Kelis in 2013

ninja tune! that's weird

oh nevermind i see TVOTR dude produced

Yeah, but if it's along the same lines as Jerk Ribs, it's still a weird marriage.

There's a sense of really unfun worthiness around this whole project that makes Ninja Tune pretty much the perfect label for it.

glad lex revived this thread as I listened to "Jerk Ribs" again two nights ago and was convinced it belonged on my year-end list.

great song

it's an amazing song, i reminded myself of it last week for EOY purposes. no idea what matt hears as worthy in it.

"been given a morning" is low-key brilliant as well

I love "jerk ribs" but the final sentence of that press release might as well say "recently Kelis has been singing to herself in the shower."

http://ninjatune.net/release/dj-food/kaleidoscope

rly makes u think huh

Most of all I wish Kelis had done her "let's go underground" move 7 or so years ago with an album of tunes like "80s Joint".

track listing:
1 Jerk Ribs
2 Breakfast
3 Forever Be
4 Floyd
5 Runner
6 Hooch
7 Cobbler
8 Bless The Telephone
9 Fish Fry
10 Change
11 Rumble
12 Biscuits n Gravy
13 Dreamer

i hope rumble features hungry stomach rumbles

She's playing in Brighton in a couple of months and I'm in two minds about going to see her. Someone tell me what to do?

i've somehow never seen her live and i would certainly do it

She's a blast live in a shameless wedding-DJ kind of way.

Just checking out Jerk Ribs for the first time. Wow!

it's apparently on itunes now - i'd wondered why it had been scrubbed from the internet at the end of last year

tempted by the brighton gig myself
sits nicely between two weddings for me

https://soundcloud.com/iamkelis/rumble/s-HQ0ni

http://pitchfork.com/news/54013-kelis-will-host-a-show-on-the-cooking-channel/

damn good album on one listen

this album is bizarre

good weekend morning album

there's something about the production that feels super urban (in the dictionary definition sense of the word, not the colloquial) to me, and i really like that about it

Not sure what to make of this yet, it really is quite a strange album. I think I like it but definitely need to spend a lot more time with it. Floyd was the standout after one play, beautiful chorus.

Not sure she's going to have big hits from it. Think Jerk Ribs would be her best bet but she already gave that away for free last year.

"She needs ice cold water"

huh, they've switched "breakfast" and "jerk ribs" in the running order from the press copy - minor alteration but i liked the way the album opening with her kid's voice talking about food made it feel like a segue from tasty ending with kelis's voice saying "ok: now, swallow"

I don't get strange or bizarre from this. I think it's brilliant.

yeah i don't hear what's strange about it at all, it's comforting (but also kind of enlivening) at the same time, like some sort of platonic ideal of homecoming

and the more i listen the more fantastic i think it is

excited to hear it!

I can't keep up with 2014, people please slow down!

If you can, catching her live this year would be ADVISABLE for real

It's a strange album in the sense that it's an about face for her. Prior to this her most recent output is an LP with David Guetta spearheading production, along with a feature on a Calvin Harris single. And yes, I know we've had since May last year to get used to the idea of an album with Sitek, but a quaint interlude like "Bless The Telephone", which is almost a Laura Marling song if you squint hard enough(though Marling would likely never deign to reference something so modern as a telephone; in her world missives appear to be the only natural form of communication), is kinda wtf for Kelis. If Flesh Tone was a change up from her Neptunes days, this is a full blown metamorphosis.

this sounds pretty good. is there a link to her cooking show that's viewable in the UK?

i feel like this album really follows on from tasty - not just all the food/drink connections, but it's like a ~proper soul~ continuation of the reflective, city heatwave aesthetic of that album's final stretch. it's not any more of a shock than flesh tone itself was (which is to say, it is a metamorphosis, but by now that's kinda expected of her)

i was discussing this with DL after the gig last night, it's weird how kelis never actually codes as a pop shape-shifter like madonna or whoever because she never shifts - her persona/character remains constant - what she does is completely and totally inhabit whatever style she's committed to at any given point. (this was reinforced last night when she recasted "4th of july" and "acapella" in the style of the new album omgggggg so good)

also would like to point out that despite being universally dismissed as a mere neptunes muse on her emergence, kelis's creative powers have far outlasted theirs

also yeah we've had half a year of "jerk ribs" knocking around - THAT was the "wow, didn't expect this sound" moment, surely no one's surprised by the album after that!

Well, "Jerk Ribs" wasn't necessarily going to be synecdoche for the whole record. (And I don't think it is, tbh, though I have only heard it once).

It's a surprising move for Kelis - and I don't mean a bad move, just to clarify - because none of this will be on radio, it's far more languid, measured, and removed from the dancefloor than anything I can recall from her in the past. In any event it's certainly the most interesting thing I've heard from Ninja Tune since, like, forever.

Last night Bless the Telephone sounded like very early 70s, like Clifford T Ward or someone like that. You wouldn't want a whole record in that vein but it was a beautiful interlude.

Horn arrangements sounded spectacular - shades of Isaac Hayes, Charles Stepney and other prog-soul masters, even Fela on Jerk Ribs, plus a colossal version of Nina Simone's Feeling Good. Hard to do 70s soul horns without slipping into Later with Jools Holland "feel the quality" smugness but her arranger managed it.

It's no doubt wishful thinking but I'd like to see this get even a fraction of the adoration of Back to Black because I think it's the first album since that one to pull off the retro-not-retro vibe. Seeing her perform it in its entirety underlines that there are no weak links here. Every song adds something valuable to the whole.

Just realised this is her first album without an intro. That was fast becoming my most played Kelis track on LastFM.

also would like to point out that despite being universally dismissed as a mere neptunes muse on her emergence, kelis's creative powers have far outlasted theirs

The word "universally" is doing an awful lot of work here. When 'Caught Out There' first came out all the talk was about this awesome screaming lady, at a time where people barely knew who the Neps were.

when the album came out every review i read was like "oh no, it was written by men". this was an era when the idea of Writing Your Oen Songs still had a ton of currency

I don't remember that much handwringing about it but most of the reviews I read were overwhelmingly positive. The point being she was never seen as exclusively a Neptunes muse, and I accept that eg Aaliyah got a load of condescending reductive press along similar lines. Kelis was always too in-your-face.

In the UK press Kelis was definitely a bigger deal than the Neptunes circa Kaleidoscope. I don't remember any of the reviews Lex refers to.

i don't hate this but the production sounds too much like tv on the radio from 10 yrs ago, can't really get past that

(this was reinforced last night when she recasted "4th of july" and "acapella" in the style of the new album omgggggg so good)

see this sounds horrible but maybe ill seek out a youtube of it

http://youtu.be/FirBvR1HmKI So "Bless The Telephone" is actually a cover! Ha.

which is almost a Laura Marling song if you squint hard enough(though Marling would likely never deign to reference something so modern as a telephone; in her world missives appear to be the only natural form of communication)

i don't know where you're getting this from but just so you know, it is bullshit

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/lauramarling/masterhunter.html

It was kind of meant to be in jest - I had goodbye england in mind when I wrote it. But, yeah, caught out!

This is so damn great, "Fish Fry," "Runner" and "Cobbler" in particular.

putting this on now, will be annoyed if 'floyd' isnt about keith

is it called Friday Fish Fry or just Fish Fry? i'm seeing both

anyway this seems also to be spawning lots of remixes. the mt kimbie one of "jerk ribs" is a disgrace but breach on "rumble" is a banger

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

idk, i listened to this today and it's not diminished at all in my estimation, even though i think i'm pretty predisposed toward finding it dull! possibly unreasonably enchanted by horn sections. but i think her vocal melodies are incredible throughout too. the chorus on "runnin'" pulls the whole song up with it

I keep on going back to the Labi Siffre cover.

"runner", "biscuits n gravy", "change", "floyd", "hooch" are my standouts apart from "jerk ribs" (obviously). i rep hard for this album eff everyone who thinks it's boring

I love this. Friday Fish Fry still my fav track

10 tracks in and the only one I could do without so far is "Bless the Telephone."

Kelis one of the best singles artists of our generation imo

Saw her last night and it really cemented the fact that Food is really her strongest set of songs ever. I'm just not feeling the Sitek production on the LP. LOVE him on the TVOTR and the ScarJo but I think his reserved, cool, claustrophobic sound really sucks all the funk and life from these songs. I would have rather had, like, a Daptone style production or even Adrian Younge.

But reading this thread it's like, what the fuck do i know

i'm not that familiar with sitek but i don't hear anything untoward or unusual about the production, the arrangements are incredible though.

she has picked her singles very judiciously over her career for sure, unlike many. pox kelis deep cuts tho:

mafia
suspended
daddy
flash back
stick up
marathon
fuck them bitches
brave
runner
biscuits 'n' gravy

oh wait "brave" was apparently a single, replace with "little suzie"

1.5 songs in and I feel like I'm listening to a lost Des'ree album

Whenever I have a parade that needs raining on I know that ILX won't disappoint.

Unlike everyone else on ILX, I never hated Des'ree

"Cobbler" -> "Bless the Telephone" -> "Friday Fish Fry" is a great sequence of songs

Ha, sorry. To both you and Des'ree.

Why is Floyd so perfect. Such an amazing album.

on spotify now

So this is really great.

is this album getting some love by blogging circles/music critics? i have been addicted to this record for 3 days.
Walking down the streets to Friday Fish Fry is one of the best feelings I had this summer.

She played New York about a month ago - did anyone go? I thought about it but then didn't.

I was just about to revive this thread. After giving the album a listen when it leaked and not really getting into it I've just gone back to it and found myself getting addicted to certain songs on here. Played it five times in the last day.

The songs on this album are approximately 10000000000000x more enjoyable when heard live. Saw her show last night and she was a complete delight - I came out grinning from ear to ear.

I mean first of all this album still rules

second of all did you know Mount Kimbie did a remix of "Jerk Ribs"??? Holy shit!!! There's some echo on the vocal that really evokes some 80's pop R&B vibes imo!! V fresh and great!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUAY9X8CWjY

I'm surprised "Forever Be" wasn't released as a single

also "Floyd" still sounds like Spiritualized to my ears.

this album is still so underrated

^ Agreed. "Floyd" is such a beautiful jam.

it always sounds beautiful in the summer gloaming

kelis in 2021!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EJLxF0mElM

I haven't felt compelled to return to the rest of it, and my overall impression is that it's pretty dull.

Also wow I was SO wrong about Food back when it was first released. It's probably my favourite Kelis album now, or at the very least my most-played.