AlanBarber.Org
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Nelly Furtado’s Folklore
Sunday night I went to the lab to work on some programming projects. I brought along my headphones so I could listen to something besides the idiot freshmen and sophomores bitching about how hard their Computer Science 200 level courses are. I can't help but laugh every time I hear them. If they think the 200 level courses are hard wait till they see the 400 level courses!I hit up WindowsMedia.com to just find some streaming radio station but found out they had some streams of new releases. Low and behold Nelly Furtado's new CD Folklore was there.
It was really good. It's one of those CDs you can turn on and listen to without any work. I listed to the stream twice though while I was hacking away on my projects.
It's much better in my opinion than her previous CD Whoa, Nelly. It's much less pop and cookie cutter tunes and very much real and original. The strong vocals and catchy, yet meaningful lyrics of Nelly comes through and just blows you away.
The first song "One Trick Pony" is the perfect start to the CD. It's beat grabs you in and the quirky lyrics get you into a good feeling. The next song takes the fun parts of the first one and plays with lyrics to get you to sing along and tap to the beat without even realizing it.
It then all ends with this amazingly poignant song "Childhood Dreams". It uses a church organ throughout the song and it's just so powerful. Her lyrics just cut through you and you can't help but feel the emotion of the song. It all culminates with ringing church bells that prove to be the perfect ending to the CD.
The range and mix of song styles mesh very well and give enough variety so it doesn't get boring. It's very much a work of art from a talented women. When you get done listening I guarantee that you'll put it back in to listen again.
I know the RIAA are a bunch of morons and should not buy music to protest their actions but this is a definite must buy. It's really a mater of voting with our wallets. If people would only buy quality works like Folklore and leave the pre-manufactured junk on the shelves they'll learn it's not piracy that's hurting them but the trash they put out.
