Published on Jan 17, 2001
Being an outsider to the world of r&b these days, I’m not
ashamed to admit the first thing that caught my attention on
Disappearing Acts, the soundtrack to the HBO original film,
was the cover art. (The more I see pictures of Sanaa Lathan, the
more sexy I find her.)
Of course, once the disc hit the player, two other things caught
my attention. First, there is some absolutely wonderful music
that’s contained inside. Second – what’s with censoring some of the
language? It’s not like this was a movie aired on network
television – this is HBO, for Crissake. (Seeing that I don’t
presently subscribe to any movie channels – and I highly doubt HBO
will authorize my cable outlet to hook me up for repeatedly
mentioning them in this review – I don’t know if the movie’s
language is equally toned down. And, please, this isn’t a call for
people to send me free cable descrambler e-mails; I delete dozens
of those damned things every week. Unless you work for HBO, don’t
bother me.)
Some of the names involved in this project will be recognizable
to even general music fans who rarely dip their toes into the
r&b/rap pool. Angie Stone, who turned the world on its ear with
1999’s
Black Diamond, sets the tone with “Get To Know You Better” –
a song which makes me want to run to the library post haste to grab
Black Diamond and give it a spin. Boyz II Men’s Shawn
Stockman turns in a moving performance with “Head Over Heels” – and
while the older generation will remember who he was, the younger
listener base is given an education by the late Donny Hathaway on
“A Song For You”. Chances are once they get a taste of this song,
the kids will be rushing out to discover the rest of Hathaway’s
musical legacy.
Other artists impress as well. Melky Sedeck gets two chances to
shine, and they make the most of them on “Brooklyn” and “Just For
My Baby”, while Tony Kurtis (“Do I Love You Enough”) and Terry
Ellis (“Call On Me”) will leave you wanting to hear more from them
than just one track. Even the collaboration between rapper Talib
Kweli and Les Nubians (“Love Language”) should create more than a
few smiles.
Surprisingly, some of the more established artists have a
difficult time staking their claims on
Disappearing Acts. I like Chaka Khan, but she just doesn’t
seem to capture the heart of John Hiatt’s “Have A Little Faith In
Me”. The r&b spin doesn’t work; maybe if it had been pushed
towards more of a gospel bend would have caused it to skyrocket.
(Hiatt himself put a gospel spin on the version on
The Best Of John Hiatt.) Likewise, Meshell Ndegeocello
doesn’t seem to be able to get “Remember” fully up to speed,
relying on the backbeat, her bass work and vocals to try and take
the song somewhere special. It doesn’t make it, but not due to lack
of trying.
The debut of rapper Borealis with “Y.O.Y.” is the one moment I
could have lived without. Maybe better things are to come for
Borealis; this just wasn’t the moment.
As much as I admit ignorance when it comes to r&b these days
(though I like a lot of what I hear),
Disappearing Acts is the kind of disc I can easily pop into
the player and leave there for the better part of an afternoon.
Even with the occasional wrinkle, it’s a generally fun disc to
listen to and it captures a nice portrait of the spectrum we call
r&b today.