Bright Black - review

You know the deal! Cherrywine, fronted by Ishmael "Ish" Butler aka Butterfly. Digable Planets were the rulers of the mid-90's, intellectual-positive afro-centric movement. Butterflys ability to mix positivity, love, and serious social issues with revolutionary overtones showed that he was one step ahead of false pretenders like Arrested Development and Fugees. Musically, in those days, Butterfly sampled the tastiest, most sumptuous and cinematic of Jazz music. Now with his live band Cherrywine, Ish's appetite for grand and delicious music is still alive, only this time instead of Jazz-influenced hip-hop, it's straight funkafied hip-hop.

Anchorman's Blues showcases his previously unheard deeply personal and emotional lyrics, of which we see plenty on the 10-track album. A line that I know will resonate with many listeners comes from the chorus of this banging track, "I had to lie to you, because the truth would've caused you so much pain...I had to lie because when I saw your face you'd probably never believe what I'd done." It's worth noting at this point that the album revolves almost exclusively around women, and Ish's personal ambition, as well as the frequent jibes at the current trends in the hip-hop GAME. The irony and associations with 'selling out' are frequently examined, most notably on the hip-hop banger "Dazzlement". Other hot tracks to look out for: the drum 'n' bass madness of "American drip", which Ish somehow manages to flow on. Also, you'll just have to be patient for the cinematic magnificence of "Girlcrazy". The highly experimental track climaxes in a grand classical piano loop laced with some soulful vocoder high notes. That's what I call ingredients.

Back on the lyrical side of things, the album does suffer from being just a little too cynical, or rather Ish himself sometimes suffers from being a little too cynical. He has a razor sharp wit, and is obviously more intelligent than your average joe on the street, however the fact that he is so obviously aware of this may cause some to be put off. To quote life, sometimes girls like good-looking guys who don't know they're good-looking. But then, isn't everyone self-aware to an extent? And is it therefore a crime to be intelligent? Having raised those issues, it has to be said that Ish's 'darker side' always makes for interesting contrast musically, to the very clean synths, tidy riffs and organised drums. Keyboards have rarely been used in such ways, and on most of the tracks, the best word to describe the music is "fresh." The experimentation and clean resonating sounds are bound to bring comparisons to Outkasts Stankonia, however this album couldn't be more different.

As previously mentioned, Ishmaels ego takes center stage, wrestling itself on every track, and manifesting itself in lines like "Consumed by my admiration and loathing for myself." The ways in which Ish gives a fair hearing to all sides of his personality are refreshing, and that openness really allows us to step inside his world. Comparisons with Cody ChestnuTT's recent classic LP spring to mind, only due to the simple fact that these two guys have no problem with spitting their hidden self-doubt and guilt straight into the microphone. The main problem for me would be, as with Cody ChestnuTT, when the faults of a man on the mic begin to sound like selling points, and slowly become 'cool', rather than genuine expressions of remorse or sorrow.

This album review could just consist of a bunch of quotes, because Ish really is that charismatic and intelligent on the mic, however the music, in terms of experimentation, does vary just as much as the delivery and lyrical content. Perhaps the musical experimentation is not successful on every single track, but I seem to get the feeling that if this band stays together they will get better and better with each album. Perhaps there will be a time in the future when the creative music of the "2000's" will become what the creative music of the "1970's" has been to young people today. If so, Cherrywine will be remembered as one of the more relevant groups of our time.

"Let me make a toast to your sumptuous sillhouette" - Gracefully.

Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi