hazim and the new asymptotesARTIST: Solange Knowles
ALBUM: Sol-Angel And The Hadley St. Dreams
GRADE: OOOO
hey. hazim here...again. Well, I wonder who actually listens to albums anymore. But whatever to that. I do. And Beyonce's less famous sister has just put out an album worth noting, worth giving a spin. And more than once.
WHAT'S GOOD: Solange Knowles didn't hit gold with her debut because it was safe and lacked any sort of personality. It merely hung on the fact that she was Beyonce's sister. And because of that lack of ambition, it was limp. Here though, the younger Miss Knowles gets itchy. Sure, it's still typical Motown in another dress, but it's never been presented in such a fun, flirty, uninhibited way such as it is with Sol-Angel & The Hadley Street Dreams. Here, she gets gooey-eyed and quirky such as on "Sandcastle Disco", where honesty and realness wins over her fragile sandcastle of a voice. The samples are used sparingly, totally unlike an album Kanye West would put out (littered with them). Where Beyonce's B'Day was brash and in-your-face, this album is arrestingly sweet and likeable. The electronic bits are strewn in perfectly in the seemingly disorganized mess that Solange and her crew coo and stutter over. And as startling as the act of her using Boards Of Canada's "Slow This Bird Down" as a sample, it's just another step she takes, while her mind wanders as far as it can away from her surname.
WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD: Solange's voice is wafer thin. Like litmus paper and sometimes the beats just weigh her down. And sometimes, this newly found ambition of hers is larger than life. Too large, in fact, in songs like the embarrassing "Cosmic Journey" in which she tries too hard to distance herself from her big Sis. When she gets all doe and sad, it's boring, like a plaid coat.
SOOOOO...: This is fantastic stuff. or rather, a fantastic start in her quest to be different. Only time will tell whether she can improve on this stroke of a quirk genius of an album. Where would she go after Motown? But the fact that this album leaves you pondering on that, means that Solange has put out a fantastic album. And Beyonce should be nervous.
THERE'S THIS SONG I LIKE: "Sandcastle Disco" "I Decided" "This Bird"
ARTIST WEBSITE: Solange Knowles
ALBUM: Sol-Angel And The Hadley St. Dreams
GRADE: OOOO
hey. hazim here...again. Well, I wonder who actually listens to albums anymore. But whatever to that. I do. And Beyonce's less famous sister has just put out an album worth noting, worth giving a spin. And more than once.
WHAT'S GOOD: Solange Knowles didn't hit gold with her debut because it was safe and lacked any sort of personality. It merely hung on the fact that she was Beyonce's sister. And because of that lack of ambition, it was limp. Here though, the younger Miss Knowles gets itchy. Sure, it's still typical Motown in another dress, but it's never been presented in such a fun, flirty, uninhibited way such as it is with Sol-Angel & The Hadley Street Dreams. Here, she gets gooey-eyed and quirky such as on "Sandcastle Disco", where honesty and realness wins over her fragile sandcastle of a voice. The samples are used sparingly, totally unlike an album Kanye West would put out (littered with them). Where Beyonce's B'Day was brash and in-your-face, this album is arrestingly sweet and likeable. The electronic bits are strewn in perfectly in the seemingly disorganized mess that Solange and her crew coo and stutter over. And as startling as the act of her using Boards Of Canada's "Slow This Bird Down" as a sample, it's just another step she takes, while her mind wanders as far as it can away from her surname.
WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD: Solange's voice is wafer thin. Like litmus paper and sometimes the beats just weigh her down. And sometimes, this newly found ambition of hers is larger than life. Too large, in fact, in songs like the embarrassing "Cosmic Journey" in which she tries too hard to distance herself from her big Sis. When she gets all doe and sad, it's boring, like a plaid coat.
SOOOOO...: This is fantastic stuff. or rather, a fantastic start in her quest to be different. Only time will tell whether she can improve on this stroke of a quirk genius of an album. Where would she go after Motown? But the fact that this album leaves you pondering on that, means that Solange has put out a fantastic album. And Beyonce should be nervous.
THERE'S THIS SONG I LIKE: "Sandcastle Disco" "I Decided" "This Bird"
ARTIST WEBSITE: Solange Knowles
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