From: owner-god-shiva-digest@smoe.org (god-shiva-digest) To: god-shiva-digest@smoe.org Subject: god-shiva-digest V2 #44 Reply-To: god-shiva@smoe.org Sender: owner-god-shiva-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-god-shiva-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk god-shiva-digest Thursday, August 5 1999 Volume 02 : Number 044 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Bitter a Serious Me'shell review [Patrick Saunders ] Me'Shell article from Billboard.com [Patrick Saunders ] Brief club tour [mwyarbro@zzapp.org] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 09:51:50 -0400 From: Patrick Saunders Subject: Bitter a Serious Me'shell review : Bitter by Me'Shell Ndegeocello Maverick Records 5 stars Running Time: 47:43 1. Adam <2:23> -- This instrumental track opens the record and immediately sets the tone for what's to come. Mournful cellos weep a beautiful lamentation before being overtaken by percussionist Daniel Sadownick's exotic rhythms. You can already tell you are in for a completely new Me'Shell. 2. Fool of Me <3:30> -- Me'Shell's voice, weary and worn like never before, kicks in the moment the spare instrumentation begins on this track. "You made a fool of me...tell me why?" she aches. This song is the sound of a heart breaking. 3. Faithful <4:46> -- "No one is faithful...I am weak, I'll go straight," Me'Shell sings over piano and acoustic guitar. She references her philandering father in this track, much like in "Makes Me Wanna Holler" from PBP, when she dispassionately observes, "My Daddy made no excuse." Midway through, a soaring electric guitar solo from Ronnie Drayton lifts the song like a rising tide. 4. Satisfy <4:04> -- The most upbeat and joyous song on the album, this track sounds the most "commercial" of anything here . Lovely strings pull everything forward over bright bursts of acoustic guitar while Me'Shell bathes in the glow. "Only you satisfy me...come walk me through the garden, I'm naked in your world...close your pretty eyes, so that your heart may see." A little wah guitar wraps this one up very nicely at the end. 5. Bitter <4:15> -- Wendy Melvoin's acoustic guitar ably complements Me'Shell's melancholy lyrics about love broken on the rocks <"You push me away bitterly...my apologies fall on deaf ears...For us, they'll be no more.">. A lone cello amplifies the defeat. 6. May This Be Love <5:16> -- This re-invented gem from the Jimi Hendrix catalog has atmosphere to burn. As psychedelic strings do their best to evoke another era, a faint synthesizer wash ensures that the song doesn't devolve into "retro." Me'Shell overlays a warm, languid vocal to bring it all home. 7. Sincerity <5:29> -- "He loves with sweetness and sincerity...while she only pretends." This track is an evocative examination of one-sided love that sounds oddly sweet given its subject matter. A sputtering Hammond organ and hazy electric guitar solo build up the drama -- only to be stopped on a dime and reined in by acoustic guitar and drums. 8. Loyalty <4:20> -- Love really does save the day. "A mother's heart's been shattered, told her daughter to beware, both secrets and dreams you should never share...trust only in change, 'cause hearts change, but betrayal always feels the same...but with him she found loyalty." On this track, Me'Shell reaches back to her childhood and finds inspiration in the great soul songs of the 70s. A worthy addition to the Philly songbook. http://www.lilithfair.com/lilith98/movies/980701/MesNd_p1.mov 9. Beautiful <2:43> -- A quietly droning synth introduces this song before being swallowed by an acoustic guitar, then resurfaces during the chorus as plaintive underscoring to Me'Shell's plea for intimacy. "Such pretty hair...may I kiss you ...So beautiful you are, so beautiful, beautiful." A sad piano line makes the longing even more palpable. 10. Eve <1:23> -- This instrumental campanion to the opening cut features world beats shot through with reverberating synths and stringed instruments. The soundscape recalls the Orient distilled through a dream. 