got lead review, even happier that BINKIE CALLED ME "HONEY LOVE" ON TWITTER FOR IT <3

i'm on board

yea that made me stop and think

was exchanging tips with a music friend tonight and she was all opposed to the idea of this album, saying "i have class in my taste"

and i was like uhhh i got that drink in my cup

― Surmounter, Friday, May 22, 2009 9:27 PM (6 months ago) Bookmark

awesome

it should be noted that P is for Power, the U is for Used to, cause my P better than that P that you used to

― the man they love to hate, the J.R. Ewing of Seattle (The Reverend), Saturday, May 23, 2009 5:36 AM (7 months ago)

good post, otm

wait is it a truth bomb also?

Electrik Red 2010:

New track called "Touch Me"

http://limelinx.com/files/4d07a75939252d288ac33095d0ccc183

Apparently Tricky and Terius aren't on duty here? Not sure if there's been a split or if this is just a one-off or what...Can lightning in a bottle be captured twice?

any idea who produced this?

Nah, but the links on blogs etc. all suggest that it is not Radio Killa etc. Also scuttlebutt says that Def Jam aren't behind a second album, but this is nothing credible - just the blogs. The girls all just did a big push on twitter promoting the album and each other and The-Dream, so I have no clue what's up.

love these girls but really hope dream/tricky/los are behind the next album

Me too! They are a TEAM. I don't know why they wouldn't be. Terius has his fingers in many pies, but he wouldn't ditch the girls, would he?

Otherwise all we have to look forward to in 2010 is Ciara and Milian. :S

BinkieER Yah trick yaaah
about 4 hours ago from UberTwitter

haha shit!

maybe i'm just pessimistic because of historically how careers tend to go in R&B after selling as few records as ER did, but i wouldn't be surprised if they never get to make another album, w/ or w/o The-Dream's help

sad, but true

I'm just bumping this to remind people to vote for ER in the ilx poll: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~~~FINALLY - 2009 ILX Albums 'n' Trax Poll voting thread ahoy~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ballots due Jan 22)

i overdosed on this rec and only so good is really year end for me, but im pretty sure it was 2008 when i was diggin on it so...