Search - Janelle Monae :: The ArchAndroid

A Masterpiece

Michael Snyder | 05/20/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ok, I'll come out and say it: Anyone giving this album a mediocre or poor review probably doesn't know what the heck he or she is talking about.



I rarely say something like that, but at the same time, there is almost never such an eclectic, sophisticated, surprising, genre-bending album ever to be marketed and released as a "mainstream" album. This is the kind of incredibly brilliant music that almost never finds its way into the mainstream. This woman is light years ahead of any "mainstream" pop/r&b/soul artist working today. So I have to say it like I did to open this review -- a whole lot of listeners that have never listened to much beyond the top 40 of their particular musical style are probably going to listen to this once or twice and then let it gather dust. It's THAT challenging to listeners who simply don't go for anything beyond radio-friendly music.



And no matter the genre, this album's taken a piece of it, turned it on its head, inside out and then spit out something magical, wonderful and brand new.



What's the iPad's tagline? Magical and Revolutionary? Well I've got news for Steve Jobs. THIS album is magical and revolutionary.



This phenomenon of a singer and songwriter sounds like Prince, Michael Jackson, Shirley Bassey and Stevie Wonder all rolled into one, but was clearly -- obviously -- undoubtedly -- raised on a completely different Planet Of Wonderful. Clearly she's not from Earth.



This woman has style and substance -- a voice that in my opinion runs circles around the supposed divas of the past two decades (Mariah, Whitney, Celine, Mary J, etc.). Her voice is like a never-before-seen color of the rainbow.



Janelle Monae oozes STYLE, and CLASS. The songwriting, heck I'll call it songBENDING, is -- creatively -- head and shoulders above just about everything that's been released in the past decade. THIS is how I expected music of the new millennium would sound. It's finally arrived.



On top of all that, she incorporates Debussy's Clair de Lune as a coda to Say You'll Go. It's not the first time I've heard an artist do something like that, but I don't think I've heard it done so well, so organically, so seamlessly, so beautifully.



Whew. Okay, I'm gushing. It's just that I rarely listen to anything so gush-worthy.



Buy it, buy it, buy it."

She's waking them up

lamae | 05/26/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This release is hot, pure and simple. It puts me in the mind of hearing Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" album the first time when I was a freshman in college. The songs truly felt like a suite and flowed smack into each other (Erykah Badu's "Mama's Gun" and Jill Scott's live album are the few in recent memory that hit me like this). The arrangements in Archandroid are like an audible collision between Stevie Wonder, James Bond, a tinge of Earth Wind and Fire and Quincy Jones circa Michael Jackson "Off the Wall," approaching Curtis Mayfield, and some Bjork (yes, you are America's answer to the majestic Bjork, Swing Out Sister and Janet Jackson). Add in a little otherworldly that puts you in the mood of a movie soundtrack and we're about there.Yes, I danced in the mirror of my apartment to "Tightrope," - they try to take your dreams/but you can't a allow it...whether you're high or low/you got to tip on the tightrope...this ain't no acrobatics/you either follow or you lead...you gotta keep your balance or you fall into the gap - her first release and hardly got the James Brown footwork Janelle and her crew does so wonderfully in her video. My cat was entertained at my even trying.



What you want to really listen to is Suite II Overture, cut 1, and cut 4, Locked Inside (which has the drumming transition you hear at the beginning of MJ's "Rock with You". There are few things being dropped these days that surprise. Archandroid is among them. After the Overture, dig into "Dance or Die," which again puts me in the mind of the Jackson family, namely Janet, as this song sounds eerily similar to "I Bet You Think This Song is About You." Janelle's power is in her daring to take risks. When I told my husband that Sean "Piddy" Combs was an executive producer on this CD, I heard, "I'm glad to see that he's trying something adventurous". That was the hubby being nice. Now I'm not mad at Combs, but I believe he did something grand in letting Janelle do her thing as she lets us know up front in her acknowledgements: "To my Bad Boy/Atlantic Family...Thank you Sean Combs. Thank you for helping us soar & letting me be the boss; It is because of your strong belief in our ideas as The Wondaland Arts Society we are able to fly higher.")



One confession: my interest in this release goes beyond the music. Janelle's concentration on aliens and sci-fi and most especially, the 1927 Frantz Lang film "Metropolis" (as seen in her debut CD two years ago) was enough to make me take note. I also like this film. And not that African Americans can't get down with all things German and fictitiously science, but it was cool seeing someone else seeing the splendor and magic in this Lang film. Beyond that, there are some moments on this CD that didn't entirely impress me and that would be the sing-song beginning to "Oh Maker". I could almost see Janelle dropping her pompadour and tuxedo or sci-fi fetish for a straw hat, a banjo and some overalls to sing this song that spins out into the funky, true. And not too soon for me, but that's allowed. Janelle, this is your work. I love it. And I hope others do, too. And that's because Janelle, you're all over the place and yet in one very steady place, which is you.



Commencing the final note: anyone reading this with the album in hand/ear, go straight to Suite III Overture, cut 12** (all of 1:41 seconds in length) and Neon Valley Street, cut 13 (3:58 if you're keeping count). Whatever you praying to, Neon Valley Street is the soundtrack. I couldn't tell if this was a gospel tune or if she was for a minute truly being Top 40 romantic (let's pretend I'm holding your hand) or whether this was an ode to the listener (...May the song reach your heart/May the song journey on...running fast in time like Tubman...it's just a pity the song is a danger zone...don't get caught).



I told my husband that according to the notes on this album, Janelle is from the year 2719. She's from another time, I said. The hub replied, "Yeah, like Sun Ra." I said, "Yes, but she's more accessible." (Google NPR interview).



And now for the Archandroid Awards:



1) Most Appreciated Arrangements:



About 1:59 into cut 15, "Wondaland" (another nod to love)



2) Lyrics, Most Surprising:

Early in the morning he searched for her/until his feet grew bloody and tired



3) Should Get Regular Airplay for the Masses Award:



"Say You'll Go," cut 17 (one lyric: Write our name on each other's heart/Love is not a fantasy.) These lyrics and the doo-doo-do, which again, put me in the mind of Stevie and war-time radio. This tune is also for anyone thinking of the DOW, Greece, the BP spill in the Gulf, December 21, 2012, and all things scary and redundant (The world could end outside our window, she sings). The choral arrangement and piano and strings at the end are not to be forgotten.





The truly final note: Cut 18, "Babopbyeya" is it. Eight minutes and forty six seconds long. The title is an inspired scat a la Ella. The lyrics are amazing. (Where are you, my darling?/ Babopyeyah /can you hear me calling/give us the eyes to guide us the most when have no light to see through our darkest days and troubled ways...Meet me at the door by the garden...I hear echoes of your laughter in the corners of my mind...I must go.) And Miss Janelle, is that Spanish or Portuguese you poured up in here? Girl, you are damaging for the ordinary. You are waking them up.

"