Monday, July 19, 2010

Macy Gray: On How Life Is (2000)

(As published in the Times of Acadiana ... )

Macy Gray
On How Life Is
(Epic)


The style? A surprisingly subtle blend of old (jazz-inflected singing, soul-inflected R&B) and new (computer-generated programming and sampling) The breakout track? “I Try,” a song constructed along the lines of Tina Turner’s minor 1987 hit, “Break Every Rule,” and good for it. The weltanschauung? That raunchy, impersonal sex conquers all (“Caligula,” “Sex-O-Matic Venus Freak”). Further proof: In “Still” she sticks with her abusive, no-account boyfriend for the sex and drugs, and in “I’ve Committed Murder” she murders her boyfriend’s (female) boss, cleans out the safe, escapes (with him) to Jamaica, and concludes, “As far as regrets, I don’t have any / Would you?” Rating: Two Future-Mrs.-O.J. Simpson Awards out of five.

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