Cherry Thing

Neneh Cherry, The Thing | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 19, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smalltown Supersound
• ASIN: B007NWCX7Q
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,050 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2012 collaboration. The Thing took their name from a piece by Don Cherry: when they first got together it was to play his music. So it does make sense that they should eventually team up with Don Cherry's daughter, Neneh. Meeting in London in the fall of 2010 to record, it clicked right away as they all shared an open, free approach to the music. The high energy of The Thing's playing found a fitting counterpart in Neneh's intense style. Includes covers of songs from Suicide, The Stooges, Ornette Coleman, MF Doom, Martina Topley-Bird and, of course, Don Cherry.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars It's sweetness that I'm thinking of. July 20, 2012

By Jason Stein VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Neneh Cherry is unfortunately remembered for her 1989 hit "Buffalo Stance", which was and still is a great song melding hip-hop, rap and snyth/dance music into a memorable five and a half minutes. The rest of her debut solo album was equally as good, though nothing on it surpassed the success of "Buffalo Stance". In 1992, almost no one paid any attention to what is arguably her best effort, "Homebrew". There was some airplay given to "Buddy X", but not much. By the time her third effort was released, 1996's "Man", it received absolute no attention or promotion in the U.S. And that was that. A promising career cut short.

Until now. Sure, Cherry was a part of CirKus, and has appeared on both of their albums, but her presence is sidelined. Thus, "The Cherry Thing" is her first album in 16 years that actually features her vocals front and center. It's nice to have her back.

This time around, she joins Norwegian/Swedish jazz trio, The Thing, who have been making records since 2000. I was not familiar with them. Naturally, Cherry has created a jazz album, but of the 8 tracks there are 2 originals and 6 cover songs. The six cover songs are as follows: "Dream Baby Dream" by Suicide, from their 1980 self-titled album, "Too Tough To Die" by Martina Topley-Bird, from her debut 2003 album "Quixotic/Anything", "Accordian" by Madvillain, from their 2004 debut album "Madvillainy", "Golden Heart" by Don Cherry, from his 1966 album "Complete Communion", "Dirt" by The Stooges, from their sophomore 1970 album "Fun House", and "What Reason Could I Give" by Ornette Coleman, from his 1972 album "Science Fiction". Now what I love about these 6 tracks is that I was not at all familiar with them. Too many times cover albums turn into cliche recycling of the same old songs. Not here.

The 2 originals, "Cashback" and "Sudden Moment" are equally as good as the cover versions. I am not a huge fan of jazz, but I do have some. "The Cherry Thing" took me a few listens to get into, but once I did it really became clear that this was a nice comeback for Cherry who has been away far too long.

I'm hoping that this new outing will bring more from Cherry. She doesn't have to do another jazz album per se, and it would be nice to see her stretch into other musical areas, not compromising her artistic vision.

As a side note: Now that Neneh has returned maybe she could persuade Eagle Eye Cherry to follow suit!

Here's how "The Cherry Thing" compares to her previous works:

1989 Raw Like Sushi: Four Stars
1992 Homebrew: Five Stars
1996 Man: Four Stars
2012 The Cherry Thing: Four Stars

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars On my top 10 list for 2012 July 1, 2012

By Pencil Name

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I wasn't sure what to expect when I first heard of this record, but it works in every way. The original Cashback is exhilarating, and Cherry's cover of Accordion is flawless as she croons, raps, hisses and spits out MF Doom's complex verses. She makes the song completely her own without taking anything away from the brilliant original. Too Tough To Die sounds punk, jazz and trip hop all at the same time. Every track has its own unique reward.

This album is quite the contradiction, but it is both deeply personal and wildly original. That's an amazing accomplishment for a covers album.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Organic, inspired and creative. A 'must" listen to. June 19, 2012

By Mariah L Jan

Format:Audio CD

The album features vocalist and songwriter Neneh Cherry fronting the brilliant, provocative Scandinavian the Thing, whose members are saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Ingebrigt Hĺker Flaten, and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love.
The latter are a diverse vanguard jazz group whose name comes from a tune by Don Cherry; their founding mission was to play his music.
They've since expanded to cover rock tunes and play their own compositions.
For those who remember only Cherry's pop hits, this may seem a radical departure, but it's actually a return of sorts.
She began her career in the 1980s as a teen vocalist in post-punk outfits Rip Rig & Panic and Float Up CP; both melded free jazz and angular funk.
She is a natural collaborator -- she's worked with Pulp, Tricky, the The, and Gorillaz.
There are two originals here. Cherry's confrontational love song "Cashback" opens a set that melds syncopated, acoustic jazz funk and post-millennial soul.
Gustafsson's jazz tune "Sudden Moment" features wonderful twinned phrasing by the saxophonist and Cherry before opening into an improvisational sprawl.
Of the covers, the nearly nine-minute version of Suicide's "Dream Baby Dream" puts Bruce Springsteen's contrived version to shame. In the Cherry Thing's embrace, it is no less ethereal than the original, but far more sinister: Cherry's honeyed croon keeps the beautiful melodic core intact, even as she becomes ever more insistent, showing her dominant authority. Her accompanists build a gorgeous wall of atmospheric tension behind her.
Martina Topley-Bird's "Too Tough to Die" begins sparsely and slowly before Cherry and Gustafsson enter and begin pushing, charging at the lyric edges.
Cherry's vocal is emboldened with risk, turning the melody in on itself and ululating against the baritone horn. The rhythm sections answers with syncopated breaks and funk.
MF Doom's "Accordion" and the Stooges' "Dirt" may seem like choices from opposite ends of the spectrum, but are complementary here. Both are sparse, threatening, and poignant, the former tinged with implied violence, and the latter -- the finest groove-laden cover of the tune ever recorded -- smolders with raw, dark sensuality.
Between them is papa Cherry's "Golden Heart", an otherworldly meld of Middle Eastern modes and textures and a skeletal lyric frame that displays this group's command of diverse musical languages.
The closing track "What Reason Could I Give" is a less refined, more mournful blues-oriented take on Ornette Coleman's "What a Reason" (one of his few tunes that features lyrics).
Its nearly mournful presentation, with gorgeous jazz singing by Cherry and restrained yet adventurous soloing by Gustafsson and Hĺker Flaten, make the tune drip with longing.
"The Cherry Thing" is a collaboration whose immediacy, dynamic, and motion are organic; its creative originality singular.
It unabashedly and nakedly displays its seams and inspirations. It is a serious contender for any representative year-end list. T. Jurek.