Frustrating Earlier Works
bordersj2 | Boston | 10/03/2004
(3 out of 5 stars)
"S-Tone Inc. is Stefano Tirone, who is now releasing and working on the Schema labels. He has always shared an affiliation with this label but through a sort of sub-label in the Ishtar brand - this one, "Free Spirit" and "Space Odyssey" being released on Milano 2000. These works are very much different than what you may have heard on "Sobrenatural"
And there is one thing about these works that drove me crazy. I got into S-Tone Inc's tunes mainly because of the soulful, smooth grooving track "Ainda Sonhar". The way that the track starts, a silent deep-sea night bossa beat will have you hooked after 4 seconds before the track wans in and out before Manuela Ravaglioli chimes in with some classy vocals. To its credit, that track was on the cd! However the rest of the CD shares ver LITTLE similarity to that Brazilian influenced track. But that's not to say that it's a bad album. "The Sweetest Thing" has some great sax playing, effects and R&B like piano going. And I still like the track "Time". But in general, this CD is kind of dated and seems contemporary; like something you may hear on one of those radio station's that'll feature Anita Baker, etc. Heck, "Solaris" is like a spitting image (but with sax) as Madonna's "Vogue"! The tracks aren't all bad and Angie Brown has a nice voice but despite it's 1996 original release date, this will remind you more like a early nineties mature R&B album. What's most impressive was how well "Ainda Sonhar" withstood the test of time.
Is that one track worth paying the bucks for this import? I'd say give it a pass and pick up the deep bossa cut on a compilation like Boss-A-Troniq or Brazilectro 2. Seriously - none of the other tracks on the CD are like it and IMO "Ainda Sonhar" is the best one BY FAR on the album yet the only track with Manuela on vocals. "Free Spirit", released in 1999, was better IMO and featured another smash deep-bossa track titled "Arejar", again with Manuela Ravaglioli on vocals and more consistency in general since it featured her on more than one track. But it was still a bit off, but "Sobrenatural", out in 2002, was far superior, albeit with some India influences. Sobrenatural was released on Schema in 2002 and had a big bossa infuence ala Soulstance's 2003 release or Gerardo Frisina's works. If you check the Milano 2000 works, they may all be consistent with the style and sound of this cd. I'm just glad that S-Tone Inc. went in the direction of "inda Sonhar" and is working on various projets of a similar nature, including the artist "Toco" and helping with his label-mates albums."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1