Patrice – Nile
Reviewed by Sadie O., 1/29/09
Unique jazz/folk/reggae by Afro/German star. Patrice’s voice might be a bit of an acquired taste – high and nasal, but full of passion. Much use of acoustic guitar, and often rather depressing introspection – you singer/songwriter and shoegaze fans will like a lot of these tracks more than I do, but there are several tracks I just love, and it’s all worth a listen, and VERY different from your standard reggae release of any era. FCCs on tracks 2 and 4. I love 3, 7, 12.
1. 0:32 long, low fade-in to next track. Not great radio.
2. 4:40 FCC: “fuck the world” **very slow somber acoustic intro, then slow one-drop, upful lyrics. Slow fade to acoustic guitar and barely audible bits of sound.
3. 5:23 *****bluesy acoustic guitar intro, very high vocals, builds to a really fun funky groove – compelling as makes no never mind. Long bit of percussion and thumb piano at end.
4. 4:31 FCC: “don’t fuck up” x 2 (per chorus) **title of song spoken, then acoustic guitar and strings, builds to downtempo skank with orchestral strings and backing vocals – pretty, dense sound.
5. 3:55 ***uptempo skank with acoustic guitar and not much bottom, cool lyrics/vocals.
6. 3:08 ***acoustic slow dance groove, sweet vocals, has much of the feel of some of Bob Marley’s acoustic stuff.
7. 3:57 ****percussion and glitch effects intro, fractured downtempo skank – strange but cool.
8. 5:17 *very low acoustic guitar intro, very pretty, sad. Intense song of sadness. Very soft, really crying for last minute.
9. 4:06 **soft shuffling noises and spoken word intro, builds to very slow shuffle with orchestral strings and bluesy feel.
10. 4:39 **soft acoustic intro, rather trance-like love song. Builds and falls, feels very sincere and pretty unique.
11. 3:34 *acoustic downtempo folk, sad song of modern life.
12. 3:34 ****jazzy little vocal/instrument riff, funky skank with fine bass.
13. 4:48 **random soul vocals intro, folky acoustic groove with guest singer, vocal harmonies. Extremely mellow. Odd vocal outro.
14. 3:55 ***cool slow riddim cobbled from bass grunts. Nice vocal harmonies, rather jazzy.
15. 4:30 **jazzy snare line, apparently a cry for privacy. Interesting vocals.
16. 4:50 **long R&B intro, uptempo roots bubble, Rasta lyrics. Another number with a Wailers feel. Nice bit of dub at end.
17. 5:02 *folky acoustic love song with slow handclapped one-drop. Very sincere stuff. There’s a bit in the middle that reminds me of Marc Bolan, oddly enough. Long fade.
18. 5:06 *chords and spoken word intro. Slow, mellow, dreamy. Good bit of diatribe in the middle. This is not the sort of thing I feel like listening to often, but it’s pretty amazing – check it out. Ends early.