The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
CD Reviews  |  Classical  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features
bmp_2009

Santogold

Downtown
By DANIEL BROCKMAN  |  May 13, 2008
3.0 3.0 Stars
santagoldinside
As the multiplying number of female major-label artists releasing bloop-bleep manifestos to wackiness attests, Björk’s stunt with the swan outfit was a defining cultural moment. In the wake of Swangate, it seems that female solo artists have two paths to choose from: releasing solid acoustic-based songy songs, or wearing warpaint and DayGlo and delivering vocals in as idiosyncratic a style as possible. It’s not really worth giving examples, because in the case of Santi White a/k/a Santogold’s debut album, identifying the specific reference points spoils all the fun. And anyway, the real reference point here is a bit more arcane: let’s see, an artist emerges out of nowhere with a major-label debut that is exceedingly polished, yet with a foot in a burgeoning underground scene, and with a stylistic diversity that makes every track a different exercise in genre mastery? That’s right, it’s like Lenny Kravitz’s debut all over again. The dubby patches at the two-thirds mark kill a lot of the momentum, but one would have to be pretty jaded to deny the club-banging ecstasy of “Creator,” the new-wave crunch of album opener “L.E.S. Artistes,” and/or the Ashlee-Simpson-covering-the-Police awesomeness of “You’ll Find a Way.”
Related: Risky business, Mixed, nuts, 2008 Listravaganza!, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Lenny Kravitz, Music,  More more >
  • Share:
  • RSS feed Rss
  • Email this article to a friend Email
  • Print this article Print
Comments

Today's Event Picks
ARTICLES BY DANIEL BROCKMAN
Share this entry with Delicious

 See all articles by: DANIEL BROCKMAN

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group