{"id":39611,"date":"2006-01-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-01-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/homebrew\/"},"modified":"2006-01-18T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-01-18T00:00:00","slug":"homebrew","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/homebrew\/","title":{"rendered":"Homebrew"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Looking at Amazon.com right now, you can buy Neneh
\nCherry’s 1992 jazzy smorgasbord Homebrew<\/i> for a penny. That’s
\nthe same cost as a used copy of R.E.M.’s Monster<\/i>. It’s
\namazing that a sophomore album this diverse, accomplished and
\nflat-out superior to an excellent debut (Raw Like Sushi<\/i>)
\ncould have this many sellers. Still, it’s their loss.<\/p>\n

To listen to Homebrew<\/i> is to marvel at how
\nahead of its time the album was. Cherry’s collaborations with
\nMassive Attack shows as the album retains a darker edge than its
\npredecessor. If Raw Like Sushi<\/i> was created to set the dance
\nfloors afire, Homebrew<\/i> was created for the couch dwellers of
\nthe after-hours circuit.<\/p>\n

Along with brushes of trip-hop, Homebrew<\/i>
\ncontains jazzy, free-flowing rhythms. One can speculate that the
\njazzy signatures indirectly came from Cherry’s stepfather, Don
\nCherry, who was an influential jazz musician. The mix of hip-hop
\nand jazz may seem self-indulgent, but Cherry uses both structures
\neffortlessly. She even uses the slow percussion of “I Ain’t Gone
\nUnder Yet” to demonstrate her underrated songwriting skills,
\nletting lines like “The kind of freedom that you can buy \/ my bank
\nwon’t lend me yet” sink into your ears.<\/p>\n

Neneh Cherry’s “Buffalo Stance” was an international
\ndance hit in 1989. She did not duplicate this success with any hits
\non Homebrew<\/i>. However, instead of the dance clubs, Cherry won
\nsome college converts, namely with her pro-safe sex duet “Trout,”
\nwhich featured R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe. And if Stipe wasn’t enough,
\nthe song has a wicked sample of Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee
\nBreaks.” Another guest appearance that works is Guru, from the
\nthen-way underground rap group Gang Starr. He contributes a playful
\nrap midway through the funky opener “Sassy.”<\/p>\n

Perhaps Cherry’s gutsiest move on Homebrew<\/i> was
\non “Buddy X,” a not-so-secret slam against Lenny Kravitz (who
\nwasn’t as much of an easy target back in 1992 as he is today). “I
\ndon’t care what you do \/ but there’s a hypocrite that lives in
\nyou,” Cherry sings under a bouncing backdrop. If “Buddy X”‘s happy,
\nthumping rhythms distracts from the scathing lyrics, the next song,
\n“Someday,” is as sobering as a hangover. Over a somber piano beat,
\nCherry bemoans “Good Sundays are better than some days \/ Today, I’d
\neven take a bad Monday \/ ’cause this Sunday’s a pure pressure
\ninside of me.”<\/p>\n

The final two songs, “Peace Of Mind” and “Red Paint,”
\nare some of the most soulful songs Cherry has ever recorded. The
\npercussion and keyboards sound like it could have landed on an
\nouttake from U2’s Zooropa<\/i> album, which was released almost
\ntwo years after Homebrew<\/i> was recorded. “By The Shore” may
\nnot be the epic closer that Homebrew<\/i> deserves, but it’s
\nstill a good song.<\/p>\n

Despite ten good-to-great songs and an overall sound
\nthat was well ahead of its time, Homebrew<\/i> has largely been
\nforgotten by the music press. For owners, however, Homebrew<\/i>
\nis one of those albums that will find a place in your CD player at
\nleast twice a year. It’s mood music of the highest degree.<\/p>\n

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