Review:

on 2007-04-23 hstisgod Said:

terrific sounding, slick production, and simimlarly written review. Rare acoustic jive rock.
Rating: 8/10

Review:

on 2007-04-23 sublogic Said:

Alright, I think it’s obvious that I clearly don’t “represent”, because I’ve been pushing Citizen Cope on anyone that would listen since his self-titled joint came out in 2002. Then, when The Clarence Greenwood Project dropped in 04, even on the strength of “Son’s Gonna Rise” being used in a Pontiac commercial, it still didn’t garner a whole lot of attention for the D.C. native. I was even pimpin’ “Sideways“, “Fame”, and “Bullet and a Target” on every mix-tape I made, as intros to an excellent album that I needed people to listen to.
Fast-forward to the present day when I came across Every Waking Moment, that apparently came out last September. I hate missing release dates, but maybe it’s more that I’m upset that a label like Arista doesn’t recognize that Cope is truly “dope” or that he is as or, dare I say, more marketable than artists like John Mayer, Ray LaMontagne and Amos Lee.
Clarence Greenwood aka Citizen Cope has come a long way since he used a drum machine and guitar to produce demos he was serving hand-to-hand in D.C. With his mumblin’ vocals and road-travellin’ lyrics and music, he’s garnered praise from critics, fellow musicians, and has opened for Nelly Furtado and Robert Randolph on tour.
I loved his self-titled debut because it sounded so different. Infused with Folk, Hip-Hop, and the Blues, it was a breath of fresh air. The Clarence Greenwood Project was a cleaner sophomore effort that took the sound to new level. Every Waking Moment is more along this vein.
The opener, “Back Together” starts off with a Stones-like “Who-whoo” and trumpets his return. “Every Waking Moment” is a lazy(in a very good way) narrative about the road and his life around the world so far and his search for love. “Brother Lee” his another “highway banger” kind of like “Son’s Gonna Rise” but still just as infectious.
The songs tend to run together as usual, making it a must that you listen in album form. Vocals and keyboards bleed into each-other and the stories mesh. He even gets political with “John Lennon”, smacking politicians and pundits. The instrumental, “Awe” puts his whole band to use, accentuating a 70’s-style R&B sound with horns and all. The last track, “Left For Dead”, at a mere 2 minutes, uses “A-E-I-O-U” as the chorus but gets the message across just the same.
So unless there’s some well-deserved love thrown Mr. Greenwood’s way it looks like I’m going to have to keep following up on his website and buying more blank CD’s because I couldn’t, in good conscience, let him fade away like so many others.

http://www.mantarctica.net/
Rating: 9/10