11. Wasted Time <4:55*> -- This discordant "duet" with Joe Henry returns to the theme of a one-way relationship and digs up all the pain absent from the initial exploration. Opening with chugging percussion and strings, both singers share lead vocals on the track without ever bothering to actually sing together. It is a striking effect that, in the end, delivers two complete versions of the track on a single cut. 12. Grace <4:26> -- "Your love's my only saving grace...you caress my heart, kiss my face." On the album's first single , Me'Shell finally embraces the healing that comes from true love. "Sometimes God calls out to me to come home, 'cause I feel so all alone...Then I taste your kiss, your touch...Your sweet love." Concluding the album on this optimistic note, Me'Shell reminds us that even though we might be battered by life along the way, emerging from the journey with the love of a good man/woman will always make everything alright in the end. Summary: Bitter is a beautiful and spectacularly honest album that will have a hell of a time finding an audience. Me'Shell reveals a new emotional maturity on this affecting song cycle -- coupled with a staunch refusal to heed marketplace conventions. While it is too soon to tell how this record will come to compare with Peace Beyond Passion with regard to my own listening pleasure, it is clearly every bit as strong an artistic statement. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 09:59:04 -0400 From: Patrick Saunders Subject: Me'Shell article from Billboard.com == Forwarded Message Follows ========================================= Subject: Me'Shell article from Billboard.com Me'Shell Ndegéocello Experiments With New Writing, Recording Methods BY CARRIE BELL LOS ANGELES -- With the bitter comes the sweet. And no one captures that feeling better than the provocative and talented Me'Shell Ndegéocello, whose third album, "Bitter," bows Aug. 31 on Maverick. "Bitter has gotten a bad rap. You learn a lot from pain, and pain often makes joy taste sweeter. The world is made up of 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows, and I wanted to celebrate that sentiment on this album," Ndegéocello says. She continues, "The [set's] first instrumental, 'Adam,' and its companion piece, 'Eve,' represent the first relationship, which we all relate to on some level. And it ends with someone finding self and learning to love thyself. " 'Bitter' is about duality and contradictions, about love and hate, about relationships, about how we are all perfect beings struggling to find peace in a world of contradictions." To bring these themes out, Ndegéocello tried new writing and recording techniques. Inspired by Indigo Girls' impromptu jam sessions backstage at Lilith Fair and several acoustic albums by the likes of Chris Whitley and Chocolate Genius, the singer/songwriter purchased and used her first acoustic guitar. She chose a new producer, Craig Street (k.d. lang and Cassandra Wilson), and wrote some songs with her old producer, David Gamson. She also invited a bevy of guests to help her on the album, including Joe Henry, Wendy & Lisa, percussionists Daniel Sadownick and Abe LaBoriel Jr., composer David Torn, Steven Barber, Doyle Bramhall II, Chris Bruce, and Ronnie Drayton. "I love handing over the reins," she says of the album, which includes a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "May This Be Love." "I get sick of myself, and working with people allowed for a more live sound. It also allows me to like my own album. I never did before. It felt narcissistic. "You never want to do the same song over and over," she continues. "Maybe one day I'll become the Backstreet Boys, but for now, I'm just me. Me, who goes with whatever feeling I'm having, gets a picture in my head, and writes just enough songs for an album. Then I move on to the next project." Ndegéocello's ability to seamlessly fuse rock, jazz, funk, and soul -- as well as add in sometimes-political, often shocking, and always-intelligent lyrics -- is probably what helped her become the first female artist on Maverick's roster. She has created two previous knockout albums, scored three Grammy nods, and sold 500,000 records in the U.S. alone, according to SoundScan. Her first album, "Plantation Lullabies," peaked at No. 166 on The Billboard 200 in 1994, while her 1996 set, "Peace Beyond Passion," climbed to No. 63. To market the new disc, Maverick intends to provide multiple opportunities for folks to hear the set before they buy it. The label plans to be involved in listening post programs, as well as will schedule in-store performances and supply overhead play copies at key indie and major retailers and gay/straight lifestyle outlets, like upscale boutiques, hair salons, and restaurants. Both the WEA/Maverick field reps and the Nike Street Team will canvass those accounts and like-minded shows with free CD samplers, fliers, and postcards. Poster sniping will also take place in major cities. The album's first single, "Grace," will debut on Internet radio, although the label has yet to choose on which site or sites. It will also be worked to R&B, alternative, triple-A, college, and NPR radio stations the last week in July. Maverick will also book several online