Isn't Alabama Shakes what you get from drinking bad moonshine?
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
mannybolone said:
:feelin_it:
Discuss.
Oh, it's like that, huh? When Americans do this analog vintage brand-new-you're-retro throwback shit, it's cool. But when Brits do it...
I kid.
I've been hearing this a lot on the radio in Berlin over the last three or four weeks and didn't know who it was until today, when three different people posted it in my Facebook feed. I like it. Girl certainly has a great voice - somewhere between Maggie Bell, Etta James and Steve Marriott to my ears. One of my friends called them "America's response to Adele", and I don't know if it's that so much as merely further affirmation of a particular set of musical values that are clearly finding a bigger and bigger audience. The success of The Black Keys has obviously prepped the mainstream for a band like this, so I expect a&r's will now be falling over themselves to sign anything that sounds remotely like them. If Glastonbury was on this year, I guarantee you that this would be one of those bands whose set got excerpted constantly over the entire weekend on the BBC's coverage.
They play here next week and I listened to the SXSW show to see if I should go...
It's a thin thin line between grittysoulfulgood and Blueshammer. I personally have no idea where that line sits, I just know when it's been crossed. I like the BellRays, I like The White Stripes, I like Adele. I am not a fan of Sharon Jones/Dap Kings, M Hawthorne and all the new old soul stuff.
I don't think I'll be going to the show.
Good band name still.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
bassie said:
the BellRays
Fucking killer. I nearly posted a BellRays clip with a remark along the lines of, "Meanwhile, kicking every dog within a ten-block radius..."
They play here next week and I listened to the SXSW show to see if I should go...
It's a thin thin line between grittysoulfulgood and Blueshammer. I personally have no idea where that line sits, I just know when it's been crossed. I like the BellRays, I like The White Stripes, I like Adele. I am not a fan of Sharon Jones/Dap Kings, M Hawthorne and all the new old soul stuff.
I don't think I'll be going to the show.
Good band name still.
Based on that video clip, that lady's affected vocals bother me, too.
Sounds like she learned to sing from Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'."
One problem with the NYT piece is the need to set the Shakes apart from other groups that sound like them and I think he really forces that. So, if we accept his explanation, the Alabama Shakes are "unvarished soul" but not, say, Sharon Jones or Adele? Not really buying that.
Anyways, I spent part of my commute time listening to the entire album and while I don't quite agree that the lead singer is "affected" I do think there's a rather limited range with what she can do with it. So while it can work on a single song, it can be a bit much to take in over the course of an entire album.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
mannybolone said:
One problem with the NYT piece is the need to set the Shakes apart from other groups that sound like them and I think he really forces that. So, if we accept his explanation, the Alabama Shakes are "unvarished soul" but not, say, Sharon Jones or Adele? Not really buying that.
Anyways, I spent part of my commute time listening to the entire album and while I don't quite agree that the lead singer is "affected" I do think there's a rather limited range with what she can do with it. So while it can work on a single song, it can be a bit much to take in over the course of an entire album.
Yeah, I could imagine that. I still think she sounds great on that one song, though. Incidentally, if it blows up in the way it's threatening to do, it could turn out to be the first big hit song for a long time that's written on just one chord.
That thing about "unvarnished soul" is interesting, too. Looks like we're going to be having that "authenticity" debate again soon. I don't think setting them apart from anyone is that big a deal, unless the objective of that involves making some sort of value judgement about Adele, Sharon 'n them. Personally, I'd be more interested in looking at whether all three of those acts represent different strands of a broader trend. And, if so, is that trend simply part of a regular cycle, or emblematic of a genuine shift on the part of audiences away from the kind of ProTooled-to-fuck-and-back pop, rock and r&b that barely sounds as if it was made by human beings?
The music and production sound good to my ears, the vocals are a much harder sell...
I think you're right..I'm due to see them in London in a couple of weeks and am slightly dreading it but we'll see. ...they're selling out just about everywhere they play so what do I know?
Best thing about this is the singers microphone as shown in the video. Boring AOR-radioformat music. Can't believe this is being discussed here seriously. When is the next Bruce Springsteen appreciation thread coming up? Long time we weren't discussing Tom Petty. What is Mark Knopfler up to these days?
That thing about "unvarnished soul" is interesting, too. Looks like we're going to be having that "authenticity" debate again soon. I don't think setting them apart from anyone is that big a deal, unless the objective of that involves making some sort of value judgement about Adele, Sharon 'n them. Personally, I'd be more interested in looking at whether all three of those acts represent different strands of a broader trend. And, if so, is that trend simply part of a regular cycle, or emblematic of a genuine shift on the part of audiences away from the kind of ProTooled-to-fuck-and-back pop, rock and r&b that barely sounds as if it was made by human beings?
There's no genuine shift, at least not if I understand what you're saying. Pop music has always existed in various states of tension that fall into these easy binaries of fake vs. real, fluff vs. authentic, etc. So while I can understand why people want to champion the Alabama Shakes and keep talking about how the lead singer was delivering mail before the group blew up last year, those details are only important insofar as they enhance the story we want to believe about some groups being fake vs. others being real. I mean, if one of the LMFAO guys had been a mailman before, that background wouldn't really play out in the same way because we don't consider LMFAO's music to be a style that would benefit from a classic "from humble beginnings" mythology.
Lil Gizzelle is a better singer and a much more entertaining "new retro soul" whatever ya wanna call it...a better contender for "American Adele" than this lot.
Don't know about the rest of you but I'd like to be able to sing "affected" like that. I like some of the other stuff that I saw this morning including......
