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| Latimesblogs |
 Raphael Saadiq was born in 1966 but sounds like he entered his prime that same year. The subtlest of shape-shifters, his resume includes stints playing bass on tour for Prince, fronting New Jack swing stars Tony! Toni! Tone!, forming hip-hop and R&B supergroup Lucy Pearl, and producing for D’Angelo, TLC and Mary J. Blige.In the last decade, he’s built a big tent for his solo soul revival, winning the undying affection of National Public Radio audiences and Grammy voters. At this year’s ceremony, the Oakland-raised crooner was tabbed to play guitar alongside semi-kindred spirit Mick Jagger, with whom he shares a love of the loud intersection between rock and rough electric blues. It’s little surprise then that his stellar fourth solo effort nicks both Bo Diddley and Ray Charles (“Day Dreams”) and the rave-up era Rolling Stones (“Radio”). Little Walter gets love (“Stone Rollin’ “) as does Sly and the Family Stone (“Heart Attack”). Saadiq’s timeline spans the golden era of soul music, a territory well mined in recent vintage by the likes of Amy Winehouse, Adele, Daptone Records, et. al., but few can match his range or talent. “Stone Rollin’” finds Saadiq on bass, keyboard, guitar, Mellotron, percussion and drums. Throughout, his falsetto remains supernatural and his songwriting successfully summons the ghosts of Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye....full text |
| Music |
| On his fourth album, Oakland's Raphael Saadiq continues along the dazzling path of retro soul he blazed on his fantastic 2008 release, The Way I See It. Saadiq's infatuation with old school soul has been apparent since his days as a member of Tony Toni Tone, but this album's delicious mix of fifties rock n roll, blues, seventies funk and sixties Motown soul is his most diverse love letter to the music he adores yet. Saadiq's willingness to deliver such an organic, lo-fi sound makes for a striking listen that is defiantly old school, largely shunning the lush production and crisp sound of his previous work in favor of the sparse clatter of horns, strings, guitar and background singers. The fuzzy haze works wonders on uplifting "Go To Hell", as thumping drums and a mellow bass line rumble along a wash of horns and strings over Saadiq's proclamation of love, while the loosely shaken riffs and cymbal happy beat of "Radio" sound fantastic as he looks to escape a pushy groupie. Needling guitar pokes around behind grubbier riffs pushing his passionate pleas for loving on rock-laced "Over You", while country-fried toe-tapper "Day Dreams" find an energetic bass groove and jangling beat riding some slick lap steel from Robert Randolph as Saadiq croons about spending above his means to keep his woman happy, "I'm living on day dreams / Gonna buy me something I can't afford". The only time the loose sound comes back to bite him is on "Heart Attack", where the jabbing bass line droning on becomes mind-numbing in the lo-fi setting, despite some great early rock n roll guitar shuffling through....full text |
| Avclub |
| From 2002’s Instant Vintage up through 2008’s Grammy-nominated The Way I See It, former Tony! Toni! Toné! standout and relentless mega-producer Raphael Saadiq has gradually resuscitated the energy that characterized his soulful R&B trio as a solo artist. On his excellent, career-finest LP, Stone Rollin,’ Saadiq truly comes into his own, playing virtually every instrument, in addition to writing and producing the album. While Saadiq continues to mine Chuck Berry on the sock-hop throwback “Radio” and aptly re-creates essential harmonica blues for the title track, Stone Rollin’ ascends to a level of genre-crossover, modern R&B prestige—alongside the likes of Cee Lo, Big Boi, and The Roots—thanks to distinctive cuts like “Over You.” That track simply has it all: a washed-out, crashing double-time beat, a sneering vocal, heavily effected group harmonies, and most notably, a loopy Mellotron that transforms the track into a rock ’n’ roll funhouse....full text |
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