Meshell Ndegeocello's new album Comfort Woman...

First just so you know...it's an Enhanced cd with access to Bonus material...so if you buy this record you can pop it into your computer and can download a constantly changing library of mp3s of LIVE recordings from her current tour! Don't wait though, because as i said, every week or so they switch songs and put up new ones from a different venue...they've already put up about 12 live tracks total, the latest up now are from the House of Blues in LA. If you are 'thinking' about buying it i wouldn't wait...get it soon so you don't miss ANY more of this live stuff...(For those who don't know, Meshell KILLS live!) Who knows how long the Bonus stuff will last...so don't sleep on this one at your own risk!

So thats just some of the Bonus enhanced stuff you get (i'm all about the music, but i think theres other bonus stuff too, like screen savers, lyrics, photos and stuff like that)...but now, about the studio record itself..."Comfort Woman"...

i just have to say it again...i am really...I mean REALLLY loving this record. From top to bottom and all the way through...it is just wonderful. To me, the whole thing feels like one cohesive statement…perhaps more than any other Meshell record. Its about…well…love… in all it’s incarnations.

And it grooves like nobody’s business.

First, those of you who know me know I think Meshell’s Live stuff is simply as good as it gets. Period. To me her Live experience is so good that its to the point where if the FIRST time I hear a new song of hers is at one of her LIVE performances…those live performances are usually so raw and powerful and loose that when I later hear the studio versions of the tunes it honestly takes a while for me to ‘let’ the studio versions share the space with my live experiences. (a testiment to her amazing live experiences) But that said, I’ve got to say, my own 'live vs studio' thang is getting challenged with Comfort Woman now. This record just kicks ass. Yeah, you STILL need to experience the LIVE freeflowing extended expressions of these tunes to appreciate the full complete & inspired gift that Meshell has to offer…but trust me, the studio versions on Comfort Woman have quickly carved out their OWN place in my heart and can stand proudly right next to the live versions I first experienced in person and on various radio performances. (see KCRW link here…

http://www.kcrw.com/cgi-b..._type=show

So here is a quick breakdown of Comfort Woman…

"Love Song #1"...man all i can say is the first time i heard this song (live) i got hooked. And here it still resonates. The line and melody and the WAY she says...'THIS is Love...THIS is how I LOVE you'. yes...this IS love indeed.

"Come Smoke My Herb"...heheh...I DARE you not to like this track. I dare you. Yeah you'll probably wish it could go on for a 10 minute groovout (like it did when I FIRST heard it LIVE...at one of the early shows of this tour)...but 10 minutes OR 4 minutes of this is just bliss man...that bass line is the SHIT! And talk about keeping it real...talk abouut calming your spirit...easing your troubles...soothing your soul...getting some balance...mannn, THIS song DOES it FOR you. Had stressful week? Pop this song in...the melody, the music and those WORDS...I don't want to give too much of the lyrics away, i'd rather let folks experience them first as one with the music...but DAMN... they just put you in that state of relaxation..of mellow...of ease...'I'm simple like the flowers'...

"Andromedea & The Milky Way"...another beautiful soaring track that i heard live first...and yeah, here too you will want it to last longer because it sounds so good. A lot of folks are digging this track too. Why doesn't radio play stuff like THIS??? THIS is what a 'hit' should be. Forever…

"Love Song #2"... the images...they are so beautiful and just make you want to smile... "we can fly butterflies". This song makes me think about the pure unconditional love that a child brings to a parents life. I wonder if she was inspired to write this by her son? Whatever the original inspiration, it carries over to the listener as something wonderful, hopeful and genuinely uplifting. Pure love. Like i said...it just makes me smile...makes me happy. Yeah, this is grooving too. I love it..towards the end..when the guitar part kicks in and they start singing "come to me, we are the sun"...whew...I'm just shakin my head & smiling…keep goin’..don’t end yet…

"Body"...a sly sexy funkyfunky ass tune. Punchy ass bass...chicken grease guitar lick...aww c’mon, YOU know what you like...heheh...

