Search - Soulive :: Next

Doin' Nothing (for me)

James Bonevich | Kalamazoo, MI | 03/25/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"If you are someone who listens to nothing but hip-hop music, you will probably think you are hearing "jazz" when you rip this. That's what scares me - that and all of the other things that Blue Note seems to be willing to do to water down their brand. To someone who listens to a lot of jazz (actual jazz) and blues and rock/pop/soul and classical and world music, like me, this stuff will sound like slick formulaic clap-track party music that leaves no back-beat behind, with very little improvisational interest, and absolutely no compositional interest. I wonder how the band can even keep these tunes straight in their own heads when they're trying to play them live, but then I do have to remind myself that Eskimos are reported to use over 50 different words for "blubber" and more than twice that number for "snow". The drummer can probably keep them straight because he pretty much does the same thing on every song with no variation and without *ever* missing the 2 and 4 on that overly-crisp snare. Two stars for "Next" because it does make you want to get up and shake your booty if you're really drunk first. Otherwise, and unfortunately for me, this music is pretty much Souless."