# The Strange Magic of: Janelle Monàe



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

The year 2010 saw the release of one of the most interesting, excellent, and deservedly highly-praised albums of recent years. Janelle Monàe's The ArchAndroid is a 70-minute tour de force concept album that mixes "R&B, funk, rap, pastoral British folk, psychedelic rock, disco, cabaret, cinematic scores" and a whiff of Debussy on 18 tracks of astonishing originality, skill, and discipline. I immediately added it to my short list of perfect/near-perfect albums upon first hearing. Here are Janelle Monàe & company performing _Cold War_ before the audience gathered at the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Concert.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

I really enjoyed The ArchAndroid, and she has an interesting persona. However the follow-up album wasn't nearly as good. I'm still a fan though.


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## Iean (Nov 17, 2015)

The thing with Janelle Monae's music is that its very difficult to digest in one spin of her albums all the diverse elements which she managed to squeeze in one hour or so of genre-bending gender-altering music. Yet, all the songs in any of her albums coalesce into a singular musical entity which could revive interest in R&B or psychedelic rock. Repeated listens will also reveal how each song can stand on its own even if the studio-enhanced aesthetics are removed. I will always be a fan of this lady - maybe R&B's answer to Bjork:angel:


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Here is more Janelle Monàe from _The ArchAndroid_. She is an amazing bundle of creative energy on that marvelous near-perfect album. This is _Dance or Die_.......


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