"Liliquoi Moon"...man as much as i raved about the first version of Liliquoi Moon that i heard (on Biker Boyz soundtrack)...as much as i thought that THAT version was SO amazing that she deserved an award for IT alone...this version on Comfort Woman has proceeded to blow my mind just as much if not more! The song is so damn powerful. At the end of it I find myself just shakin' my head in pure amazement. Listen to that change-up,,,that guitar,,,those drums...sheeeit! I want it to go on forever.

"Love Song#3"...and what can i say about "Love Song #3" that hasn't already been said? Many are already picking this as a favorite track. Its INSTANTLY infectious..kick ass guitar work...it just rocks the %#*% out! And again, the feeling that the words and expressions give to the listener is just...its just..well it's just like love too. It's got that urgency, that yearning for love that we all have or had...and that amazing complete feeling of when you find it and you KNOW you've found it.

"Fellowship"...poignant on-point song with a groove & words & spirit that is SO timely and so timeless...ONE love indeed.

"Good Intentions"...I just LOVE the way this record kicks in...the punchy bass and then that lilty fluttering guitar...THAT shit is NICE! It just grooves…and it’s killer when they do it live. 'So amazing' indeed...another gem.

“Thankful”…ironically when this comes on I get a little down because I know it’s the last song on the cd. I get over it though. This tune is just as naked and honest as they come. Wonderful depth in the sounds and melodies…but why WHY does it end so soon???

So…that’s a quick breakdown Comfort Woman…

you should have this record.
you really can't help but like this record.

Seriously…I really feel that this record will fit nicely into ANYONEs collection, regardless of your musical tastes regardless of what musical genre you might prefer. It’s one of those records that is just universally appealing in a way that is very hard to describe. It’s just easy on the soul, moving to the spirit, grooving to the body. And…it’s uncompromisingly Meshell…and that is pretty much as good as it gets in my opinion.

A great summary for a great album.

Hmmm, makes me curious... unfortunately, I'm a little weak on the money side, but this really seems to be good. And I have her previous albums and really like them, so...

here's a link to get a brand new Comfort Woman Enhanced CD...PLUS you'll also get an utographed Booklet signed by Meshell herself...plus a promo sticker...all that...

for only 11.99!

I ordered and recieved mine already (it's sponsered by the her record company so it's definitely legit) but quantities are limited so get em now, while they are available at this price with the extra stuff it's really hard to pass up...

http://www.meshell.com/added_value.html

enjoy!

I'm really feelin this cd. Love song #3 has Prince influences written all over it. I love the guitar on this one.

Yea, it is a great album. But rolling Stone only gave it 3 stars.

2freaky4church1 said:

Rolling Stone also has Mary Kate & Ashley Oslen on their cover...'NOUGH SAID.

Applause for justhemusic!

Yes, folks. Run, don't walk, to your nearest record store and pick up "Comfort Woman" today. It's an incredible journey. What I find fascinating about this album is the way it uses it's time... wisely. Clocking under 40 minutes and with just ten tracks, the uncultivated consumer might be left wishing for more -- this sentiment is so, not the case if you actually emerse yourself in the material. Meshell does not disappoint on this studio album at all. It flows from beginning until end and takes you on a lovely musical journey. The record aches with soul and is Meshell's foray into electronic acoustic expression. I love the "Love Songs" and I can't get enough of "Lilliquoi Moon" (a thinly veiled Lisa Bonet reference?) and the album as whole has this calming, outerwordly vibe. Meshell's activist spirit burns on with "Fellowship" ("if you believe that your God is better than another man/how you gon' end all your suffering and strife?") Meshell's lines in the closing track, "I just want to be happy...thankful" aptly sums up the album's ethos. I am happy I purchased this LP.

Great revue!! I´m so in love with this
album right now.I keep listening 2 it at work
but I really need 2 buy this so I can get access 2 them
live tracks.
/peace Manki

2freaky4church1 said:

Only shallow pop fans care what today's Rolling Stone thinks.

It's the best album I've bought all year

Supernova said:

you realize WHO you're responding to don't you?

I've been jaamming off of the latest bonus cuts (from HOB in LA...)

The track 'Intro' is an instrumental track (possibly from her upcoming 'jazz' record on Verve?)...i don't care WHAT it's from...it's NICE...beautiful stuff, not to be missed...

justhemusic said:

I just downloaded the bonus tracks yesterday. I love enhanced CDs. If more of artists started doing this I might even by MORE CDs! Instead of burning ish (Record companies, pull out your notepads!)

