Post No Bills 01/09/04

OK...back to posting...I suppose...for now.

I don't understand why Andre3000's "My Favorite Things" is so reviled by the critics who seem to love the album. I have a feeling that this album reached a critical mass (pun intended) and now people are jumping on the bandwagon and don't even know why. Undoubtedly Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is a great (set of) album(s). As many know by now, Speakerboxxx, Big Boi's effort, is fairly traditional for Outkast (if such a statement exists). The album is straight up (for the most part) hip-hop-funk in the Outkast/Southern Rap style. As such, it is well-executed but boring. Of course, many are offended that I would call such a work 'boring,' but compared to Andre3000's effort almost all prior hip-hop is now boring and irrelevant.

The Love Below has set a new standard for rap and hip-hop. Like Beck before him, Andre has transcended the idea of mixing genres to achieve an entirely new genre unto himself. "Happy Valentine's Day" could have been written by Parliament (if George Clinton hadn't been smoking crack) and "Pink & Blue" does a good imitation of Sly and the Family Stone. But where do you stick a song like "Hey Ya!"? It's quite possibly the most perfect, brilliant pop song written since REM released "Stand" back in 1988. Some of the songs on "The Love Below" are on the money and only held back by Andre's absurdity; for example "Dracula's Wedding." DW is a great song, the tune is memorable and the melodies are catchy, the lyrics are absurd and just get in the way. Often, Andre's absurdity works in his favor (for example, Happy Valentines Day) but on this particular song, it keeps a good song from being great.

And where does a song like "My Favorite Things" sit? It's a bit of an enigma, that song. Created as a show tune, it sat for many years relegated to status as a childhood favorite to keep the kids quiet. Many people (most notably reviewers who tend not to like Andre's re-imagining of it) I'm guessing have never heard John Coltrane's version. Even knowing that John Coltrane re-worked the song, instantly makes Andre's version a little more understandable. The song, as performed by Andre, is a jazz masterpiece. DJ Shadow and all of the nu-electro-jazz leaders could take notes from Andre here. Floating in and out of the song structure is what made the Coltrane-Davis-Monk-era jazz so refreshing and vital. Of course, listeners now want their hands held. They don't want to have to strain too hard to get the melody and they want their solos concise, to the point and in time with the rest of the song. Jazz doesn't work that way. The song goes where it goes, it's up to the players to take it there. And here, Andre takes modern instrumentation and takes where no one expected. In my eyes that's a good thing.