Album of the Week: Heaux Tales

"I can't help but dream about a kind of criticism that would try not to judge but to bring an oeuvre, a book, a sentence, an idea to life; it would light fires, watch the grass grow, listen to the wind, and catch the sea foam in the breeze and scatter it. It would multiply not judgements but signs of existence; it would summon them, drag them from their sleep. Perhaps it would invent them sometimes—all the better. All the better. Criticism that hands down sentences sends me to sleep; I'd like a criticism of scintillating leaps of the imagination. It would not be sovereign or dressed in red. It would bear the lightning of possible storms."  —Michael Foucault

These are the archives. These are the selected songs on the playlist. These are the updates to our 2022 progress. These are the musics you'll be listening to this week. Critique wisely, and create lightning.

WEEK 156 — January 23-29, 2022

What we're listening to this week (Nate's pick):

ALBUM: Heaux Tales

ARTIST: Jazmine Sullivan

RELEASED: January 8, 2021

WHAT GENRE IS THIS: R&B

WHY NATE PICKED IT: "Philly R&B, critically acclaimed from 2021, don't know shit about it. Figured it would help broaden the scope. I actually reviewed one of her records for some site some years ago, and was agog to see her in year end lists. Should be fun."

TRACKLIST:

1. Bodies (Intro)
2. Antoinette's Tale
3. Pick Up Your Feelings
4. Ari's Tale
5. Put It Down
6. On It
7. Donna's Tale
8. Pricetags
9. Rashida's Tale
10. Lost One
11. Precious' Tale
12. The Other Side
13. Amanda's Tale
14. Girl like Me

LENGTH: 32:21

WHERE TO LISTEN FOR FREE: Bandcamp

READING SOME SHIT: Rolling Stone includes a feature with Jazmine Sullivan on their Hot List 2021.

PREVIOUSLY ON RECORD CLUB: Besides seeing Heaux Tales on a bunch of year-end lists a month ago, I knew that the name Jazmine Sullivan rang a bell. After a bit of cursory research, it turns out that she sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl LV last year (with Eric Church). So we have some Super Bowl connections: Miley Cyrus did a pregame concert for that same Super Bowl LV; Diana Ross performed halftime at Super Bowl XXX; the Rolling Stones performed halftime at Super Bowl XL; Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed halftime at Super Bowl XLIII; Destiny's Child performed halftime at Super Bowl XLVII; Missy Elliott performed halftime at Super Bowl XLIX.

I remember wondering who Jazmine Sullivan was, and looking her up, only to find out that she was a Philly native, and graduated from CAPA. There are a litany of Philly bands that have come through Record Club, but I can think of two ultra-specific connections off the top of my head. First is the fact that Sullivan grew up in Strawberry Mansion, a neighborhood that the Menzingers sang about on Hello Exile. Second is the fact that Sullivan's mother sang backup for the session band MFSB, which also served as the backing band for William DeVaughn's "Be Thankful for What You Got" (though no indicated that the Mrs. Sullivan was directly involved in that particular recording). Yay Philly artists.

Happy listening, fam! Have a great week!