I can’t get “Window Seat” out of my head. Nor can I separate the song from the image of Erykah Badu walking through Dallas’ Dealey Plaza while disrobing. The song’s appeal, like the video’s, is raw desire: desire for freedom, to love, and to be. That element of desire sums up New Amerykah Part Two, the second part of a trilogy that Badu began in 2008 with New Amerykah Part One (Fourth World War). Part One seemed to capture the political depression of the Bush era. Fourth World War was a civil rights, Black Power baby’s testament to the failure of America’s promise, though to some critics the album itself was a failure.

Return of the Ankh is all about LOVE. And for those who think love is any less political than the issues broached on the first album (poverty, violence, AIDS, drugs, and police brutality), listen closely to the trilogy of love-titled tracks: “Love,” (Badu’s shout-out to the late J Dilla), “You Loving Me,” a comic interlude that chides “You loving me/and I’m fucking your friend,” and “Fall in Love (your funeral),” which warns “You better go back the way you came … you don’t want to fall in love with me.” That warning is too late for most of us. And this album reminds us of all the reasons we fell in love with Badu, like her sense of humor and her jazz-sultry voice with a hip hop sensibility. In the light-hearted “Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY),” Badu “covers” or perhaps “uncovers” Sylvia Striplin’s “You Can’t Turn Me Away,” refit to the gold-digging antics of Junior Mafia’s “Get Money.” Sung in a light airy voice, the song makes fun of the money-hungry girl’s refusal to let go of her lover(‘s money). 

The Ankh smoothly combines all the disparate elements of Badu’s previous albums. “Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long” takes us back to Baduizm as the singer reluctantly sends her lover off to get his “hustle on” but sweetly begs him “don’t be long.” The 10+ minute final track “Out My Mind, Just in Time” like its equally lengthy predecessor “Green Eyes” from Mama’s Gun starts out like a jazz ballad and then shifts into different tempos and moods that follows the singer’s attempt to get over lost love. “I’m a recovering undercover over-lover/recovering from a love I can’t get over,” Badu delivers in a Billie Holidayesque smoky juke-joint way as she croons of love’s addiction and its cure. Taking us back to the sentiment in her opening song “20 Feet Tall,” “Out My Mind” alludes to rising from the ashes. Perhaps like New Amerykah One, Return of the Ankh is also a sign of the time.

–Jennifer Williams

Additional link:

• Erykah Badu official site

Corinne
Bailey Rae’s much anticipated sophomore album The Sea premieres today in the U.S. four years after her
self-titled debut captured fans on both sides of the pond with “Like a Star”
and almost two years since the much publicized death of her husband, Jason Rae.
Though loss permeates the album, which Bailey Rae describes as more “intense
and heavy” than her first, The Sea
isn’t a bunch of sad songs. Like some of our best artists—Billie Holiday and
Nina Simone come immediately to mind—Corinne Bailey Rae takes pain and transforms
it into the beauty of stolen moments and cherished memories.

Her opening song
“Are You Here” is a case in point. Bailey Rae’s caressing voice accompanied by a simple
guitar riff pays tribute to her lost love with a sweet and subtle invocation:
“He’s a real live wire/He’s the best of his kind/Wait til you see those eyes.”
That sweetness punctuates the album, which is billed as pop, but is an amalgam
of soul, jazz, rock, and folk. The soft moans and sensuous rhythm of “Closer,”
my hands-down favorite track, revives the soulful sound of Minnie Riperton and
The Emotions. The album flows from the more intimate tracks like “Closer” and
“I Would Like to Call it Beauty” (written with her brother-in-law) to a rock
and retro mood in “The Blackest Lily” (recorded with Amir “?uestlove” Thompson
and James Poyser) and “Paris
Nights/New York Mornings.” The closing title track captures the album’s effort
to balance the desolation of loss and the regeneration that one hopes will inevitably
follow. The final lines of “The Sea” lament: “The sea … breaks
everything/crushes everything/cleans everything/takes everything/from me.” It breaks.
It renews.

