Entertainment Weekly actually knows who Meshell is? hmmm...cool.

My wife got a subscription to EW magazine as a gift, because she's kinda sorta a movie/tv/entertainment buff...so i flip through it now and again, its usually good for quick, low maintainence, easy, light reading while you are in between doing this or that. a quick pop-culture snapshot of the week if you will.

like most mags of this sort, they have reviews sections. And yeah, while I might read em, honestly i don't put much (actually ANY) stock at all into anyones reviews whos taste/preferences i don't already know. sure, fine to read, but if i don't have any signfigant knowledege of what type of stuff the reviewer normally enjoys, then their reviews wont sway me either way.

All that said, i didn't really expect EW to even DO a review Meshells upcoming record...i figured that she might be just a bit too 'outside of the mainstream' for them to actually devote one of their review slots on.

well, i'm happy to say, i was a bit wrong on that...

Meshells " The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams " is indeed one of the 11 records reviewed in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine (#956, the Sept 28th 2007 issue)...

I'm even happier to say that not only do they actually know who Meshell is, but out of the 11 albums they reviewed her record recieved an "EW PICK" stamp (if something gets an "EW PICK" stamp it essentially means the Magazine thinks its a 'best of the pack', that they 'highly recommend' it.)

So out of the 11 records reviewed this week, three got "EW PICK" stamps, Meshells was one of em.

Out of those three that got 'EW PICK' stamps, Meshells record was tied for 1st on the 'grade' portion of the reviews: Meshell & The Foo Fighters (another band i like) were the only two to get solid "A" grades for their releases this week)...

enough of my babble...here's the review...

"Meshell Ndegeocello
the World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams (Emarcy)
Soul

After getting her jazz rocks off with 2005's The Spirit Music Jamia, Ndegeocello returns to her genre-bending roots. With her eye on global events and her heart gnawed at by mixed emotions, the mellifluos-voiced bassist coasts from punk rock to orchestral ballads to seductive grooves. Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, saxaphonist Oliver Lake, and Malian singer Oumou Sangare lend their talents, while Ndegeocello's dreamy vocal styles buttress this boudoir-friendly work.
A
-Margeaux Watson.
Download This: "Lovely Lovely""

so there ya go...yeah i know its kinda brief, a short sweet little snippet of a review...but hey, who knows...perhaps the high "EW PICK/Grade A" rating will indeed convince at least one more person out there, who maybe up to this point hadn't, to open their ears and give our girl a listen...and if it does that, then i'm all good
and

This message has been edited. Last edited by: derek,

thank you for this derek

we should make this thread the official "reviews in the media" post.

p.s. entertainment weekly has always given meshell good reviews... (from what i can remember

waiting for rolling stone's review to appear here...

What's not to love about the up-tempo, percolating swirl of flower-power soul, jazz, dub, funk, Afropop and spacey electronica that colors Meshell Ndegeocello's "The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams" (Decca, A-)?

Featuring guest appearances by saxophonist Oliver Lake and guitar great Pat Metheny, this is a creative, atmospheric magic carpet ride music fit for a Prince. Or a Queen. -- Jonathan Takiff, Philadelphia Daily News, 9/25/07.

Meshell Ndegeocello's "The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams" sounds like the soundtrack to a dream, a poem with a punk aesthetic, coated with thick as honey sensuality and dripping with religious, social and political imagery.

She harnesses her magic like a master, gently coaxing the listener to trip out as she pulls you deeper inside her mind. The power is in both what she says, and how she makes you feel as she says it.

"Will you be there/When the pain I feel makes me hate you/And I show you no mercy" she whispers on "Relief: A Stripper Classic," over a raunchy bass line and crunching electric guitars. How can you not oblige?

"Get a bang out of life," she sings to a potential suicide bomber on "The Sloganeer: Paradise," as she expresses their psyche, declaring their actions: "My frustrated destructive reaction to my life." The pounding bassline and frenetic drums echo adrenaline's punch, daring you to empathize with a killer.

Saxophonist Oliver Lake and vocalist Thandiswa Mazwai are among the artists that join the collective on this album, contributing in subtle yet irreplaceable ways. Another treat is the irony of "Shirk," where the tonal mood lightens like a sonic oasis, while the lyrics wallow in dark emotions. Oumou Sangare guests on this track, singing in the African tongue Bambara and seemingly expressing all that is incomprehensible in the aftermath of a breakup. It, like the rest of the album, is honest, raw and vulnerable.

"I'm just a soul on the planet/Trying to do good, be good and feel good," Ndegeocello drawls on "Michelle Johnson." Mission accomplished.

CHECK THIS OUT: Why does Ndegeocello launch into a heavy-metal Middle Eastern groove in the middle of the baby-makin' track "Lovely Lovely?" And why does it work so well? Discuss. -- Aimee maude Sims, The Associated Press, 9/24/07.

thanks for posting these m...i always enjoy hearing folks first impressions...

i dropped by a local best buy today to see if they had any in stock, i didn't see any. Gonna stop by a local ma &pop record store tomorrow to see if they have any. (my amazon order is on the way)

you're welcome. i just hope that the cd was sent out to more than a few reviewers...

something tells me that this cd won't be stocked at many "local" stores...

yeah you may be right about most local mom & pop locations. Luckily here in Richmond there is one local store that i'm sure will have it (one of the employees is a big fan and makes sure they keep her stuff around. They even still have some comfort woman promotional posters up in the store)

4 years later... that's awesome... would be nice if meshell just happened to wander in there and sign one of them for him

did you see who's opening at the first 3 cali shows? man, i'd love to go to those shows...

Rolling stone gives this masterpiece 3 out of 5 stars ... here's what they had to say ...

Though her deep voice is mixed down a little, most of Meshell Ndegeocello's seventh album -- five of its tracks reprised from last year's Article 3 EP recalls 2002's Cookie. Call it Sade unlite: jazzy atmospherics meant to evoke spiritual fundamentals rather than zoned-out surfaces. But this changes. The last five tracks include abrasive funk, animist gospel, child-rearing reggae and the prayerful near-metal closer, "Relief: A Stripper Classic."


ROBERT CHRISTGAU

(Posted: Oct 4, 2007)

Meshell Ndegeocello is singing again. That’s good news for fans who were miffed by 2005’s "The Spirit Music Jamia: Dance of the Infidel," on which she silenced her dark, mellifluous voice and eschewed her patented randy art-funk in favor of meditative modern jazz. Still, those hoping for songs like her mid-’90s come-hither classics “Outside Your Door” and “Stay” will be disappointed. On "The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams," she channels the frenzy of early-’80s punk and No Wave, sounding as if she’d conceived its music after long sessions at the Knitting Factory, Tonic, or CBGB. Her once groove-laden bass playing often disappears in favor of jackhammer ferocity, and she complements her newfound rawness with turbulent drums, thrashing guitars, and helter-skelter electronics. It’s Ndegeocello’s noisiest disc yet; it’s also her cagiest and most cantankerous. She revisits her usual themes of religious hypocrisy, political injustice, and inner strife, but where her lyrics were usually lucid and direct, they now sound willfully abstruse. The bewildering lines of the opener, “Haditha,” a spooky Islamic evocation on which poet Hamza Yusuf spiels about the apocalypse, leads into the nihilistic “The Sloganeer: Paradise,” on which she yelps, “Get a bang out of life/Suicide, straight to paradise/If you’re the chosen/Why don’t you just kill yourself now/I hate all the beautiful people.” The song might be a critique of suicide bombers or of the conservative right’s position on the war in Iraq; nevertheless, the cacophonous soundscape and nearly indecipherable lyrics overwhelm the song’s thematic intent. The doomsday vibe continues with “Evolution,” a nightmarish blues rocker on which she warns us that “Jesus is coming/To tell you/He’s not God/Evolution’s ending/We’ll burn beneath the sun.” The disc reaches an intense climax on “Article 3” where a collage of self-deprecating quips (“I’m burdened by fads and fashion/Curses to the culture of hair”) swirl atop snarling guitar, volatile drums, and shrill African chants. She sometimes overlaps the political rants and the personal exorcisms, with baffling results. The dreary “Shirk” at first seems directed at President Bush, but the song concludes on a head-scratching note: “I’m sorry I lied/But you can’t forgive/And I can’t forgive you/We can’t forgive/I’m sorry I left you no home,” she sings. Elsewhere she unfurls intergalactic esoterica like “I’m ascending/Faster than the speed of light/To sweet nothingness/A place beyond space and time” on the trippy “Virgo,” and mucks up a potentially sexy ballad, “Elliptical,” with daffy spaced-out verses about receiving messages from God in the form of a rainbow and taking instructions from someone named Captain Gerrard. There’s some levity, though, on the Caribbean-flavored ballad “Lovely Lovely,” the reggae-driven “Solomon,” dedicated to her parents and son, and “Michelle Johnson,” a feisty, self-mythologizing rocker on which she sings: “I do some right/I do some wrong/I pray/To let light guide me.” Maybe that’s the central theme to this ball of confusion—Ndegeocello following her wanton spirit in all its self-indulgent, existential glory. Ever since her 2002 masterpiece, "Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape," failed to have the commercial impact she hoped for, Ndegeocello has ditched trying to break into the mainstream R&B scene. With this disc, she pretty much flips it the middle finger.

John Murph, Washington City Paper, 9/26/07.

The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams (Decca): A: Ndegeocello’s no r&b diva. Rather, she’s a punk-jazz musician with natural soul and a visionary songwriter on a spiritual quest. That journey continues here, but the landscape has shifted. Abrasive, skronky textures are fortified by Ndegeocello’s thick, distorted bass lines and guitar work from Brandon Ross, Pat Metheny and Cambridge’s own David Gilmore. Throughout, Ndegeocello challenges with sharp musical curveballs and thought-provoking debates about self-discipline vs. hedonism, faith vs. disillusionment and the old standby, lust vs. love. -- Christopher John Treacy, Boston Herald, 9/28/07.

Okay derek, you have given me the courage to come out as well.... I must confess, at the risk of tanking all the site's credibility, that I too read Entertainment Weekly. Though I missed the review you posted from the 9/28 issue, I just had a moment for mindless pablum and was reviewing the 10/5 issue which arrived yesterday.

TWHMMTMOMD is prominently featured as the second of "The Must List, ten things we love this week" after the Jesse James movie...

Like m, I have seen them offer great (though usually micro) reviews to Meshell. I think Bitter was on their top 10 albums of the year. All kidding aside, I have a great appreciation for the compact writing in EW... the subject matter is not always worthy, but someone has to turn all those snarky, informative, sentence-long reviews, etc.

Looking forward to The Independent!

TEXT FROM EW:
2. ...
"With the help of some jazz-MVP special guests, the emotive bassist delivers a funky, meditative album that blends soul, punk, and passion."

P.S. Headed in the office to pick up the Amazon pack that arrived yesterday including one of the bonus versions of the album... I'll beg weakmindedness for not remembering exactly which I ordered (but your myspace discussion was helpful in the decision), but can't wait!

EW readers unite!!

thanks for the heads-up CoSo...we got the 10/5 issue in the mail but i haven't had a chance to read it...yet

here's another review from the web...

"From Giant Step
"Like Miles Davis or Joni Mitchell, Ndegeocello challenges musical convention with an ample supply of curveballs." -- The Boston Herald

Canonized, marginalized or just scrutinized, Meshell Ndegeocello has given up with the politics of explaining herself. After 20 years in an industry that has called her everything from avant garde to a dying breed, what unquestionably remains is the inimitable bassist, prolific songwriter and the creativity and curiosity of an authentic musical force. She has earned critical acclaim, the unfailing respect of fellow players, songwriters and composers, and the dedication of her diverse, unclassifiable fans. For the sake of setting the record straight, a few brass tacks remain: Meshell was born in Germany, raised in DC, signed at 23, and nominated for 9 Grammy awards.

On her 7th musical wonder The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams, she questions the inevitable, inconceivable brutality of the world with an arsenal of familiar themes: faith, rage, despair, fleeting joy and nagging doubt. The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams is possibly her most genre-bending album yet, filled with elastic bass playing, breathy crooning, eclectic vocoder noodling and recurring bilingualism. Jazzmen Pat Metheny, Jason Lindner, and Robert Glasper spice up the record with guest performances. Casual fans can recall Ndegeocello's early successes with the unapologetic return to pure funk workouts in songs like "Michelle Johnson," "Headline," and "Solomon." On the flip side of the spectrum, "Virgo" closes with a sparse, truncated sax solo. It is a continuation of the journey, a quest for truth, a plea for beauty, and an elegy for former selves. That said, the truest hallmark of a Meshell Ndegeocello record is its honest evolution from the last, from any before - another stop on the way to transcendence."

...and another...

"All Music Guide
Say what you will about bassist, songwriter, singer, bandleader, and arranger Me'Shell Ndegéocello, any box you attempt to put her into is not possibly big enough to hold her creativity and restless, unwieldy aesthetic vision. On "The Sloganeer: Paradise," a tune in which she equates the bland, complicit nature of blindly living modern life with committing suicide, she sings: "To know me is to know I love with/My imagination." It's a summation of her entire career thus far, and this album furthers that notion exponentially. The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams is Ndegéocello's debut for Decca; it is wilder than Cookie: An Anthropological Mixtape, or her last recording, The Spirit Music Jamia: Dance of the Infidel. The latter set was a project that indulged her love of postmodern jazz and engaged in improvisation. She directed an ensemble that included Oliver Lake, Don Byron, Jack DeJohnette, Kenny Garrett, Ron Blake, Brandon Ross, Lalah Hathaway, Cassandra Wilson, and others. It walked a line between tight song-oriented material and longer jam-based tunes, and she didn't really sing on it. That's remedied here, and her sultry, smoky voice is heard on virtually every cut. Musically, this albums walks through walls. There are funky soul tunes whose backdrops are full of psychedelic music that would make the latter-day Jimi Hendrix smile in delight (think the material from Cry of Love). There are jazz-oriented tunes that slip toward pop, folk, and whole-tone folk songs. The lyrical content engages spiritual concerns and carnal love more often than not in the same song. And while she once more employs a wildly diverse collection of collaborators that include everyone from Ross and Lake to Pat Metheny, Oumou Sangare, Robert Glasper, Mike Severson, Daniel Jones, Doyle Bramhall, David Gilmore (not the one from Pink Floyd), James Newton, and Graham Haynes, she also cut two songs ("Evolution" and the bonus cut "Soul Spaceship"), playing all the instruments herself. So what does it sound like? The future arriving fully formed on the doorstep. It opens provocatively enough with noted American Muslim teacher and Islamic scholar Shiek Hamza Yusuf reciting the predictions of Mohammed to a backwash of Ross' guitar and ambient sounds. (Yusuf was the man who appeared with George W. Bush after 9/11 and denounced the attacks and all religious violence, and is working for a return to Islamic sciences as well as assisting Western governments in understanding Islamic culture and Muslims.) It moves into a rock & roll dreamscape called "Sloganeering: Paradise" awash in keyboards, a drummer playing drum and bass breaks that would make Prince jealous. "Evolution" is a spaced-out psychedelic dirge with few lyrics and a sound field worthy of Hendrix (and indeed her guitar playing is influenced in that direction). The sci-fi jazz of "Virgo," with Lake, Newton, and trombonist George McMullen, hovers and floats in vanguard space before turning into a dreamy pop song with acoustic guitars, synth washes, and samples but is held together with a gorgeous melody and vocal performance (and contains a funky little solo by Lake on alto saxophone). "Shirk" is a gorgeous spiritual duet between Sangare and Ndegéocello with Hervé Sambe and Metheny on acoustic guitars. Metheny also appears on "Article," the following cut with a guest appearance by Thandiswa Mazwai singing with Ndegéocello, but this time out she pops that bass of hers in response. It's a dizzying cut with shifting rhythms and textures, and call-and-response vocals that feel more like counterpoint as different sonic and textural motifs move across the front of the tune. All this and the record is just over halfway. The deep spirituality at work here has been present in Ndegéocello's work arguably since the beginning, but it has become more pronounced in recent years. That said, the beautiful and poetic expressions of desire as it encounters both flesh and the divine are soulful, without pretension or artifice. "Michelle Johnson" is a freewheeling exploration of electronic outer realms, tough guitar, and bass-heavy funk, with killer drum kit work by Deantoni Parks and hand percussion by Gilmar Gomes. The sonic treatments by Scott Mann and Chad Royce are all structure to fill the space around the artist's basslines and expressive belly-deep voice -- and you can be the judge as to which Michelle Johnson she's speaking of here. "Solomon" is among the most beautiful songs this woman has ever written. It is presented in a painterly way, illustrated and framed inside a warm bubbly electronic backdrop that gives way to languid melody, a spine-moving bassline that grooves low and slow on this futuristic soul lullaby. The official album closes with the completely out-to-lunch "Relief: A Stripper Classic," which is the true missing link between urban soul, heavy metal, and slow, downtempo funk -- all of it with a pronounced hook and refrain. "Soul Spaceship" is the place where Sly Stone, Amp Fiddler, and Millie Jackson meet in a big bass sci-fi wonderland presided over by Rick James and Teena Marie! The basslines and synth lines are huge, drum machines abound and skitter, and all the while Ndegéocello and Sy Smith make a beautifully grooving mess with the vocals. Ultimately, The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams, with its irony, sincerity, seeming contradiction, and elliptical paradox, is the most expansive, complex record yet released by this always provocative artist. It will take more than a single listen to warm up to, but once you actually take it in, it will be one of her recordings you go back to over and again because while it gives up its secrets slowly, it gives the listener something new each time too. Wild, visionary, and marvelously tough, this is a groover that will turn you inside out.

Thom Jurek
New York Times

In the search for love, truth and justice, a good vamp never hurts. That's the modus operandi of Meshell Ndegeocello. Jon Pareles"

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?z=y&ean=600753018682

another review...

" Me'shell NdegeOcello - The World Has Made Me the Man of my Dreams

Existing somewhere along the left side of the soul music spectrum, Me'shell NdegeOcello is an artist who's music often escapes neat classification. From the time she first appeared on the music scene with 1993's Plantation Lullabies to her newest release The World Has Made Me the Man of my Dreams, she has become an artist who can be expected to titillate, provoke and at times confuse listeners with her music. While not a major seller, Me'shell has over the last 15 years cultivated a loyal following ready to support each release and therefore allowing her to pursue her particular creative vision as an artist. For those of us who seek out challenging and forward moving black music, we can count a new NdegeOcello release as a true music event.
On this her seventh studio release, Me'shell continues to mine the themes of identity, politics, sex and religion that have become the hallmarks of all her releases. With The World these themes become more convoluted and tangled in songs that stylistically morph and clash into one another, seemingly absent of a coherent center to neatly tie things together. Real life is messy and this time around, it is as if she has said to the listener, "Here it is. Take from it what you will." Throughout The World," Me'shell ruminates like a world weary/god seeking soul trying to make sense of the shock and awe of the modern world while trying to find peace and redemption.
Within the cycle of songs, the chameleon like Me'shell adopts many guises and styles to capture the listeners' attention and to pose her questions. Politics and sensuality abound: ‘Haditha' (* a town in Iraq, where a bloody US led massacre of civilians took place in 2006) starts us off with a cleric's commentary on the words of the prophet Mohammad detailing the signs by which the faithful would know that the end of the world approaches. The lashing and furious 'The Sloganeer (Paradise),' follows and Me'shell adopts the point of a view of a suicide bomber questioning the alternatives with which he/she has been left. The track brims with anger and 80's style punk energy and contains what may be Me'shell's most virtuositic recorded bass performance, demonstrating a real raw power in her playing. Throughout The World songs change tempo, interrupt themselves with ambient passages like in the dirge-like ‘Evolution.' Or the cosmic and trippy ‘‘Virgo" which adds a touch of optimism to an album full of heavy themes. The carnal 'Lovely Lovely' rolls with a reggae bass and a funky groove and is perhaps the best bet for a single although the mid-song break may take the casual listener by surprise. In usual fashion, Me' shell invites along well match guest artists who integrate well into the overall work - Sy Smith and Malian soul singer Oumou Sangare both add soothing textures and tones to compliment Me' shell breathy delivery. Pat Methany and Oliver Lake are also featured and both bring subtle color and shading to their tracks. The inspiration for the CD's title is embedded in the bonus track contained on the Japanese edition 'Different Girl: Every Night' -- here issues of misogyny and objectification surface and close the album. What we are left with are a host of questions, and no easy answers.
The World Has Made Me the Man of my Dreams may be Me'shell's most conceptual and intellectually challenging work to date, supported by a superb team of musicians and producers. Musically throughout she's in fine form taking her compositions to a new level of complexity and mastery. Overall, The World may not be for mainstream taste, but for those curious as to the depth and range of modern 21st century black music you will not find a better example.

