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Just thought you might be interested in today's MP3 downloads.

Scroll down a bit, they're there

Enjoy

P.S.: This is from a friend of mine...

I have worked in the music industry for most of my adult life. Over time, I have befriended a few of my idols, worked as a publicist to a couple of notable artists, and I sometimes even muster up the nerve to check "the list" for my name before going into a show. So I should damned well know better than to rigidly define any musician’s talent — to expect the same thing album after album or have the audacity to get angry when a band ventures into new musical territory. Yet, I did just that with Me'Shell NdegéOcello's Bitter.

I worked myself into a frenzy over the long-awaited release and if it's possible to listen with gusto, that's exactly what I did. I waited to hear Me’Shell's funky bass, her poignant social commentary and spiritual challenges, and the clever rhymes that would make the Last Poets proud. I waited for 12 tracks and didn’t hear these things so I Bitter-ly put the CD back in its case. I listened to it a few more times later that month, trying to find something to like, but each time I ended up in the same spot — angry at being led on for two albums and then effectively jilted with the release of the third.

My immaturity didn't last very long. In May of 2000, Me'Shell NdegéOcello came to town with the Bell Atlantic Jazzfest. I wouldn’t have missed her show for the world — after all, she had gotten me hooked with "Plantation Lullabies" and "Peace Beyond Passion." I’ve always said that there is something about a live show that gives a recorded song more flavor, almost like a remix. To that end, I was pleasantly surprised when I realized, in the middle of the set, that nearly all the songs she had played were from Bitter. I enjoyed them all: Swayed with the crowd on "Satisfy," shouted for more after "Faithful," grooved in the long instrumental spaces and started my own call and response during "Fool of Me."

This was my true introduction to the album and it was as if I had new ears. I listened to the CD again and this time I appreciated the sparse bass, the introspective lyrics, the instrumental experimentation, and, most of all, the musical detailing of a new journey and understanding of the dynamics of love.

It was stubborn to pigeonhole Me'Shell NdegéOcello. Bitter offers acoustic delights and outstanding homage to musical influences like Jimi Hendrix that fans — many of whom were baptized in the funk like myself — may not have even appreciated were it not in contrast to previous releases.

~ LiRon Anderson-Bell, June 13, 2000

Although I love all of Meshell's albums, BITTER is my favorite...don't know why really, it's just a cohesive mellow and beautifully angry record...

TheResistor said:

hmm, i'll have to kindly disagree with that part of your description. (though, at least you didn't say it was a depressing album. that's what the folks say who didn't listen to the entire album from start to finish.) i think it's a love album... from being in love with someone that doesn't love you back, to the pain of realizing that fact, to finding someone that gives you the love you deserve.

most honest album i've ever heard. nobody bares their soul on record like her.

it too is my favorite album by her... well, by any artist... ever.

and those of you that know how big of a prince fan i am, that's saying a lot.

get that from CDNOW, didja?

SWEET!

I can't believe somebody slept on Bitter for that long! I was hooked from the start, BUT I did sleep on Cookie for quite a while so I can't really talk

suomynona said:

It's more melancholy than even the title, Bitter. I don't hear anger in it. It might contain the least anger of any album she's recorded so far. Bitter is about unrequited love, and more importantly catharsis.

Supernova said:

couldn't have said it better myself

i think that's why some of us relate with it so much.

suomynona said:

Precisely. She conveys the human condition so damn well!

Supernova said:

that's why i don't get how people still have neglected to treat themselves to her... it's just a matter of time

Okay Matt, now you're REALLY making me kick myself for not seeing her in SF last month!!!

These songs sound GREAT, two of my absolute favorites ESPECIALLY Wasted Time. Damn, now I want a live album from her! Dude, I can't thank you enough. BTW, what was her setlist in SF? I'll check out your site, I KNOW you have it posted somewhere

Suomynona



Oh yea, CONGRATS on the suit being dropped!! Check my message on the news thread...

Happy Thanksgiving all.
m thanks for the Meshell HOB cuts, and your friends Bitter experience.

Straight up...you can't f4rk with this band. You just can't. So I'm listening to these HOB cuts...Digging You Like an Old Soul Record, Wasted Time and Loyalty...and the KCRW Sessions...god GOD that is some GREAT stuff. I'm smiling my ass off cuz the sh#t sounds so good. Meshells dialogue, as usual is full of sincerity...humor, irony, frustration, hope, fearlessness and fun. You always know your getting the REAL thang...she's telling the truth… no not some scripted truth… the truth as she feels it at that moment...she's not performing FOR you, she's sharing WITH you. It sounds simple, but that's a rare thing indeed. She and the band do it consistently though...push the limits, explore the compositions, build up and strip down the layers, and have fun doing it. They REALLY seem to enjoy what they do and the chemistry between them...and it shows...it comes across in the music.

I wish I was overseas now so i could check out this tour. Hopefully when they come back stateside if they aren't to tired they'll do a gig here or there. If so I will do my damndest to catch them. Their live experience is everything a music lover could ask for. So if they come, GO. Don't sleep. Go to the show and hear for yourself.

So until the next Meshell gig I'm able to go to I'll just continue to enjoy the selection of live recorded Meshell tracks I've been lucky enough to come across...they never get old

glad you both enjoyed them so much

suomynona said:

Well one reason could be her name... wtf? how is it pronounced?

seriously, I could never go into a record store and ask for something I didnt know how to pronounce properly. I did it once and I still cringe at the memory... one bitten...

TheSkinMechanic said:

Ndegeocello = in-day-gay-o-chello

Try it, buy it

Thank you CalhounSq... I shall investigate

TheSkinMechanic said:

JUSTTHEMUSIC SAID:

the truth as she feels it at that moment...she's not performing FOR you, she's sharing WITH you. It sounds simple, but that's a rare thing indeed


BRAVO!!- smartest thing i've ever heard said about me'shell. thanx for putting into words what i've been trying to say all along