I think I’ll call it beauty.

–Jennifer Williams

Additional links:

• Official Corinne Bailey Rae Website
• CBR on Facebook
  

While the Boldaslove.us crew is rolling out our “Best of” Lists, Jen Williams compiles a Top Ten of Sistas who Rocked the Decade (in no particular order):

1. Res – Res started off the oh-ohs with her 2001 release “How I Do” and made a comeback last year with “Black. Girls. Rock.”

1. Shingai
   Shoniwa and the Noisettes captured our spirits with their debut album “What’s the Time, Mr. Wolf?” (2007) then delivered an eclectic mix last year on their sophomore album “Wild Young Hearts.”

1. Janelle
   Monáe‘s emergence from the ATLiens produced the interplanetary “Metropolis: The Chase Suite“ (2008).

1. Kimya Dawson- off on her own from The Moldy Peaches, Kimya Dawson’s lo-fi, anti-folk stylings reached the masses when she was featured on the Juno soundtrack. But prior to that 2007 release, her five solo albums had already attracted a number of fans and admirers. Worthy of mention is her critically acclaimed “Hidden Vagenda” (2004).

1. Shelley
   Nicole’s blaKbüshe - in 2003, Shelley Nicole, “the only Bush we could trust,” released her debut “She Who Bleeds.” If “The Quick and Dirty” EP (2009) is any evidence of what’s to come, we should expect more greatness from this soul-funk-rock queen.

1. Tamar-Kali‘s full-length LP is the most highly anticipated on my 2010 list (in addition to Sade). In the meantime, I keep “Geechee Goddess Hardcore Warrior
   Soul” EP (2005) on repeat with an occasional tease from Tamar-Kali’s newest single “Pearl” (2009).

1. Santigold – Philly native Santi White’s signature debut “Santigold” (2008) is one of my favorite albums of any genre this past decade. The multitalented punk rocker sings, writes, and produces for herself and artists like Lilly Allen and Res. Tagged by Rolling Stone as a 2008 artist to watch out for, Santi is slated to produce Devo’s first album in 10 years, due out this spring.

1. Imani
   Uzuri – the amazing vocal range of Imani Uzuri will indeed baptize you in her holy water.  Her voice is the most prominent feature on the songs on her debut album “Her Holy Water: A Black Girl’s
   Rock Opera” (2008) which move between mellow and almost trip-hoppy uptempo beats effortlessly.

1. Honeychild
   Coleman – guitarist and vocalist Honeychild Coleman evokes for me an early Liz Phair. Though her lyrics on “Halo Inside (Come la Luna) (2008) are far from Phair’s risque “Exile in Guyville,” Coleman’s flat vocals with carefully pitched highs are at once charming, catchy, and smart.

1. Leila
   Adu – two words: dark and textured. Check out the latest from this amazing talent “Dark Joan” (2009) (re)discover “Dig a Hole” (2007) and “Cherry Pie” (2007).

Additional link:

• See all the Best of 2009 releases lists

Wednesday, Dec. 23. Doors at 11

Location:  96 Lafayette Avenue, New York, NY
Cover: Free

Saturday, fans of Grace
Jones gathered at the Brooklyn
Museum on a crisp sunny
afternoon to listen to two up-and-coming bands pay tribute to the legendary
diva. The Black Rock Coalition presented
“A Strange Case of Grace” in conjunction with the BMA’s ongoing exhibition Who Shot Rock and Roll. The exhibition sets
a small room aside where sexy mock ups from Grace Jones’s Island Life album hang. The room also features an 8-minute version
of Jones’s live performance “One Man Show,” directed by Jean-Paul Goude. Grace
was gender-queer before gender was queer.

