Citizen Cope - The Clarence Greenwood Recordings
By: Patrick Vu | Category: Album Archive | 04/15/05 | 11:45 AM
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Grade: A- | Genre:
Rock
Summary: The Clarence Greenwood Recordings is a showcase of one man's talent and the broad influences that have helped to shape his sound. It blurs the lines of genre and is a must have for your changer. |
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 I guess commercials are good for something after all. These days, those quick 30 second opportunities to run to the bathroom have become a good source of discovering new and obscure music you otherwise would never find our your radio dial. We did it when we stumbled upon Telepopmusik during a Mitsubishi commercial and again when we learned about Dirty Vegas from the same auto company.
Last week, before I had a chance to step away for a commercial break during an episode of The Office, I found myself being sold the Pontiac G6. However, its failure to make me want to buy became my gain as the brief little tune used in the commercial attracted all my attention. Forget how much horse-power the G6 delievered, my focus was on finding out more about the music. Thanks to our friends at Google, the name of the song was "Son's Gonna Rise" by little known artist, Citizen Cope.
Citizen Cope, aka Clarence Greenwood, was a DJ for D.C.'s Basehead and has since broken away to mix beats for himself and the masses. His previous self-titled effort helped to develop a small but devoted following; however, it was not able to break into the mainstream. Recording company politics forced him to defect from Dreamworks to Arista where he fused together "hip-hop beats with mellow piano melodies and new-school blues with easy-listening pop" on his latest, The Clarence Greenwood Recordings. (Amazon's Jennifer Maerz)
This album is pure ear candy. You're doing the head nod on "Pablo Picasso" and don't even notice that it transitions in to the ultra breezy "My Way Home."
Of course there's the aforementioned "Son's Gonna Rise," for which you'll hit the repeat button a few times. You may also notice the familiar guitar work of the legendary Carlos Santana who makes a special guest appearance.
With some help from Meshell Ndegeocello, the exceptional "Sideways" is the sleeper track on Clarence. Thanks to a little Oscar-worthy film about wine and women of the same name (but unrelated), you can't help but picture Paul Giamatti's depressive character, Miles, drowning himself in a good bottle of Pinot (not "F-ing Merlot!"). If you make the connection like I did, you'll see that it's a hopeless love song that defines the character and one that shines the spotlight on his emotional insecurities and personal feelings for Mya, played by Virginia Madsen.
The darker themed "Penitentiary" and "Bullet and A Target" take things very seriously as they veer on a more socially conscience path. Their expressions of civil violence and one's own personal downward slide get you thinking about how good you really have it.
The Clarence Greenwood Recordings is a showcase of one man's talent and the broad influences that have helped to shape his sound. It blurs the lines of genre and is a must have for your changer. Even though Clarence was released in September of 2004, it's relatively low awareness level and current TV spot make it deserving of some newfound attention.
Clarence leaves you wanting more because before you know it, it's over. It's an album that gets stronger with each play and should be a part of your regular rotation.
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