There doesn't seem to be any real foundation to the sound or the voice. It comes off mostly as a collection of tics and textures and a bingo card's worth of roots/soul/realness signifiers, put across with just enough slow drag to let you know that they're Feelin' It.
I mean, I'll reserve a full opinion until I hear their uptempo material, but I gotta tell you, right now my feeling is that early on maybe someone in their organization saw dude from My Morning Jacket aping black female vocal stylings and a lightbulb clicked on somewhere.
I've gone out of my way several times a to see Sharon J play over the last 10 yrs: she makes me shake a leg, and dammit if I don't fall in love with her each time. Speaking of Daptone the Budos Band kills it onstage as well. I can't say I'd want to see this band live: they come across as earnest college student trying to keep it real.
My girlfriend just asked me if i was listening to Steve Earl "or some shit". I showed her and she told me to put some headphones on because "it is terrible". She is currently in the kitchen signing Copperhead Road while making toast.
I saw them at The Basement in Nashville last summer upon the recommendation of the owner, who runs a record store upstairs. I was really impressed with the show.
mannybolone
Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
Comments
Where did you hear about them?
The music and production sound good to my ears, the vocals are a much harder sell...
Will check this though if it gets a thumbs up...
Oh, it's like that, huh? When Americans do this analog vintage brand-new-you're-retro throwback shit, it's cool. But when Brits do it...
I kid.
I've been hearing this a lot on the radio in Berlin over the last three or four weeks and didn't know who it was until today, when three different people posted it in my Facebook feed. I like it. Girl certainly has a great voice - somewhere between Maggie Bell, Etta James and Steve Marriott to my ears. One of my friends called them "America's response to Adele", and I don't know if it's that so much as merely further affirmation of a particular set of musical values that are clearly finding a bigger and bigger audience. The success of The Black Keys has obviously prepped the mainstream for a band like this, so I expect a&r's will now be falling over themselves to sign anything that sounds remotely like them. If Glastonbury was on this year, I guarantee you that this would be one of those bands whose set got excerpted constantly over the entire weekend on the BBC's coverage.
It's a thin thin line between grittysoulfulgood and Blueshammer. I personally have no idea where that line sits, I just know when it's been crossed. I like the BellRays, I like The White Stripes, I like Adele. I am not a fan of Sharon Jones/Dap Kings, M Hawthorne and all the new old soul stuff.
I don't think I'll be going to the show.
Good band name still.
Fucking killer. I nearly posted a BellRays clip with a remark along the lines of, "Meanwhile, kicking every dog within a ten-block radius..."
------- Thanks for the new location!
Yeah, there is a certain irony to that...
Based on that video clip, that lady's affected vocals bother me, too.
Sounds like she learned to sing from Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'."
Not quite feelin' it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/arts/music/alabama-shakes-unvarnished-soul-on-shiny-new-album.html?ref=jonpareles
I'm not sure I like it.
Anyways, I spent part of my commute time listening to the entire album and while I don't quite agree that the lead singer is "affected" I do think there's a rather limited range with what she can do with it. So while it can work on a single song, it can be a bit much to take in over the course of an entire album.
Yeah, I could imagine that. I still think she sounds great on that one song, though. Incidentally, if it blows up in the way it's threatening to do, it could turn out to be the first big hit song for a long time that's written on just one chord.
That thing about "unvarnished soul" is interesting, too. Looks like we're going to be having that "authenticity" debate again soon. I don't think setting them apart from anyone is that big a deal, unless the objective of that involves making some sort of value judgement about Adele, Sharon 'n them. Personally, I'd be more interested in looking at whether all three of those acts represent different strands of a broader trend. And, if so, is that trend simply part of a regular cycle, or emblematic of a genuine shift on the part of audiences away from the kind of ProTooled-to-fuck-and-back pop, rock and r&b that barely sounds as if it was made by human beings?
I think you're right..I'm due to see them in London in a couple of weeks and am slightly dreading it but we'll see. ...they're selling out just about everywhere they play so what do I know?
There's no genuine shift, at least not if I understand what you're saying. Pop music has always existed in various states of tension that fall into these easy binaries of fake vs. real, fluff vs. authentic, etc. So while I can understand why people want to champion the Alabama Shakes and keep talking about how the lead singer was delivering mail before the group blew up last year, those details are only important insofar as they enhance the story we want to believe about some groups being fake vs. others being real. I mean, if one of the LMFAO guys had been a mailman before, that background wouldn't really play out in the same way because we don't consider LMFAO's music to be a style that would benefit from a classic "from humble beginnings" mythology.
Boring.
Lil Gizzelle is a better singer and a much more entertaining "new retro soul" whatever ya wanna call it...a better contender for "American Adele" than this lot.
There doesn't seem to be any real foundation to the sound or the voice. It comes off mostly as a collection of tics and textures and a bingo card's worth of roots/soul/realness signifiers, put across with just enough slow drag to let you know that they're Feelin' It.
I mean, I'll reserve a full opinion until I hear their uptempo material, but I gotta tell you, right now my feeling is that early on maybe someone in their organization saw dude from My Morning Jacket aping black female vocal stylings and a lightbulb clicked on somewhere.
I've gone out of my way several times a to see Sharon J play over the last 10 yrs: she makes me shake a leg, and dammit if I don't fall in love with her each time. Speaking of Daptone the Budos Band kills it onstage as well. I can't say I'd want to see this band live: they come across as earnest college student trying to keep it real.
Crazy bitch
Glad I didn't. Super ZZZZzzzzzzz.......