The
tribute featuring Light Asylum and BiLLLL$ didn’t just rock out covers of
Jones’s hits. Instead they gave the audience a trace of Grace. Light Asylum (above) opened and their performance was …
well … um … dark (see below). I don’t mean the mood of the post-punk duo but the stage setting.
With the stage lights down and no spot, it was hard to see lead-singer Shannon
Funchness belt out a brooding contralto reminiscent of Grace. The lively “Dark
Allies” and more somber “Shallow Tears” conjured Grace circa Warm Leatherette. BiLLLL$ finished off the tribute performance with a geek rock
deconstructionist mash up of some of Grace’s greatests like “Feel Up” and “I
Need a Man.”
The cerebral synthesized grooves had heads nodding and thinking.

Have you taken the Boldaslove.us black rock audience survey? It only takes 5 minutes!  Click here to start.

One of the things coming out of the audience survey (thanks to all who’ve completed it so far!) is that many of you want to see for more regional coverage here on Boldaslove.us.  Based on that feedback, I put out a call for contributors and a great group of people responded.  I’m happy to announce that you’ll start seeing dispatches from the following cities: Austin, TX; Atlanta; Oakland/The East Bay;  as well as some additional coverage in the NYC area.  And I'm still looking for folks in the Chicago, the DMV, and London.  So, if you’re interested, please holla.

Anyway, without further ado, please meet:

Dominick Brady (ATL). This is Dominick writing in the third person.  Dominick doesn't like writing in the third person so Dominick will make this short.  Dominick is a freelance multi-platform journalist based in Atlanta, GA.  Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Dominick enjoys music of all flavors, Rum Raisin ice cream and though provoking discussion.  In this space Dominick hopes to help shine a light on Atlanta's oft overlooked Alt-urb, Afro-Punk and Fusion music scenes and the culture that surrounds it.  Dominick now wishes to end this bio.  

Earl Douglas (NYC).  For the last year or so, Earl has been contributing posts to Boldaslove.us. He is the Executive Director of The Black Rock Coalition and has been a member since 1988.  Earl was also a longtime producer at legendary station WNEW-FM and later with XM Satellite Radio.  You can see him shooting pictures at BRC and most Black Rock shows!

Rana Emerson (NYC). Rana is the program coordinator for CUNY Central's College Now program, which works with the NYC Department of Education to offer college credit coursework to over 300 public high schools in the city.  While in grad school in sociology she focused on race in mass media, popular culture and youth culture.

V. Marc Fort (Austin, TX). V. Marc Fort is a musician and writer based in Austin, TX.  He publishes the arts blog http://blackswansongs.com/ and freelances as an arts critic-at-large for the Austin American-Statesman under the byline, V. M. Black.  His journalism career began as a photojournalist working for The Denver Post and the Austin American-Statesman. His photos and articles have been featured in various magazines, blogs and newspapers, and have also been syndicated by the Associated Press.  A singer and multi-instrumentalist, Fort has performed in more than 10 rock bands including Norushi Minx, bo bud greene, The Fuckemos, Hidden Speaker and Schatzi. His bands have toured with and opened for various musical acts all across the States, including Superchunk, Jimmy Eat World, Desaparecidos, Lit, Everclear, All-American Rejects and Hilary Duff, to name a few. 


Sierra McClain (Oakland/East Bay).  A transplanted San Franciscan by way of her native Houston, Texas, Sierra comes to blogging  and writing with her marketing and PR background in tow. A writer since childhood, her website, I Write. You Should Read., began as a personal blog in 2008, but quickly morphed into a platform for her music interviews and features. With her fingers on the pulse of the Black Rock scene, Sierra’s goal is to document the creative renaissance that is taking place off the beaten path.

Jennifer Williams (NYC). Jennifer Wiliams is a writer and professor who approaches literature, music, and visual culture from a black feminist perspective. She teaches and writes in Brooklyn, New York. Jennifer blogs at Black Feminisms.

Black rock is a movement that's happening all over the country, not just in New York City.  And thanks to these writers, we're all going to start hearing from the folks who are making it so!

Have you taken the Boldaslove.us black rock audience survey? It only takes 5 minutes!  Click here to start.