Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It

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.

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"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?

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