{"id":1093,"date":"2011-04-16T21:11:16","date_gmt":"2011-04-16T20:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1093"},"modified":"2011-04-16T21:11:16","modified_gmt":"2011-04-16T20:11:16","slug":"raphael-saadiq-stone-rollin-columbia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=1093","title":{"rendered":"Raphael Saadiq:  Stone Rollin\u2019.  Columbia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">There\u2019s a determinedly retro feel to much of Raphael Saadiq\u2019s new album. <span> <\/span>The cover shows Saadiq in roll-neck sweater with drums and bass accompaniment playing at a party full of beehive hairdo\u2019s, and preppies in bow ties. <span> <\/span>And much of the music harks back to the early Motown and Stax days. <span> <\/span>Tracks like \u2018Heart Attack\u2019, \u2018Radio\u2019 and \u2018Stone Rollin\u2019 evoke that primitive minimalism with Saadiq playing all the instruments and singing all the vocals. <span> <\/span>These tracks offer one, or two chord guitar riffs, that barely amount to tunes in any sense whatsoever. <span> <\/span>The drumming is functional at best.<span> <\/span>Saadiq calls and responds to his own lyrics, in ways that evoke Chuck Berry, Sam and Dave, almost the retro chic of Sha-na-na. <span> <\/span>The lyrics are also throwbacks and throw away; \u2018\u2018See that girl is so fast\/She\u2019s rollin, smokin\u2019 and makin\u2019 cash\u2019.<span> <\/span>Saadiq must be one of the few contemporary artists in pop, let alone R\u2019n\u2019B, to resuscitate the mellotron;<span> <\/span>once the stock of prog rockers such as King Crimson. <span> <\/span>The mellotron is used to great effect to provide flute noodlings against the strident guitar of \u2018Over You\u2019. <span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">The title track is a funky blues with rasping harmonica interjections, with a slow guitar break that\u2019s determined not to draw attention to itself. <span> <\/span>On \u2018Day Dreams\u2019,<span> <\/span>Saadiq recreates a shuffling doowop chorus, with a falsetto line and plucked bass that evokes spats and sharp suits, and the mischievous chorus from <em>Belleville Rendezvous. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">The last four tracks are more typically the kind of thing that had Saadiq called \u2018the new Quincy Jones\u2019. <span> <\/span>\u2018Just don\u2019t\u2019 forms a kind of bridge between the minimal and the highly orchestrated. <span> <\/span>It starts with RS and a simple clunky guitar and band riff, which then moves into more orchestrated and modulated second half. <span> <\/span>And the final track is \u2018The Answer\u2019; a folk-y, <span> <\/span>swirling string, flutes and French horn number.<span> <\/span>This is slightly over blown, with a \u2018nice\u2019 melody that wouldn\u2019t frighten your mother. <span> <\/span>The recent live version with the gritty Hammond captures its essence a bit better. <span> <\/span>However, the stand-out track is \u2018Movin\u2019 Down the line\u2019 with its sumptuous string and brass arrangements, catchy bass and guitar, and infinitely hummable tune. <span> <\/span>This is open-top driving \/barbeque\/late club music; Motown at its easiest and catchiest, in which Saadiq shows exactly how to write and deliver a song. <span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Ian Pople <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s a determinedly retro feel to much of Raphael Saadiq\u2019s new album. The cover shows Saadiq in roll-neck sweater with drums and bass accompaniment playing at a party full of beehive hairdo\u2019s, and preppies in bow ties. And much of the music harks back to the early Motown and Stax days. Tracks like \u2018Heart Attack\u2019, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[15],"tags":[207],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.2.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Raphael Saadiq: Stone Rollin\u2019. Columbia  - The Manchester Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=1093\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Raphael Saadiq: Stone Rollin\u2019. Columbia  - The Manchester Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There\u2019s a determinedly retro feel to much of Raphael Saadiq\u2019s new album. The cover shows Saadiq in roll-neck sweater with drums and bass accompaniment playing at a party full of beehive hairdo\u2019s, and preppies in bow ties. And much of the music harks back to the early Motown and Stax days. 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