Cdthèque recommandée

Nellyville- Nelly

Hip hop.

Don’t look for a social message in here. Just enjoy yourself 'cause you won’t get that many chances in later male hip-hop to get such a mix of catchy sounds rapped over but on which you can actually dance. I didn’t listen to much hip hop at the time so that was one album that always struck me as perfect. Perhaps not the most original or thought-through hip hop work of the early 2000s, that’s precisely where Nellyville finds its power: it achieves lots effortlessly and just sucks you right into the mix. Aside from the obvious “Dilemma”, “Hot in herre”, other pearls include “Dem boyz,” “Oh Nelly,” “Pimp juice,” “Air force ones,” “Splurge,” “On the grind,” “Roc the mix,” and “CG2.” Of the rest, not one faulty piece. No mistake, it’s first and foremost a commercial product, but what a success at that!  Pearl

Now And Forever: The Hits- TLC

Ah, the height of our very own girl-groups era! Early r'n'b with the sound quality of hip hop and singers who can sing, and rap!

That's a classic of my childhood, and for anyone living theirs now, I pity you: growing up not knowing TLC, what is wrong with the world...! Forget all the girl bands that came after, Destiny and so on, TLC was the cream of the cream, if only for "No scrubs", "Baby-baby-baby", "Waterfalls" and "Diggin' on you". That was girl power right there, back when the term didn't sound so ridiculous and all women's video clips featured a bright futurist cubic room as their background. I mean, how badly can you fare with titles like "Silly ho", "Come and get some", "Damaged", "Red light special", "Girl talk" and its notable "you got to lick it before you stick it"? Go-od message, by the way! Pearl

...Off The Bone- The Cramps

Garage punk. Pearl

Not knowing much about The Cramps, I can however say that this compilation showcases pretty well the best you can expect from raw rock. "I can't hardly stand it", "She said", "Human fly", "The way I walk", "Surfin' bird", "Love me" "Goo goo muck" and "Garbage man" remind you of why you like the genre so much: the possibilities of play are infinite... For that's what this is about: playing. It's a performance, a musical act, born out of pure love for creating music for its own sake. Lux Interior's performance consists of a crazy-silly range of trembling vocals, whispers, groans and heavy breaths. Every time I hear The Cramps, I'm reminded of that "Do the hippogriff" scene in Harry Potter; I mean, the singers have the exact same vocal style (granted, save from the chorus that is definitely commercial rock):

On How Life Is- Macy Gray

Weird mix between neo soul, r'n'b influences, and pop rock.

Not the best showcase of her talents when compared
to the single track "I try" but she's certainly developed
her own style, offering a nostalgic ambiance work. "Caligula"
"Do Something", "Still", and "I've committed murder" are the next most interesting tracks.

Osmium...Plus- Parliament

Funk.

What can come out of the performance of extremely skilled musicians who create a whole thing out of faulty singing? Oh, a rich, luscious, pure pearl of an album! A pillar in black music and one of the greats of musical history. “I call my baby pussycat” will take you on a road from which you won’t get out quite as sane as you were when you came in. You will love things you don’t approve of like the catchy intro discussion to “My automobile” followed by its awful message which would never pass today, yet to which you can’t help but sing along. And you will love the too funny “Little ole country boy,” the disjointed singing on the ballads “Oh Lord,” and “Silent boatman,” the heady sound of “Moonshine Heather,” the hard-rockish “Red hot mama” (on the reissue) and “Funky woman,” the gallop of “Nothing before me but thang,” the rock gospel of “Come in out of the rain” (reissue), the psychedelic influences of the aptly name “Fantasy is reality” (reissue)... And you’ve gotta love lyrics like “I’m free because I’m free of the need to be free” or “my mind is mine and mine my mind will always stay.”
Crazy Clinton, vibrant guitar envolées, screeching bagpipes, yodeling, yelling, high-pitched vocals, lively hollering, everything, and I mean everything, from the playing to the singing, is over-the-top, 200% pure energy. That’s pure music. Makes you remember how talented we are and can be… Pearl

Papa Was A Rollin' Stone- The Temptations

Psychedelic soul.

A compilation which introduces nicely this classic of soul. It ranges from bubbly effortless tunes like "Beauty is only skin deep" and "The way you do the things you do" to the pearls of musical history "Papa was a rollin' stone" and "My girl". "Ain't to proud to beg", "Get ready" and "I can't get next to you" will make you line dance the cha cha of the band, while the psychedelic "Cloud nine" and "Superstar" will get you to rock along the "A-who, who, awho, who..." and "higher higher higher!"
There's only one song I've always disliked ("Just my imagination") ; the 16 others are pure jewels of soul with just that amount of rock to call out your attention to the message of the text, a break from the traditional soothing effect of soul music.The Temptations have a few things to say and they make sure the backing music help them carrying their message across, while still remaining noticeable for its own quality. Best lines: "A pretty face you may not possess but
What I like about it is your tenderness" or, especially when you imagine Whoopi's raised non-eyebrows: "And it seems nobody's interested in learning but the...(teacher.)" Pearl