PFunkjazz said:

Of course, that's why I said it.

sorry, meant to add the update below to this thread, not the other one...but it's all good, just so folks know whats coming up...

some more Meshell info...

long before her current release Comfort Woman even hit the streets...this other project below was already completed and awaiting release as well...talk about a one two punch...

on her next release...

“Me’Shell told me that she’d been wanting to make a jazz album. She had the idea for Papillon, and she was the driving force for the project.
She conceptualized it, produced it, directed traffic and invited friends. It’s not a pop record. There are tunes that are 11 to 14 minutes long and feature the players really stretching out and blowing.”

—Verve A&R executive Jason Olaine, 8/27/03


"Papillon ♥ Dance Of The Infidels"...

1. The Believer
2. Al Falaq 113
3. Aquarium
4. Papillon
5. The Chosen
6. Dance Of The Infidel
7. Luqman
8. Heaven

Guests: Lalah Hathaway, Cassandra Wilson,
Neal Evans, Oran Coltrane, Kenny Garrett,
Jack DeJohnette, Don Byron, Wallace Roney,
Joshua Redman, Oliver Lake, Larry Goldings...
Co-Produced by Me'Shell NdegéOcello & Bob Power
Tracked in Avatar Studios' Studio A
Mixed in Sony's New York City Studio D
Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge in New York, NY
Verve Records
February/March 2004

Above info is from the defintive Meshell site FreeMyHeart.com...

http://www.freemyheart.co...-home.html


I know i can't wait for this one..damn sure wish i could swing a ticket to Japan to see her perform some of these tunes at the Blue Note clubs over there...

justhemusic said:

Just found out that they WILL likley be posting MORE new live bonus content starting next week.

Then after that they will rotate the ones that have already been posted one more time...so if you SLEPT on this record before...get it now so you don't miss these tracks once they go up this last time. After that, it's your loss...

If they do what they've been doing...posting about 3 new tunes with each update...that would be a total of 15 live bonus tracks...probably over an hour and a half of live music that you'll get ALONG WITH the Comfort Woman STUDIO cd. Pretty damn sweet...

Well, at the risk of being hated I have listened to this album a few times now & it has not quite hit the spot.
A lot of the tracks seem a little bit 'samey', although there are 1 or 2 exceptions.

I will keep listening to it for a while as it may grab me yet but "So Far, So Not Pleased".

Jolajeph

jolajeph said:

No hating from me. People dig what they dig you know? It may hit different folks in different ways. I will say this though...this album is VERY specific in it's vibe...from what i've read the whole record was actually designed to get into that one groove zone...to deliver that one feeling...that 'mellow-easy-cold-outside-but-warm-inside dimly-lit-friday-night-cudlling-with-your-love-and-a-bottle of-wine' groove...it's not a driving record, it's not a party record, it's not a socially or thematically controversal record...it's simply a 'love' record really...and when you listen with that context i think you'll find it delivers what it promises...it works marvelously in that manner...it comforts you...

So yeah, i think you are doing the right thing by letting it settle in and listening to it for awhile...it's a slow-yet-warm-&-soothing burner...just right for when you need to wind down and relax and re-focus on some good vibes...this is the record for that...

(then later you can just pop in some of the live bonus tracks to kick it up a notch

justhemusic said:

they've posted the latest bonus live tunes ya'll...

this latest batch is almost 30 more minutes of stuff...which when added to the already posted bonus live tunes makes the total length of about 1:50 minutes...almost two hours of bonus live groovouts...hell yeah...

go get em while they're hot...

jolajeph said:

check this review out from the LA Weekly...the reviewer initially had a similar experience as yourself after a few listens...but then after they let the record simmer for a while the subtle flavors became more apparent...

"Forgive Me, Me’Shell"
November 28 - December 4, 2003 ©LA Weekly
by Ernest Hardy

"One of the luxuries afforded the late film critic Pauline Kael in her 1970s gig at THE NEW YORKER was that of revisiting films she’d already written about—either elevating them or knocking them down a notch from earlier assessments. With the nonstop barrage of product coming out of Hollywood nowadays, and the fact that movies (particularly those that aren’t huge box-office hits right out of the gate) are ushered in and out of theaters with lightning speed, that luxury is a relic of a bygone era. Which is unfortunate, because the real power of film is not gauged overnight or even in a few days, but over a stretch of time when images, dialogue and performances are allowed to sink in and nag you, haunt you or shift something deep within you. (Of course, most of what fills contemporary movie screens is forgotten even as you watch it, so there’s no need for any assessment period.) Music is perhaps even more demanding of time and space to be fully appreciated.

