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| Pain has such
an intriguing melody. In our weakest moments our humility
makes us honest, and sincerity is key to great music. Amy
Winehouse’s autobiographical Back to Black is a candid
confession of disappointing love, addiction, and regret that
she weaves into an impressively coherent CD.
From the moment it opens, Back to Black captures your
attention. It is at once both familiar and new. The tracks
are deeply rooted in early doo wop, but Winehouse is a story
teller, whose cheeky candor would offend the innocent
propriety of past generations. Back to Black is an
unapologetic insight into the life of a woman whose public
persona makes her a favorite in UK’s major tabloids.
Alcoholism, battles with anorexia and bulimia, and a
devastating public break up inspire Winehouse’s sophomore
musical effort. Back to Back delivers the refined
talent that Frank (the first CD) promised.
Amy Winehouse partnered with Salaam
Remi (Nas), and Mark Ronson (Christina Aguilera, Lily Allen)
to create a sound that morphs |
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between jazz, reggae, and Motown soul.
Back to Black’s nearly seamless composition may be
attributed to the two week recording period. Every song on
this album is personal; like chapters of a book the story
builds every four minutes. The first track “Rehab” recounts
Winehouse’s management agency’s unsuccessful attempt to get
her to attend rehab in a classic call and response, where
Winehouse belts, “they tried to make me go to rehab, I said
no, no, no!” In “Me and Mr. Jones”, Winehouse, a
self-professed Nas fan, laments after a friend made her miss a
Nas concert. The title track is a contemporary tale of lost
love and addiction sweetened by a Supremes sample. Ms.
Winehouse ends the CD by chastising her roommate for allowing
her boyfriend to smoke all of her weed in “Addicted”.
Winehouse’s edgy, occasionally obscene lyrics seem almost
incongruent with the soulful tracks, but it is this new twist
on the old that gives the CD such an appealing personality.
Heartache is timeless, and Winehouse’s story spans the gap
between old school soul and hip hop.
The character of her voice flows
smoothly between Etta James, Sarah Vaughn, and Lauryn Hill.
She sounds like all, and yet she sounds like none. I would
imagine to different listeners she invokes different artists.
However, it is not her potential likeness to the greats that
makes this cd worthy of heavy rotation. The combination of
heartfelt lyrics, humor, wit, and infectious tracks create a
solid argument for voting Back to Black one of the best
cds of 2006. Ms. Winehouse is unabashedly flawed, and it is
her honesty
that makes Back to Black brilliant
~S. Ellard
.For
more about Amy Winehouse
www.amywinehouse.com or
www.myspace.com/amywinehouse |
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Back To Black, Amy Winehouse’s second full-length commercial
release, is one of the best records (of any genre) that I’ve
heard so far this new year. Frank, her 2003 debut, was a
strong and very promising release, but musically all over the
place: mixing the jazzy neo-soul of Jill Scott, with the soft
down-tempo lounge of Nora Jones, with the modern hip hop of
The Neptunes (imagine if The Neptunes produced for Nora
Jones). Back To Black is a very different kind of record. For
good or bad (I think good) it’s fundamentally a theme record,
that is to say, a record that channels, to its core, the
Motown catalogue of the 50’s and 60’s. There is certainly no
confusing what it is, and what it’s supposed to be. Amy
Winehouse, teaming up with producers Mark Ronson (quite
possibly the coolest DJ in Manhatten) and Salaam Remi
(producer for The Fugees, Nas, and others), effortlessly taps
into the girl-group sound of the 60’s, in terms of voice,
content, and production. She simply becomes Diana Ross. The
three have created an amazing doo-wop/soul record … one that
Phil Spector would've been proud to call his own ... and Berry
Gordy sign. What’s the deal with Europeans being all about
quintessential Americana “era” music (e.g., Joy Denalane … to
a lesser extent)? (Additional slap point for having a pretty
good video for the first single, Rehab, even though it doesn’t
really fit the song at all. Negative slap points for the
ancient, lesbo, lip stud).
http://theslapreport.com/
California |
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