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Ozomatli - Street Signs
ROCK | WAV | CUE | 300DPI | 564 MBS | 51:46
Concord 2004 
Los Angeles-based Ozomatli are a new kind of American band, a band reflecting the multiracial and multicultural One World demographics of the 21st century. Drawing on musical sources as diverse as salsa, hip-hop, rock, jazz, funk, Tejano, and reggae, Ozomatli appear to be trying to be all things to all people, but amazingly, they pull it off more times than they don't, and even when their increasingly inclusive experiments fall short, they still manage to offer up new creative possibilities. With the release of Street Signs you can add Middle Eastern music to the mix, and once again, the sheer number of ingredients they manage to pack into their sound is impressive, beginning with "Believe," the album opener, which should be all over pop radio with its full, deep, and anthemic sound (that it isn't all over the radio says a lot more about the current state of radio than it does Ozomatli). "Te Estou Buscando" and "Saturday Night" are also impressive, but the real highlight here is the appearance of legendary jazz and salsa pianist Eddie Palmieri on two tracks, the brief and lovely "Dona Isabelle" and "Nadie Te Tira," a blast of horn-drenched salsa that underscores an obvious point about Ozomatli: aside from their considerable cultural, political, and musical import, this is one hell of a dance band. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
~ TRACKLISTING ~
01. Believe
02. Love & Hope
03. Street Signs
04. (Who Discovered) America?
05. Who's To Blame
06. Te Estoy Buscando
07. Saturday Night
08. Déjame En Paz
09. Santiago
10. Ya Viene El Sol (The Beatle Bob Remix)
11. Doña Isabelle
12. Nadie Te Tira
13. Cuando Canto
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Part 4 | Part 5
pw=lisalisa
Jennifer Lopez - This Is Me...Then
POP | FLAC | CUE | 300DPI | 335MBS | 47:36
Epic 2002 
Don't pay attention to the title, which is absolutely nonsensical and bewildering -- it suggests that This Is Me...Then is a compilation, which it isn't, and it also suggests that this has some sort of theme, which it doesn't -- and concentrate on the music, which is the strongest, sultriest, best music Jennifer Lopez (who has abandoned the moniker J-Lo) has recorded for any of her three albums. This, of course, doesn't mean that it's a radical musical departure, though there are differences here -- the glitzy dance-pop has been phased out, there's a stronger urban soul vibe, particularly on the lush surfaces and sexy grooves -- but it does mean that the album has a solid set of songs and a sharp production pitched directly at the mainstream of 2002, yet with nice allusions to classic soul and early-'80s pop-funk and soft rock. Since Lopez is a celebrity and a regular feature on gossip pages in the early days of the 21st century, and since she's unabashedly mainstream -- her only attempts at street-cred are on the laughable lyrics to "Jenny From the Block," where she insists that success hasn't spoiled her yet and she's the same ol' Jen she's always been (if so, why the paparazzi on the back cover?) -- it's easy for some listeners to dismiss her, but it's harder to make to make a pop album as easily enjoyable as this. Sure, there are some flaws -- as mentioned above, "Jenny From the Block" is silly and no matter how much you love Ben Affleck, "Dear Ben" is unbearably mawkish -- but all mainstream pop albums stumble through filler. What counts is the overall feel and the highlights. Here, the feel is sexy, stylish, and fun, and there are numerous highlights, all feeling effortless. And if you think that's easy to do, take a listen to a few other pop-R&B albums from late 2002 (Stripped and Charmbracelet come to mind) and hear how good this record is. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
~ TRACKLISTING ~
01. Still
02. Loving You
03. I'm Glad
04. The One
05. Dear Ben
06. All I Have
07. Jenny from the Block
08. Again
09. You Belong to Me
10. I've Been Thinkin'
11. Baby I Love U!
12. The One (Version 2)
Part 1 | Part 2
pw=lisalisa |