When writing a capsule review of Me’Shell NdegéOcello’s new CD, COMFORT WOMAN, for a recent issue of Rolling Stone, after having been allowed only a few days with it, I said that while the collection’s reggae/dub-infused grooves were highly seductive, the singer-songwriter’s words were a familiar rehashing of past lyrics. The review was just a little more than lukewarm. The same night that I completed the final edit for the blurb, I grabbed my headphones, put the CD in the player and fell across my bed. I wasn’t even halfway through before I had to turn it off. Fuck me. It was pretty remarkable. Not great, but within spitting distance of greatness. Something had shifted. I went back and listened to the whole disc, many times, and for days on end. Damn.

Comfort Woman is stellar work; on it, Me’Shell once again laps her peers, retooling a blueprint that many photocopied but few have truly built on or learned from. (Forget, for a moment, that neo-soul was/is a contrived marketing coinage and a bullshit movement; most of what was deemed neo-soul was a pale imitation of what Me’Shell had been doing before the term even existed.)

Part of the initial problem was that I approached COMFORT less as a critic than as a salty fan. Me’Shell’s first three albums, PLANTATION LULLABIES (1993), PEACE BEYOND PASSION (1996) and especially the flawless BITTER (1999), are bibles of modern soul music. They’re incendiary and vulnerable, politically charged and emotionally bare, all at once. They not only organically traverse the spectrum of black music (jazz, rap, rock, go-go, R&B, funk), they soar to a place where genre is unmappable and irrelevant. But her fourth album, last year’s COOKIE: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL MIXTAPE, was Me’Shell for dummies. Months of listening to it, pausing from it, coming at it from different angles, only reinforced that take. If someone else had made the album, it would have been a good but derivative effort. As it was, COOKIE came off as Me’Shell doing a somewhat forced performance of Me’Shell. The politics and observations weren’t just characteristically blunt, they were obvious, tailor-made for a culture that needs its political statements clunky and ringed in neon. While it was great to hear samples of radical black artists and activists like Angela Davis (“I am a communist...”), Countee Cullen and June Jordan on the disc, the fact is, those acclaimed figures are lifted from the Alterna-Negro-Boho-Cool Tips Sheet. It was as though Me’Shell were working from the outside in, instead of vice versa; it’s the vice versa that makes her work so powerful, so beautiful.

COMFORT WOMAN is, in many ways, Me’Shell’s true anthropological mix-tape. The opening track, “Love Song #1,” begins by referencing “Call Me,” from LULLABIES. But then, within the deep, dark folds of a dubby groove, it becomes a hypnotic seduction. Her throaty, whispery singing—hoarse with desire—flames against the sway of the music, and the track instantly takes its place alongside Me’Shell’s countless past slow-jam classics. “Liliquoi Moon” (Lisa Bonet’s name for the past several years) originally showed up early this year on the Biker Boyz soundtrack (in which the actress starred) and examines yet again the clashing, painful dynamic of NdegéOcello’s parents’ relationship and the way it shaped and continues to shape her. It’s even more languorous here. The heightened spiritual quest and questioning at the heart of PEACE BEYOND PASSION resurfaces in “Fellowship,” a tune that succinctly captures the religious, cultural and economic forces that both led up to 9/11 and now make the fallout such a moral and political quagmire. COMFORT drifts toward monotony at the end of its brief span (40 minutes), but it unquestionably helps if, before you sit down to listen, you take the advice Me’Shell offers in the song “Come Smoke My Herb.”

The Me’Shell completist has an almost full-time job keeping up with her output—soundtracks, tribute albums, cameos on other artists’ CDs. (She has a jazz album dropping early next year on Verve, which will feature Cassandra Wilson, Oran Coltrane, Kenny Garrett and Joshua Redman, among others.) She’s also currently on two excellent new homage efforts, Bird Up: The Charlie Parker Remix Project, and Just Because I’m a Woman, a heavy-hitting all-female tribute to Dolly Parton. The former comes as no surprise. The woman is one of the premier musicians in America, and her inclusion on a Bird tribute makes perfect sense. Still, it’s a little more surprising, and therefore in some ways more fulfilling, to hear her sultry, funky take on Parton’s “Two Doors Down.” While most of the other performers (Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Sinead O’Connor, Norah Jones) offer reverent, moving if conventional interpretations of some of Parton’s most heart-rending compositions, Me’Shell so completely reimagines the song that it fits snugly in her own repertoire. For all the well-earned praise Me’Shell has received for her own album and the aforementioned cameos, the most satisfying recorded work she’s dropped this year appears on Basement Jaxx’s “Kish Kash”. She has two tracks—the dreamy, atmospheric closing number, “Feels Like Home,” and the kitchen-sink dance track, “Right Here’s the Spot.” On the latter, she’s playful and sexy, and flows so effortlessly over the frenetic track that it makes you wish she’d spend more time on the high-tempo end of things..."

— Ernest Hardy "



lookin for more Meshell info? Go here and explore...

http://www.freemyheart.com/ytsriht.html

Lammastide said:

...i agree, with that review! but my favorite of her' is peace beyond passion its ah must have!!!

2freaky4church1 said:

Relative to Me'Shell's prior work, it is a very good album. But in general, it is a great album.

One thing I realized about Rolling Stone a long time ago is that, particularly with black artists, they assess the music based on what they would LIKE to hear from the artist, rather than the merits of what they ACTUALLY hear. I am sure that RS would want more "If That's Your Boyfriend"-type tracks from her, which is why they didn't show her the decency of a 4th star (which is what the LP deserves).

justhemusic said:

I disagree with Hardy's lambasting of "Cookie." If one compares "Cookie" on the same par as "Peace Beyond Passion" and "Plantation Lullabies," word-for-word, note-by-note you're bound to be disappointed.

"Cookie" worked because it was an amalgamation of Meshell's first 3 solo works. Each album acted as a chapter and "Cookie" was the thrilling finale. "Cookie" came at a turbulent point in society -- the album was finished before the September 11th attacks, but was released 11 months later, so you feel the tension and pressure cooking in the music and lyrics of the album. Like a gun shot signalling the start of a new year, "Cookie" signalled an end to the contemplation and disorder that peppered Lullabies, Passion and Bitter. You had to have a "Cookie" in order to move into the peace-of-mind, tranquility and calmness of "Comfort Woman."

If she were just to segway into a "Comfort Woman"-type album directly after "Bitter" she would've been accused of being lackadaisical and stuck on neutral. "Bitter" sounds beautiful because it's a stark contrast from the bookends of Peace Beyond Passion and Cookie. "Comfort Woman" rises above all the confusion and hurt that were in the first four albums and shows Meshell at a healthier and emotionally secure state in her life. The MIXTAPE was needed in order to bring about the Comfort.

silverjean said:

That's my fav too...

JANFAN4L said:

JANFAN4L said:

Yeah I gotta disagree with Hardy's assesment of Cookie too...and I think your assessment of it is dead-on-point Janfan. Yes elements of Cookie WERE in your face...and they needed to be...that WAS the energy of that record. Provoking, exploring, revealing, intense & exploding...it HAD to be that way. It was SUPPOSED to be that way. No it's not as coheasive as any of her albums before or since...but again, i don't think it was intended to be a coheasive record like that (hence the "mixtape" in the title). At any rate, I still think Cookie the Anthropological Mixtape contains some examples of Meshells most powerful work...check out "Jabril" and see if I'm lying...or "Criterion"...thats some mighty stuff...

I also agree with you that "Comfort Woman" right after "Cookie" makes more sense than "Comfort Woman" coming after "Bitter"...

Comfort Woman is the calm after the storm...it is the peace beyond the passion so to speak...her records really do seem reflect her own journies and explorations...she doesn't just make songs, just tunes for the radio to play...no, Meshell is the type of artist who creates unfiltered windows into her own experiences and crystal clear reflections on ours...thats what makes her stuff so damn powerful and relevant to me...

justhemusic said: