Raphael Saadiq-Instant
Vintage
(Universal)
Raphael Saadiq has
logged well over a decade in the music biz as one of
the brains behind Tony! Toni! Toné! and last year's
supergroup Lucy Pearl. But other than a few solo
soundtrack singles over the years like "Ask Of You"
(from Higher Learning) and "Get Involved"
(from The PJ's), he has never gone out on
his own.
So Instant Vintage is long
overdue. Saadiq refers to the music on the album
as "Gospel-delic" and between this and the album
title, you get the feeling that the album will have
a bit of a retro-vibe and Saadiq does not
disappoint. What is surprising is the diversity of
sources on the album.
The first tune, "Doing What I
Can" does a good job of pointing out what is good
about this approach, but also what is bad. It
starts off with a stone soul groove straight off a
Barry White/Love Unlimited album. About a minute in,
he pastes on top some old-school rap scratching, a
falsetto chorus and sound bytes about himself and
the album. It sounds lovely (if a bit cluttered...)
and eventually you are sitting there thinking you
are listening to what is essentially an immaculately
produced commercial.
His musical adventurousness
works a lot better on the stunning "Still Ray" which
is not only a potent love jam but the first song I
remember hearing in years that features a tuba
solo... which adds a wonderful timelessness to the
tune. He also stretches out with "OPH," a sparse
country-gospel styled celebration of weed. "Charlie
Ray" is a better Prince song than Prince himself has
done in a decade.
Saadiq has a surplus of
fascinating ideas, and if not all of them work you
still have to give him props for the fearlessness of
trying. Instant Vintage is well worth the
trip. (6/02)
