russel elevado (engineer at the electric lady) played a couple of tracks for questlove--quest posted about this on the okayplayer messageboards yesterday night. he was raving about what he'd heard! he even gave the first "okayplayer" to respond to his post a chance to actually hear what he'd heard via phone. this person was pretty blown away by what she was able to hear. questlove reported what he'd heard could be best described as a combination of sly, zappa and funkadelic. interesting, right?

sly, zappa and funkadelic?! dang - reminds me of that old band, rise robots rise. (anyone who remembers them gets a big ol' )

Good news indeed!

Anxiety said:

I remember them! They had two albums, Rise Robots Rise('92) and Spawn('93)...Interesting mix of Funk/Metal/Hip Hop/Jazz, and whatever else they could think to throw in at the time...

...Seriously, though, D'angelo is starting to give Stevie Wonder a run for his money in the "You'd better not hold your breath waitin' for an album" dept....

...
[Edited 11/9/04 15:05pm]

paligap said:

i LOVED their first album to pieces. i wish i could find a copy of that sucker on CD.

Drugged out soul-rock music?

Lets go D'Angelo! We need u bro!

Some new D'Angelo would be great! I can't wait.

kisscamille said:

me neither...he's what's missing from our music world.. please come back d'angelo we can't wait any longer!!!!!

there was an interview with ?uestlove in my favorite mag "the believer" a year or so ago, where he talked a lot about what d'angelo was up to - that he was recording a lot of music, but that he was letting his looks go because the whole "sex idol" thing was getting to him and he wanted to undo it. it was kinda weird, the way he was describing d'angelo's behavior.

in response to a question about who was drumming on the new material,
questlove responded:

"me me me,

here the deal
11 songs are done.
most need lyrics.
most are in the 7-9 minute range
all are epic as fuck.
imo--most need a haircut.
shit i love
but shit i know the marketplace aint even ready for.
if "untitled" video is what got him over on the idiot side of things
he is gonna have to get his physical game back and come with some
strong ass imagaining to make up for the fact that there WILL be no radio
friendly single--
newbies im warning you now.....if you want to "understand" this record--you MUST

purchase and study the following:

-funkadelic
-maggot brain
-america eats its young
-cosmic slop
-standing on the verge of getting it on
-let's take it to the stage
-tales of kidd funkadelic
-there's a riot going on
-on the corner
-inspiration information
-smile
-abbey road
-revolver
-electric ladyland
-nevermind the bullocks here comes the sex pistols
-dirty mind
-on the corner
-ego
-tony willaims emergency

study and absorb and research this shit now.

memorize it.

understand why the albums i mentioned were important in their historical context.

lower your expectations. this WILL throw you for a loop."

i guess it's save to say this is a release to look forward to. questlove's
response only adds to the excitement. but i guess it'll take some time before
the release of this record.

Is he suggesting that D'angelo is out of shape now?

dreamfactory313 said:

haha. guess so. personally i don't give a shit. as long as he delivers
musically, i'm happy. and i know he will. but he might need to workout
if he wants to appeal to the masses in some way. lol.

?

uestlove said:

Must? Fuck, that's a long list to buy just to be able to get one single album. Now that's quite bad marketing don't you think? It's almost like fucking Linux all over, but it costs money.

purpleone said:

fuck the masses

Novabreaker said:

bad marketing? that i don't get.

it's not like he's actually trying to sell the album.

he's only trying to tell you to expect the unexpected. for those interested he
even gives a list of influences. this way you could prepare yourself a little
if you want to. nothing more, nothing less. this list will probably make you
understand, thus dig the album even more when it drops.

that's cool in my book.

heybaby said:

my thoughts exactly.

I-can't-make-up-what-kinda-album-I-wanna-make D'Angelo? Him?

I remember people raving about his previous album.....THREE years before it came out.....lame-assed album that was all over the place except hitting the G-Spot his first album touched upon. If he can lay off the smokez it actually might have substance this time.

CookieMonster said:

But Hey Gooey! That album was deep, man! It was deep!


Yadayadayada.

CookieMonster said:

Sounds like you're smokin too, callin 'Voodoo' "lame-ass"
You must be tripping. You should invite funk into your life as you are obviously running low on it !!

funkymf said:

Hahaha! You call THAT funk? Have you seen his live show? That was funk. The album just drizzled.

Voodoo was an unfulfilled promise. It was an album that was all over the place. I like people taking their time to develop a sound, but the delay between albums is a sign maybe of someone that has just ONE good album in their fingers...

I still HOPE though.

That he stops hanging and decides to just record like eight tunes in a week and just releases it without endlessly tinkering at it.

A guy fucking up a good groove like Devil's Pie... he should be spanked...and just get dirtay on us. What is wrong with Devil's Pie? It is too damn SHORT, brother. There is beauty on that album, but just too concentrated and layered.

purpleone said:

Shit, if I gotta buy Miles's "On the Corner" TWICE to even enjoy D's new shit, then forget it!

Novabreaker said:[quote]?

uestlove said:

That list smacks of a clusterf*ck sounding album.

As far as letting his looks go. If Amhir means he's getting fat, good. I liked him better when he was pudgy. He was obnoxious when he thought he looked like Mr. America. Voodoo was jive doodoo.
[Edited 11/11/04 15:16pm]

i want d'angelo to make an album that sounds a little like deee-lite's "dewdrops in the garden" crossed with prince's "come" album, with a bit of blur's "the great escape" and sonic youth's "goo" album mixed in, and if he could toss in some elements of "ziggy stardust", "age of consent", "big science" and "i got them kosmic blues again mama", that would be great, thanks.

Anxiety said:

I just want him to sound like D'Angelo...his previous album had moments of his genius, hidden amongst the clouds of smoke bollowing from his recording studio. Some people should not have too many recording options. Just play, mf.

purpleone said:

"Above post may contain irony".

Novabreaker said:

why, i'm sorry.

Understanding the new D'angelo aside, that's a list of awesome albums I should try to hunt down anyway... I haven't heard quite a few of those. In fact, I don't know who did the last 3 albums.

But I get what ?uest is describing here.. it seems like a rawer-DIY-guitars aesthetic, with alot of soul.