Striking Gold
My brother Antanas called me back in April to tell me about an artist he heard being interviewed on KCRW that I he thought I’d like. I took a
quick listen to the interview and then became immediately sidetracked by the million
other CDs on my desk. However, yesterday, my cube neighbor Patrick happened to
have Santogold’s CD prominently placed on his desk, begging me for a listen. He
also claimed that Santi White (her birth name) is going to be as big as Gwen
Stefani, which was just the impetus I needed to give it an immediate spin. I
have been hooked on it ever since. Santogold’s music gets comparisons to
M.I.A., but its really all over the map, in a good way. I am liking "Unstoppable," which has a hint of "Pass the
Dutchie" in it, and "Lights Out," which is more of a straight up indie pop
tune. Take a listen here. She’s opening for Coldplay on some of their North
American dates, so she won’t stay our little secret for long.
--Renata Sadunas
hapa monkey on June 24, 2008 at 12:25 AM
Retrocreations - Santogold
In a truly clever "Futurama" episode, in the 31st century "Baby Got Back" is considered "classical music". That's how I feel about the music coming out these days; they have the breath, depth and familiarity of classical music. Santogold, for example, sounds to me like a cross between the Buggles ("Video Killed the Radio Star") and Go-Gos ("I Got the Beat"). Santogold channels a sassy Beethoven with "L.E.S. Artistes". Interestingly, some critiques have labeled her album hip hop when she herself said it is not. The reason for the discrepancy is too obvious to ignore. If she sounds more like 80s new wave revival (when forced to label her), naming her work hip hop is lazy, racist journalism. Not all brown skinned folks rap, yo!
Posted Sunday, June 1, 2008
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