By Jujube Jones

http://www.soultracks.com/node/4269 "

another short one from the web...

" Me`Shell NdegeOcello - The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams *


Description:
Eclectic singer-songwriter and bassist Me`Shell Ndegeocello has made a virtue out of being uncategorizable over the course of her lengthy career. THE WORLD HAS MADE ME THE MAN OF MY DREAMS finds Ndegeocello largely supplanting the funk-inflected singer-songwriter pop of early albums with a thornier brew of political lyrics, hard-edged modern jazz, and confessional vocals. With guests the likes of guitarist Pat Metheny and pianist Robert Glasper, Ndegeocello has serious jazz credibility this time out, and songs such as "Virgo" and the scorching opener "Haditha <<I'm assuming they meant "The Sloganeer")" come closer to fusing modern jazz with singer-songwriter pop than anything since Joni Mitchell`s controversial late-1970s album, MINGUS. Meanwhile, the funky "Headline" and the tender ballad "Shirk" should appeal to earlier fans as well. "

Ha whoa. "Mingus" comparison. That's heavy shit.

"At its poles, the newest Meshell Ndegeocello project comes off as bass-thumping neometal with ace jazzmen Oliver Lake, Pat Metheny and Robert Glasper following the bassist/composer into a noisy black hole. The hymnal 'Relief: A Stripper Classic' and the frantic 'The Sloganeer: Paradise' would suggest this was Ndegeocello at her most vicious. But there's a caramel center to this rock-hard bittersweet shell, and that oozing liquid core is chock-full of moist, slinky funk and dark dub balladry that allows Ndegeocello, the singer, to do what she does best: babble, rant, chatter and croon, in a low, gorgeous, whispery voice, lyrics that dare to be contagious before drifting dolefully into the ether. Few people could name a song 'Elliptical,' make it mean as much, and get away with it successfully. Few artists are Ndegeocello; precious few." (Grade: 3 1/2 stars) -- A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/07/07.

Thanks Meshell and/or Michelle , I am loving every minute of this experience inside of her dreams. It's just great expressions of what's so wonderful in one's eye. It's like her standing on top of the world telling what she's seen and feels from all over the world.I just close my eyes when listening and imagine the flashes of what's being song. If I were to rename this album , I would call it "Around the World in under 50 minutes. PS...I hope they're will be singles' with different mixes.

One year retroactive free subscription to the Polylogue will be awarded to the first person who gives the exact quote Meshell gave when asked about how she feels about her songs being remixed...

I'll make it easy:

a.) "My record company tells me that remixes 'give me more options.' Kiss my ass!"

b.) "I hate that remix." (When asked about the "Pocketbook" remix by Missy Elliott and Rockwilder.)

c.) "Remixes can burn in hell forever. When you bought 'Innervisions' (by Stevie Wonder) were you looking for a remix?"

d.) All of the above.

I think the answer is B.

The answer is C.

d, all of the above.

I specifically remember "B", but "C" sounds really familiar... so I gotta go with "D".

Dammit, Groove. That's what I get for spending 20 minutes reading "New since your last visit" while surfing!

"As the long-winded title might suggest, the singer-bassist's meandering latest is not an easy listen. Still, her fusion of funk, jazz, rock, reggae and African sounds is heady stuff." (2 1/2 stars) -- Chuck Arnold, People Magazine, 10/8/07.

"Never less than ambitious, Meshell Ndegeocello has come up with an album, 'The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams,' that's a vertiginous, style-hopping meditation on God and desire, spirit and flesh." -- Jon Pareles, New York Times, 9/9/07.