First posted on Mark Is Cranky:
There's a problem with the production values on some modern pop music recordings: too much production, not enough value. Layer upon layer upon layers of samples, backing tracks and ProTools-tweezed nothing.
To be honest though, this problem of content-free popular music isn't new. Only the 'coating' has changed. Recently we've had Britney Spears and various boy-bands. Going back a quarter-century, there were the Bay City Rollers and Shaun Cassidy. The big difference between the two eras? All of the extra studio tracks full of digital schmutz. Things in common? Way too much VerseChorusVerseChorusVerseChorusChorusChorusFadeout.
What's interesting here is that heavy use of studio wizardry does not doom a recording to failure. If the performer and production team start with some decent ideas then there's a good chance they can rise above. I'm thinking of artists like Missy Elliot ("Work It" from Under Construction was killer) and Lauryn Hill, who made those silky beats seem so organic.
Leela James is going straight onto my list of artists who've struck that delicate balance. Funk. Soul. Blues. Hip-hop. Gospel...and one smokin' voice. If ya let this stuff wash over you, you just might be transported back to the days of Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Chaka Khan and Isaac Hayes. That soul-drenched atmosphere is brought to you by a team of producers including Wyclef Jean, Kanye West (does that guy ever sleep?!), Saadiq, Chucky Thompson, James Poysner and Robert Randolph. The overall sound is amazingly cohesive considering how many hands and ears were in the pot.
A Change Is Gonna Come sets the mood with "Music", a soulful plea for a return to what's really important in music (and it's not videos, thongs, bitchez and ho's). Nice to see that sentiment realized with such a rock-solid groove.
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