Marvin Gaye and Al Green come to mind as artists who were great at packing value into phrases that seem simple on the surface.

ROTARY CONNECTION! That’s what I was hearing. Yes.

Also, this and Rose in Dark sounds like something a more comfortable in his own skin Maxwell would have made more of. But that Embrya fallout changed him around. Luckily he eventually made it back around…

I am in on Cleo Sol all the way. She’ll be listened to day 1 the next time she shows up with anything. Wow.

I agree that MAYBE some of the movements could be separate tracks on Mother. Then again, maybe not. That ‘Dangerous’ section!? Okay, make that one separate.

>I couldn't figure out why at first but I think it's because
>of a lot of what you note here: the two-part songs (or
>two-song tracks) almost make it hard to keep aware of where
>you are in terms of a track list. I normally don't care that
>much BUT
>
>>3. This is a long album. A few times I wondered if I was
>>halfway through the album and I realized I was only at
>>"Sunshine".
>>Side B is full of songs that sounded like album-ending songs
>>so I kept thinking "OK, THIS is the end" only to hear a new
>>song follow it.
>
>YES. This is my current nit-pick. Right now, I don't dislike
>anything on the record. I like some tunes more than others but
>I'm not mad at anything, I don't get itchy fingers to skip
>ahead. But you hit on the head: there are a lot of wrap-up
>moments here, album closers and several of them come right in
>a row. It's a fake-out but not in a good way -- it keeps me
>from sinking into it a bit more, hearing it as an album...
>
>Plus, musically and lyrically, it's not light. A lot of the
>lyrics are simply written but that doesn't take away from the
>heaviness of what she's talking about (it almost emphasizes it
>and complements it).
>
>So yeah, it's going to take a bit to really wrap my head
>around this one. That's not a bad thing by any stretch though;
>it's a good problem to have.
>
>
>>6. Oh yeah, the Stevie stylings are there. Good look
>>thebigfunk.
>>
>
>What's resonating is that kind of minimalist drum work of
>Stevie that you also find on Minnie's records, a lot of
>classic Roberta Flack, so much other stuff from that period.
>Tight but also loose and flowing; crisp snares/kicks but often
>very hushed as a whole. And it's that drummming that connects
>direct to '00s-period neo-soul, too -- which makes a lot of
>sense as an inspiration to this album.
>
>Combined with the confessional/honest element, this feels very
>much of that '70s period in soul/r&b but not derivative at
>all.
>
>-thebigfunk
>
>~ i could still snort you under the table ~