SOUNDTRACK: RO JAMES–Tiny Desk Concert #584(December 5, 2016).
I’d never heard of Ro James, but he reminds me a lot of Prince (never a bad thing). He sings a kind of R&B that is more than R&B, like Prince. Although he sings mostly in an almost rapping style, he has an admirable falsetto. But when he starts really singing, he’s got a great roughness in his voice–just like Prince. And the blurb tells us that it’s okay that he sounds like Prince:
Lots of us try to be cool, but the trick has always been in the subtleties; they’re what allow us to walk that thin line between cool and corny. Enter Ro James.
Ask where he’s from, and James will say, “Everywhere.” He spent his childhood and teenage years from Germany to New York, and from Hawaii to Indiana. Rosie Gaines of Prince’s New Power Generation is his aunt, so James comes by his coolness honestly. In 2013, James independently dropped his EP, Coke, Jack And Cadillacs. His debut album, Eldorado, exemplifies that cool. It’s a hazy ride that explores love, lust and other vices without the lovey-dovey clichés. The album always feels current, even as his slick wordplay and acoustic vibe could easily slide it into a ’70s or ’90s hit list.
James and his band [Marlon Lewis (drums); Greg Moore (guitar); Eric Whatley (bass)] recently stopped by the NPR Music offices to play two tracks that seem tailor-made for a Tiny Desk concert, as well as a deconstructed version of his club jam from Eldorado. His falsetto falls right in the pocket with the lead guitar of his breakout hit, “Permission.” This new arrangement of his follow-up single, “Already Knew That,” maintains the bounce of the studio version, but the restrained arrangement allows listeners to follow the playful words much better. In between songs, he asks, “Y’all hot, or is it just me?” — at which point a few in the audience immediately giggle and emphatically agree while fanning themselves. Ro James is still the coolest.
There’s not much more for me to add except that I was won over by him. He describes “Already Knew That” as when you find somebody you like and their playing games with you: “you already knew that you want me as much as I like you.” I was amused by the title of this song (which is the same as a Korn song and plays of a joke that we used to tell in grade school about what these letters stood for: “A.D.I.D.A.S. (All Day I)”: all day I dream about sexing you. And yes, he was pretty hot in all that leather.
[READ: September 12, 2016] new television
In continuing with my publishing pieces from Rivka Galchen, here’s a piece about TV.
In this essay, Galchen reviews the miniseries The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, a show that I would never in a million years watch. When the nonsense with Simpson happened the first time, I may have been the only person in American who deliberately did not tune into the slow chase. I chose any channel that it wasn’t on. And all through the trial I tried my best to ignore everything. Which wasn’t easy. And now years later, it has all come back again. And I still don’t care.
Despite my lack of interest in the show and spectacle, I did enjoy Galchen’s analysis. I liked her comparison of the treatment of Marcia Clark to the treatment of Hillary Clinton in this election season (and we see how that turned out). #ITMFA.
Likability is about wealthy good-looking celebrities, but the most villainous character is police officer Mark Furhman, the detective who was caught on tape saying some pretty awful things about minorities. In a real life twist that seems obvious, he’s now a regular guest on Fox News. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 