SOLANGE KNOWLES, omg the return of

so was I...

"she and Dev Hynes had a falling out a few years back about the credits for "Losing You""

I thought they'd patched that up; he did produce one song on this album.

saying 'there's nothing as transcendent as "Cranes in the Sky" here' imo sells a seat at the table severely short, as if that was the uniquely compelling/memorable SONG from that album, which was actually full of great ones. perhaps my impression will change, especially if i get to see the companion film at some point, but for now i'm afraid this new one will end up being one i can easily respect but will struggle to actually enjoy. like, a seat at the table was not just a bunch of art installations threaded together with interludes. it had songs: actual 'Lyrics and Melodies'. it was more than just thoughtfully produced melodic meandering.

The thing about the amorphous nature of When I Get Home is that you're getting a glimpse into Solange’s swirling consciousness, one that has shed any regard and obligation towards traditional structure and therefore, exists freely and confidently. It is indeed one long song, and that's what makes it great.

but you can say that about any album

Could you say that about The Beths’ record?

I want a glimpse into a swirling consciousness in shapes and forms. I liked a quarter of ASATT as songs; the rest were amiable "atmospheres" in the Eno vain but with lyrical tags. This one after a couple plays is worse. Do I want to get to the point where I have to listen to an album a dozen times if the first eleven don't trigger a positive response? I understand the resistance to first-take culture, but with Solange there's too much benefit of the doubt going on. On the evidence she's an intermittently poignant melodist with a decent instinct for the billboard title/lyric.

If the album isn't revealing itself after a few plays, maybe the problem is the album...?

I've wrong about albums all the time! I love Decembers because I catch up on albums that I missed the first time, and I overrate stuff all the time. But I don't get listening to an album and thinking, as I've seen fans on Twitter post, "I'm going to listen to this album ALL weekend and wait until it reveals itself as a masterpiece."

I agree it's best to just go with the flow and to trust an organic process.

aren't all albums recorded in accordance with an organic process?

but you can say that about any album

― Let's have sensible centrist armageddon (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, March 3, 2019 12:13 PM (twelve minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I don't think you can. It feels like there's an intention here -- whether it was conscious or subconscious -- for the shape and songwriting of these songs flowing into each other and coming together to reflect a specific kind of expression of her identity, and that's just as valid as a set of songs where the inherent structure hits certain beats that we've all become conditioned to.

there's a lot of tastemaker baiting in these credits -- can anyone actually make out cassie's voice on "way to the show" -- but the-dream over panda bear is pretty inspired

xp I don't know enough about music recording to be certain of that. I know it is not the case with lots of films, attempts at pleasing specific taste is often baked into the process from day one.

I think it's fine to admit you are not into Solange's music! Acting like an archaeologist discovering the masterpiece beneath the sand is just showing wokeness on social media. It's either there for you or it isn't.

i think this album is really dope

Yeah same.

This is a fantastic record, and it's absolutely uncompromising, but it's not a monolith. It's not even posing a challenge -- Solange is simply asking you if you can vibe with her, and if you can't, then maybe you just can't, and where do you go after that?

Solange’s swirling consciousness, one that has shed any regard and obligation towards traditional structure and therefore, exists freely and confidently

there has never existed a single person whose consciousness could ever, at any point in time, however brief, be accurately described this way. as you actually point out in your followup post, behind virtually any potent push against the confines of imposed structure is intention -- by definition conscious. when it's not, it's what is dubiously labeled 'outsider art'. and this is not that -- as has been pointed out already to support unrelated points, the work's credits are full of phrasings and curated guest contributions that seem designed to perk up the ears of the tastemaker crowd and to position its creator in a manner favorable to that crowd: as an Artist, even an Auteur, fully capable of cobbling together the disparate contributions of true Talents in service of her own, and above all her focused (yet deliberately unfocused?) Vision.

basically, i'm just not hearing what y'all are hearing. i thought defending a work's inaccessibility as quietly virtuous was for rockists but here we all are.

i'll give you that it is certainly an invitation to an experience or feeling, but that's what literally all art is.

My Reasons For Not Getting This Solange Record Are Fundamental And Philosophical

I guess I just don't really see how this album is 'inaccessible.' Sure, most of the songs are short. (???)

'Way to the Show,' 'Dreams,' 'Binz,' and 'Sound of Rain' seem very melodic to me!

Sure, maybe there aren't as many tracks that involve a whole lot of vocal jumping jacks -- but then there's 'My Skin My Logo' which slowly builds up from a quiet rumble to that heavenly climax.

This is a fantastic record, and it's absolutely uncompromising, but it's not a monolith. It's not even posing a challenge -- Solange is simply asking you if you can vibe with her, and if you can't, then maybe you just can't, and where do you go after that?

― josh winters (josh), Sunday, March 3, 2019 3:46 PM

Lunch?

Only if you’re paying

Negronis for everyone!

This feels like a particularly bad album to try to power through one's non-interest. I quite like it, but I think I was primed for it by listening to a bunch of sub-two-minute tracks while figuring out nominations for Karl's poll. Thinking about it with that in mind, I want to compare it to Just Another Diamond Day or Donuts, which also have lots of doubters--or lol maybe it's her GBV album

i love short tracks. i love longform, coherent works with amorphous structure. but so far i don't love this longform work or its short tracks.

is the companion film going to be an apple music exclusive indefinitely? (that also reminds me i still have yet to hear frank ocean's endless in full, tho judging from what i heard of it i would probably prefer it to this)

It’s interesting to me how it’s only certain albums these days that people feel the need to give 10 listens to force themselves to enjoy. Like, no one was telling everyone to listen to the last, Decemberists album 15 times before judging.

I think it’s because there’s a careful curation of the image of A Verified Genius that has happened with Solange and a few others. This image of this on-another-plane, mystical, spiritual, artistically pure outsider with insights that no one else could possibly have. People have bought into it a little too unquestioningly. There’s this sense surrounding her that if you don’t GET IT you’re at best uncool and worst, racist.

The songs here are just...not very interesting songs.

strawman all you like, it's just that her last record was really fucking good and this one less immediately so, therefore I cut her a little slack and listen to it a while before dismissing it. The hot take is not the only take.

Like, no one was telling everyone to listen to the last, Decemberists album 15 times before judging.

why are you recommending mass ptomaine poisoning?

Creating a binary in which black R&B woman gets press vs white indie rock band isn't uh the way to even if you think Solange's album is no good.

yeah seriously omg

I don't think anyone who doesn't vibe on Solange's new record is uncool but I am starting to question this need to justify not liking an album over and over. You don't like a record it's cool if you feel forced to like any record it's between you and your conscience.

These tracks are built on cool grooves, but they feel static and repetitious in a way that def. does not jibe with my taste.

seems like repetition was a part of what she was going for

see bithfrk interview Steve riech etc

I’m sure it was, it’s just Not For Me

I tried to listen to this this morning but turned it off after a couple tracks to listen to Ghost

I couldn't even finish this tbh, it just felt so inconsequential, and her voice which I normally think is the best part of her music didn't seem to be doing anything dynamic or interesting. It's a nice enough vibe I guess but simply turning up and being Solange really isn't enough

uh oh I am starting to really enjoy this

my fav thing about seat was the piano/keys, so jazzy and plinky and not the usual neo-soul deep chords. my least fav was all the talking. haven’t listened to the new one yet but im hoping for more of the same keys and less talking

you got it

this album reminds me of the last thundercat album

thought the last thundercat album was dogshit

but pretty sure i like this

ya this is dope, i think i like it just as much if not more than a seat at the table

brad otm on both counts

i don’t hear hookless art installation at all, just sounds like a good r&b album

"sound of rain" fucking floors me every time. i segued it out of "sweet thing (reprise)" on my radio show yesterday and man o man

rappers turned out fun laconic verses for this

I miss when she made songs like “sandcastle disco”

I like this, but it seems very evanescent on the first several listens

maybe I will love it in a few years

why did she reissue sol-angel a few years ago without "sandcastle disco"?

On Sept 16th and 17th Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and visual artist Solange Knowles presented Witness!, an original performance piece featuring new musical works composed, directed and choreographed by Solange Knowles at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg in Germany accompanied by a 38 piece orchestra and dance ensemble. With support from Dropbox, the performances were presented by the artist within the architectural marvel that is Elbphilharmonie's world-class concert hall, one of the most acoustically advanced in the world.

“Performing at the Elbphilharmonie was a very gracious and special moment I’ll hold close forever. To hear and see these compositions and choreography come to life on that scale, and with such a divine ensemble will be such a lasting memory to carry on.” - Solange

The performance piece debuted 6 new musical works composed by the artist featuring an ensemble of Tubas, Trumpets, Cellist, Violinist, and Percussionist as well as highly featuring new compositions of songs from her ode to Houston, the When I Get Home (2019) album.