chats with the artist and hold a live cybercast of a performance on www.maverickrc.com/meshell. Ndegéocello has had six songs chart on Hot R&B Singles & Tracks, including the No. 35 "Who Is He And What Is He To You" and the No. 67 "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)." Her duet with John Mellencamp, "Wild Night," peaked at No. 3 on The Billboard Hot 100. "Grace" has also been placed on 200,000 Lilith Fair samplers and will be one of the tracks available through a promotion with CustomDisc. When consumers pre-order "Bitter," they will have the chance to make a custom CD with up to six songs for $6.99 and three cover art options. Other choice cuts include B-sides and previously unreleased material. "I love the Internet. It gives fans more access to artists and artists more power over their careers," Ndegéocello says. "It gives me the opportunity to release more stuff -- live tracks, alternate versions. "I'm not even bothered by people bootlegging my music or by MP3s as long as they respect it. People want your music. What is bad about that? I've been rethinking whether my art should be my livelihood lately anyway." Consumers will also have plenty of chances to hear the soulstress, who is booked by Monterey Peninsula Artists and managed by Ruth Carson, perform live. She started opening the main stage at 12 East Coast Lilith Fair dates July 24, and will continue to do so until Aug. 8. Post-Lilith, there will be a series of secret shows, including one scheduled around Aug. 23 in Los Angeles. France will be graced with her presence in September, and a headlining U.S. club tour will follow in the fall. "Making records is a vehicle that allows me to play live, which is where you get your instant gratification as an artist," she says. "The music industry will come and go, but nothing can take away all the joy I've found traveling the world, meeting my idols like Bonnie Raitt, or looking into the eyes of someone who knows all the words to one of my songs. That tells me I'm successful. All the record sales in the world couldn't say the same thing." =================end fwd message========================== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 07:55:02 -0700 From: mwyarbro@zzapp.org Subject: BOUNCED: Re: god-shiva-digest V2 #43 The following message BOUNCED on its way to god-shiva. NOTE: When replying to a digest, please DO NOT include the entire text of the digest. DELETE IT. Thank you. - ------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 07:41:47 -0700 (PDT) From: "aimée" Subject: Re: god-shiva-digest V2 #43 Hi, Just checked out the UBL website and they list Bitter as being "In Stock". Can this be? It's the 4th not the 24th. Let me know what you think. Aimee - ----- Sent using MailStart.com ( http://MailStart.Com/welcome.html ) The FREE way to access your mailbox via any web browser, anywhere! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 11:49:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Streetism Subject: Re: BITTER sound clips I've heard the album! It's BOMB! It's soft and mellow. Satisfy and Loyalty are deffinate #1 hits. Mike Street http://www.wam.umd.edu/~street http://www.wam.umd.edu/~street/BGLAD.html http://www.angelfire.com/biz/streetism/index.html I need to slide deliciously down to where I hurt the least I need High Prayers to breath through and I need to shine like I use to and I know that I'm not suspose to be for nothing - - Cree Summer "Deliciously Down" ("|`-''-/").___..--''"`-._ `6_ 6 ) `-. ( ).`-.__.`) (_Y_.)' ._ ) `._ `. ``-..-' _..`--'_..-_/ /--'_.' ,' (il),-'' (li),' ((!.-' ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 17:08:18 -0700 From: mwyarbro@zzapp.org Subject: Brief club tour http://www.sonicnet.com/ reports: NdegeOcello Plans Brief Club Tour Singer/songwriter Me'Shell NdegeOcello will celebrate the Aug. 24 release of her third album, Bitter, with a six-date club tour. The swing begins Aug. 12 at Joe's Pub in New York and ends Aug. 26 at the Justice League in San Francisco, according to a Maverick Records press release. The new album's songs include "Grace," "Satisfy," "Beautiful" and a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "May This Be Love." >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> They also mention that Bashir is expected to contribute to the next Indigo Girls studio album. Full tour dates are available on http://www.maverickrc.com/meshell - --Michael - ----- Sent using MailStart.com ( http://MailStart.Com/welcome.html ) The FREE way to access your mailbox via any web browser, anywhere! ------------------------------ End of god-shiva-digest V2 #44 ******************************