Customer Reviews:

0 out of 0 people found the following review helpful
Customer Id: A2TLX0ZA4IDG9N 2008-08-23
 
Review Summary: The Formula Is Good
 
Review Content: Listen to anything remotely resembling pop music these days and you will always find a trace of the formulaic about it. If nothing else, the 21st century has refined pop music into something of a formulaic commodity. Mind you, there are some would argue Mickey Most was doing the same thing back in 1973...

Santogold's debut does contain some ambitions to meet some kind of blueprint. Upon first hearing I found it utterly generic - a record in search of a hit, if you like. The sound is clean and somewhat calculated.

Then after a few plays the thing reveals something of a little more substance. This may be slightly formulaic, ticking the electro-indie pop of "LES Girls" to the bouncy thrash pop of "Say Aha" or the elctro funk of "Creator" (which has a whiff of M.I.A.) about it. Suddely it starts to assert some individuality. Not something which instanly grabs you by the throat, yet turns out to be pretty satisfying.

This is a modern pop album, shifting through the genres gently morphing into some its interesting peers. After a few plays the record does reveal its better nature. Worth giving it the time to grow - not something we do in this modern age. This is one formula that is good.
 
 
 

0 out of 0 people found the following review helpful
Customer Id: A22N2JCIG15HFF 2008-08-04
 
Review Summary: If you like M.I.A and Missy Elliott...
 
Review Content: I brought this album after seeing Santogold perform a mash up with Roots Manouver, I have not been dissapointed. At first her voice has a similar same sound to Nelly Furtado but the originality of the music makes her stand out. If you like the party, rave, feel of M.I.A then this is definately a good investment, there is an element of ska and rave to all the tracks, ones to skip straight to are Creator and Lights Out.
 
 
 

13 out of 39 people found the following review helpful
Customer Id: A25E1MPBEKEK43 2008-07-19
 
Review Summary: Labels For Less
 
Review Content: The Wolf first encountered Ms White and her cohorts on the estimable
Mr Holland's variety show 'Later' early in 2008.

Some months later, given a knock-down price at my local music emporium,
Santogold has eventually found its' way into my range of hearing.

My somewhat obsessive-compulsive nature usually leads me to peel
extraneous sticky labels from CD cases as soon as I am able.

Mrs Wolf believes this to be one of my most annoying habits as they are
particularly difficult to remove from paws when dropped lazily on the
floor of our cave.

One such adhesive irritation, admittedly only half-read, may have displayed
the words "pop", ""of" and "queen' (the term "undisputed' may also have been present).

If I am wrong about this matter I apologise for my inattention. If memory serves
me correctly however "pop", "of" and "queen" references seem to me to be both
misapplied and innacurate.

I honestly can't remember the last time I was left feeling so despondent
by a new musical experience.
(Actually the last time was probably Kelly Osborne's 'Sleeping In The Nothing').

This is dull, uninventive retro-electro-pop of the worst pedigree.

Ms White barks, yelps and ululates her way through this dismal collection,
paying scant attention to matters of tonal and dynamic control and quality.

The perpetrators' intention had doubtless been to create a work of
sophisticated urban cool. In this they have failed to a miserable degree.

Historic lowpoints include 'Creator' followed closely by
'I'm A Lady' and the truly execrable 'Anne'.
Surely three of the most horrible songs you will hear this year.

On the basis of more warmly inclined reviews you may still wish
to explore this album but don't say I didn't warn you.


 
 
 

0 out of 0 people found the following review helpful
Customer Id: AY5CKM7EI198D 2008-07-14
 
Review Summary: A golden spew of sound and lyric
 
Review Content: This album caught my attention because Amazon put it in my recommended buys and I immediately loved the cover. On impulse, despite having heard nothing about or by Santogold I bought it and was not disappointed (my favourite impulse buy to date). The record is a mix of sounds that I am unable to accurately categorize though my best attempt would put it between modern R&B and Electronic influenced pop (dirtier though). There is the modern R&B cockiness found in the lyrics of songs like "Unstoppable" and "Creator": "me I'm a creator/ thrill is to make it up/ the rules I break got me a place/ up on the radar." However, this is backed up with heavily synthesized sounds which put it apart from mainstream R&B as it currently stands. Other songs such as "Lights Out" reveal a hot bass line with a sweet voice and fewer ambient electronic noises - you'd almost think they were by different artists. This album sounds great and I don't own anything like it, frankly I don't think there is anything like it (the nearest I could come up with was NYPC but they aren't that close) and I suggest you buy it.
 
 
 

4 out of 8 people found the following review helpful
Customer Id: A2H4TET0VKWV01 2008-06-06
 
Review Summary: Unclassifiable pop genius!
 
Review Content: If you put Blondie, dub reggae, punk, new wave, disco, dancehall, electro, pop and ska in a blender and pressed the button, you'd come out with something approaching Santogold's debut. If that sounds horribly arty and pretentious, though, don't fear; this is also a brilliant pop album, topped off with buckets of Brooklyn cool courtesy of Santi's Ronettes-meets-Debbie Harry voice. There's great hooks aplenty and you'll be humming these songs all summer. Yeah, okay, it's so undoubtedly trendy I expect to hear it the next time I go in Topshop, but Santogold is so much more than your average NME-endorsed chancer and far far more than (as some have claimed) a weaker version of her pal M.I.A.- and if you don't know who that is, you ought to search for 'Kala' and add it to your basket NOW. If you want to hear something fresh and exciting but still danceable and very enjoyable, you can't go wrong with this near-flawless effort from the amazing talent that is Santogold. Never thought I'd find myself agreeing with the NME but she might just be 'the Queen of all pop in 2008'!