Meshell Ndegeocello: RFI

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.

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.”

That's nice for your brother! She's so cool!

yeah, they live in the same town and hang out. she has played live with his crazy band too.

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.

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.

fuck im out of town when shes in chi -- and shes playing literal blocks from my apt

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.

Ooh, I can't wait until Tuesday to get to hear it!

"Lola" is so awesome, just keeps kicking into higher gears.

The album is very dynamic in general.

And brief! Only 36 minutes. And sexy, but never quite in the ways you expect.

its a weird record but good weird...so much stuff goin on and then seems like a wind is blowing too through it..its mostly trio and sum added geegaws..it was made fast and sweaty...shes gonna be a mother soon and portents are good for even more experimentations to ockurr

Wait. She does change the lyrics of "Love You Down"! She's lusting after a younger woman.

I love this album very much by the way.

does RFI at a fleeting glance look like RIP to anyone? was worried :(

Bitter and Devil's Halo are similar albums but the latter is better because Meshell is more confident in letting the music do the talking and doesn't let herself get tripped up on the confessional lyrics as much.

I'm starting to think she's one of the more criminally underrated artists of our time tbh.

"I'm starting to think she's one of the more criminally underrated artists of our time tbh."

^^^OTFM!

me'shell was incredible last night at the jazz cafe, urge anyone in london who likes that sort of thing to make an effort to see her tonight or tomorrow. she got a bit pissed off at the sound guy (under her breath) "fuck you jason" when he wouldn't sort out some booming they were getting on stage. she also had a cold and seemed a bit uncomfortable with some of her fangirls taking pictures every 10 seconds, but whatever, she was funny and witty and cool and she's just awess on the bass and i didn't realise how much i love some of her songs. if you get the chance to catch her live.. make sure you do!

oh and esp if you're a drum geek...

cuz deantoni parks was mind blowing, as you'd expect- if you like chris daddy dave, john blackwell, spanky etc then i think you'll like him. his schtick is being super tight and very strict with his dynamics, he can play *really* hard and straight and fast so it has this drum machine kind of vibe. did some amazing stuff during the NOIZEier bits of the songs too.

I'm seeing her this Saturday and am considering furiously downloading a bunch of her albums and listening to them as much as I can before then.

But apparently she has 8 albums and they're all supposed to be excellent

Bitter might be my favorite

Devil's Halo kind of made Bitter obsolete as far as dry, dour singer-songwritery Meshell albums go imo

Oh, I covered that last time. Carry on.

hung out w th meshellyfamily last nyte before th trip to Oz..shes gonna play chelseahotel#2,a stevie wonder tune,pop life and jam w john cale...rokk on nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn http://www.melbournefestival.com.au/program/production?id=3752

seeing tonite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bqhqk9zbkI

this iz dope

yeah, great joint

me and my kinda bf/fling bonded over mutual meshell love

^^^ sounds kinda hot tbh.

ha :D

Tim F -- i just hung out w/ her tonite -- shes flying to melbourne tomorrow & doing a show with sinead o'connor soon -- if u dont go i dont think we can be cool any more

ummmm also her show tonite was uhh incredible?? the covers were fantastic -- im not gonna say any more itll ruin it.

also her drummer!! ftw

envy envy

Yeah, lucky you! I hope someday she'll have a gig in Helsinki.

It took me some time to get used to the sound on Devil's Halo, because it was so bare-bones and, er, "rock" compared to the previous three albums, but now I've began to like the sparseness and bare emotionality on it. I still think The Wold Has Made... is her biggest masterpiece, but Devil's Halo is not the sort of disappointing follow-up I first thought it was.

[Tim F -- i just hung out w/ her tonite -- shes flying to melbourne tomorrow & doing a show with sinead o'connor soon -- if u dont go i dont think we can be cool any more

Um this show is with Rickie Lee Jones as well, I would totally be there except we're talking insane baby boomer prices. Maybe I'll get a loan.

ok well her covers of 'home is where the hatred is' & 'love you down' are A++++

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcSDUjDS0Fs

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

ummmm.... Devil's Halo is brilliant!

Based on the reviews and Tuomas' comments above I was expecting something much more stripped down than The World Has Made Me The Man of My Dreams, and I guess relatively speaking it is, but not nearly as much as I expected. It's more like, this lovely balancing between lush intercelestial stuff and confessional emoting.

ummmm.... Devil's Halo is brilliant!

