Very rarely hear about them mentioned around these parts. One of those groups I've found to outlive other comparable acts from that genre/era in my listening patterns......I suppose the singing might be the main reason they're not remembered as prominently as I'd have guessed. I have a tendency to exalt bands with average singing in relation to the lesson paradigm.
The engineering of the drums and percussion is pretty tight on all their records. But the main thing that I return to when I pop em on.....the guitar playing. It's a real blues guitar. It's minimal but very melodic. Mostly a lazier James Brown kinda guitar (and yes, I consider James Brown to have a guitar style because of his arranging) with a little Hendrix on cuts like 'Brothers on the slide'. But it's a chilled out Hendrix that still stands in the rhythm section. Ain't even known his name til I checked it out today....Patrick Patterson. Something about those guitar tracks....he's not playing your ears out but he hits home and he plays with soul. I'll call it 'guitar played as a percussion instrument with melody-inclined dynamic emphasis'. Gulp. But I insist...every song they did is interesting in it's own right to check out the guitar playing.
I heard that fourth album they did once (Arrival) and it was okay. Bit more disco-ish and a lot of the genre mixing was gone, so it didn't stand out as much.
2. "Yah that's a good one." In response to Reply # 1 Mon Dec-09-13 01:04 AM by denny
I think it's the singing that makes a certain percentage of the people here dismiss them. I'd be interested in any background info on them to give more context to their career. For the amount of time that I listen to them....I really don't know anything about them. Kinda unusual because being a music nerd....I usually know more about the background of an act like that.
When I revisited them yesterday....I did a very small google search. Actually had NO idea that they were British. I had figured they were based in San Fran or something like that....definitely assumed they were an American act. Again...I've been listening to them for more than 20 years. Why am I completely clueless about their background story? Alot of groups that are comparable in my mind (ie Tower of Power, War, Mandrill) have kinda fallen by the wayside in my listening habits but Cymande has had staying power.
There are some missteps in their discography. I agree that the 4th album was a regression. There's a few cuts on the first 3 wherein the horn section doesn't sound engineered or mixed properly. And again...I can see how the singing might be a stumbling block for certain type of rnb listeners.
In any case....you'd think their name would pop up more often in the lesson threads.
The liners are good — but they're just an overview. Their wikipedia entry basically summarizes them. I will scan and post the liners if you are interested.
That infectious piano melody and that bass line...dope.
Also just a PSA: Never heard "Bird" or "Them And Us" before. They're listed as bonus tracks on the digital version of Second Time Round I'm listening to now. Not on the vinyl I have. Worth a listen.
5. "They're also one of my favorite groups." In response to Reply # 0
First really "discovered" them senior year of college, when one of my homies played me the first album on vinyl. I'd heard "The Message" in high school and "Bra" when the "Crooklyn" soundtracks dropped. Sometime in 2001 I found a double CD that had their first three albums and a few bonus tracks. Mind was sufficiently blown after that.
A lot of my favorite tracks have already been posted, but I'll add these as well:
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