Wednesday 24 September 2008

Solange + Boards of Canada = ??

Yesterday, I mentioned This Bird by Solange and that it is rather good. It's based around Slow This Bird Down by Scottish Warpheads Boards of Canada: it's not exactly a sample, more like Solange singing over the entire song.
There's probably a lot of BoC fans excreting their bile about YouTube comment boxes. How dare an R&B piece of fluff warble all over Boards of Canda?! Well, she does dare, and it's good. And if you don't like it, just ignore it because it's a downtempo album closer. Somehow, I doubt Jo Whiley will be giving it heavy rotation, and the Sandison brothers probably received a nice payday for it.
Maybe I like it because the original is really, really good. Solange's vocals are a poignant meditation on escaping a disappointing relationship ("The music I play must be loud as can be / so I don't have to hear myself think"). There's something about the two parts that doesn't quite fit: fledgling R&B divas and downtempo IDM don't usually belong together. But I like that jarring... it's a song that draws attention to itself by recontextualising both. It's Solange's John Cage moment (or maybe she's saving that for the next album).
Also, during the ebb towards the end, Solange coos 'the song's not over yet...' She totally gets the joke.
Something tells me Solange doesn't give a piffle what you or I think. She wears tinfoil dresses. Because we're not talking about any old Solange here, we're talking Solange-younger-sister-of-Beyonce. Beyonce Knowles, y'all!

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