― Tim F, Thursday, April 21, 2011 8:49 PM Bookmark

I DONE BEEN SAYING THIS GOD DAMN

^^

Look, I can't be up on all things at all times.

Anyways neither of you have perfect records on timely acknowledgment of the brilliance of Me'Shell albums. She seems an artist particularly suited to tardy genuflection.

Naw, sorry I was up on this one with the quickness.

this one.

Anyway let's talk about how good she is rather than try to register priority charges.

I didn't know who she was until a few years ago.

Ugh, sorry about the pissing contest.

I didn't know who she was until a few years ago.

This is what i mean (in a good sense) - Me'Shell seems to get this "wow have I not been aware of this artist" reaction more than just about anyone. She's one of the few artists who actually strikes me as potentially meriting the phrase "iconoclastic" / "ahead of her time" etc. etc.

I loved Plantation Lullabies and Peace Beyond Passion when I was 14, forgot about her for like a decade or more, then got back on board with The World Has Made Me..., and am still scratching my head as to why (a) stopped paying attention in the first place, and (b) didn't check out Devil's Halo 'til now.

Mostly I was vaguely feeling demotivated to check out a rock album from Me'Shell, but of course it's really really really not a rock album.

"wow have I not been aware of this artist"

"how have I..." etc, but the above also works.

her band is amazing. see live if at all possible

New album is totally brilliant.

One aspect that is notable to me: the use of ethereal, floating keyboard lines, which has been like this recurring recessive gene within Meshell’s output, really comes to the fore here, and frequently gives the music this sense of threatening to float off into the stratosphere.

Early days, but if I remain as enthusiastic about this as I am after two listens, it could be my favourite quasi-jazz album since Ancestral Recall.

The Omnichord Real Book also awes (still need to check xxxxpost bonus track),

For sure. It's great to have so much amazing material from her in such a short period of time after such a long gap.

I feel like I should clarify what I meant by the last line of my post, and "quasi-jazz" in particular: this album feels less obviously jazz-grounded than Omnichord and more explicitly "post-genre" - but in away that feels incredibly natural and organic rather than self-conscious and premeditated. If I squint, I guess the clearest prior precedent for this album from Meshell's prior work is The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams, but the flow of this feels more seamless, which perhaps reflects its origins as a theatre piece.

...this album feels less obviously jazz-grounded than Omnichord and more explicitly "post-genre" - but in away that feels incredibly natural and organic rather than self-conscious and premeditated.

I've kinda gotten this impression in going from The Hope Six Demolition Project toI Inside the Old Year Dying.

From the NY Times article/interview I linked to above--

Ndegeocello’s vocals aren’t always the most prominent in this configuration. That role goes to Justin Hicks, who can soar as high as Ndegeocello can luxuriate in her lower comfort zone. Kenita Miller-Hicks, his wife, fleshes out the harmonies. “My energy has changed,” Ndegeocello said, “and being up front doesn’t really appeal to me as much. I have here a lot of music in my head, things I can’t sing.” Hicks realizes her visions; now, she’s producing an album of his music.

Justin Hicks both opened for her, and sang with her band when I last saw Ndgeocello

his voice is gorgeous. this is a great album

This Friday, GRAMMY-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello will unveil her groundbreaking and visionary album No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn

FYI due to thunderstorms that show was cancelled at the last minute, but BRIC managed to reschedule for this Wednesday and it's still FREE:

Rain, rain, go away, “No More Water” is here to stay ☔️

Following our unfortunate show cancellation, we knew we had to bring back the incredible Meshell Ndegeocello! Experience her soul-stirring latest album, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin—a powerful tribute marking Baldwin’s 100th birthday—live 🕊️ A musical chameleon, often blurring the boundaries of genre between jazz, soul, rock, hip-hop, and more, we’re thrilled to finally bring her masterful performance to the Bandshell stage.
Hope to see you there Wed, August 14! Doors open at 7PM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBuOd2MzdT4

She did a Tiny Desk in June 2024. I am listening to “No More Water: the Gospel of James Baldwin,” a bunch lately and it is so powerful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBuOd2MzdT4

I saw her give a masterclass to some college jazz students last weekend, it was a delight.

Cool. She's gonna be back in the DC area October 5 doing the No More Water James Baldwin album/program