Black Yankee Rock

AllMusic.com
"Thompson's following his own instincts...he always manages to pull off something as valuable as anything by Eels or Beck."

Product Description
The incomparable Chocolate Genius Inc (Marc Anthony Thompson) is back with his highly-anticipated Black Yankee Rock. This eclectic collection of well-crafted tunes captures the true essence of the singer/songwriter’s genre-bending talent, featuring the insistent opener "The Beginning Of Always," the deliciously quirky "Chasing Strange," the poignant and deceptively anthemic "Forever Everyone," and "Same Time Tomorrow" (an ode to marital bliss that boasts accordion from the legendary Van Dyke Parks).

Brilliantly produced by the superlative Craig Street (Producer on recordings by k.d.lang, Norah Jones, Cassandra Wilson and Me’Shell NdegéOcello, as well as co-producer for Black Music), the eleven tracks on Black Yankee Rock further cement Chocolate Genius Inc’s reputation as one of the most accomplished and original artists around.

An amazing all-star line up of musicians was enlisted for the album, including Van Dyke Parks, Marc Ribot, Roy Nathanson, Stephanie McKay, Abe Laboriel Jr., Oren Bloedow, Toshi Reagon, and Me’Shell NdegéOcello.

Chocolate Genius Inc describes the album as the third and final installment of "a narrative that looks at family, faith and future in a way that is as personal as it is universal." Asked to illuminate the intention of Black Yankee Rock, he dips into his bag of metaphors: "Black Yankee Rock has always been synonymous with Shangri La, Xanadu, Utopia, Atlantis, Bakersfield and Hoboken or even Fort Greene, Brooklyn (20 years ago) all rolled up in one. It’s a destination – more than a sound or a statement. Where hair extensions are halos. Heaven without a Golden Gate. Everybody gets in. All the ashtrays are clean. The wine won’t hurt you because the Grapes have no Wrath."

Black Yankee Rock

Black Yankee Rock,Chocolate Genius Inc,Commotion Records,Adult Alternative Pop/Rock,Contemporary R&B,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop

Black Yankee Rock

Average customer rating:

I guess he is a genius!
so so
If "black radio" wasn't so narrow-minded to begin with...
Great Discovery!
New Discovery

Black Yankee Rock
Chocolate Genius Inc
Manufacturer: Commotion Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Contemporary R&B | R&B | Styles | Music

General | R&B | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Adult Contemporary | Pop | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Godmusic
Black Music
American Splendor
Stoned
Watts & Paris

ASIN: B000B6TQZS
Release Date: 2005-10-11

Tracks:

The Beginning of Always
Amazona
The Yes Eye
Tomboy Rock Star
Chasing Strange
Down So Low
Rats Under Waterfalls
It's Going Wrong
Cry
Forever Everyone
Same Time Tomorrow

Album Description

The incomparable Chocolate Genius Inc (Marc Anthony Thompson) is back with his highly-anticipated Black Yankee Rock. This eclectic collection of well-crafted tunes captures the true essence of the singer/songwriter's genre-bending talent, featuring the insistent opener "The Beginning Of Always," the deliciously quirky "Chasing Strange," the poignant and deceptively anthemic "Forever Everyone," and "Same Time Tomorrow" (an ode to marital bliss that boasts accordion from the legendary Van Dyke Parks).

Brilliantly produced by the superlative Craig Street (Producer on recordings by k.d.lang, Norah Jones, Cassandra Wilson and Me'Shell NdegéOcello, as well as co-producer for Black Music), the eleven tracks on Black Yankee Rock further cement Chocolate Genius Inc's reputation as one of the most accomplished and original artists around.

Chocolate Genius Inc describes the album as the third and final installment of "a narrative that looks at family, faith and future in a way that is as personal as it is universal." Asked to illuminate the intention of Black Yankee Rock, he dips into his bag of metaphors: "Black Yankee Rock has always been synonymous with Shangri La, Xanadu, Utopia, Atlantis, Bakersfield and Hoboken or even Fort Greene, Brooklyn (20 years ago) all rolled up in one. It's a destination - more than a sound or a statement. Where hair extensions are halos. Heaven without a Golden Gate. Everybody gets in. All the ashtrays are clean. The wine won't hurt you because the Grapes have no Wrath."

Customer Reviews:

I guess he is a genius!.......2006-04-12

There is no voice quite like Marc Anthony Thomson's. It is a deep, sexy, uncannily intelligent voice that hits a listener in three places at once-- the head, the heart and the tip of the tailbone. The song he might be most well known for is a cover of, "Julia" from the film I Am Sam. There are not many people who can take on a Beatle song and make it both their own and wonderful, he is one of them. In this, his, I think third album, he sounds great. His ability to take a person right next to him, to make a person feel that they are living what he is living along with him is amazing. The opening song, The Beginning of Always shows, in his Black/White rocky way, what a mess he is and we all are and how its going to be all right anyway. A later song, Down So Low, is what is needed when you know its not going to be all right, but there ain't nothing nobody can do about it. It is a song that might well make a cold cynic believe Billie Holiday has been reincarnated into a strong male body--after listening to Jimmy Hendrix.

The title of the Album , "Black Yankee Rock" cracks me up!

so so .......2006-02-26

I really expected better. I heard one song and decided I needed the whole CD and it really isn't so great. It seems inconsistent at best.

If "black radio" wasn't so narrow-minded to begin with..........2005-11-14

Marc Anthony Thompson is quite an artist. I currently have all three of his albums under the Chocolate Genius moniker and NONE of them have failed to move me in some way, shape, or form. Even more surprising was that upon further research, it turns out that Thompson actually came on the scene back in the mid-'80s with a self-titled debut that wound up landing on deaf ears (the same going for his critically acclaimed '89 sophomore release Watts & Paris as well). He's basically a peer of the likes of Lenny Kravitz and the artist "formally known as" Terence Trent D'Arby, except he's managed to outlast both of them with better material and an utter lack of blatant egotistical tendencies. The kind of music Thompson excels at is something for which the terms "genre" and "categorization" no longer apply. Instead, it's the sheer emotional resonance of his singing and songwriting coupled with sympathetic backing from well-respected sidemen like frequent collaborators Marc Ribot and Abe Laboriel Jr. that truly show what he's all about in that regard. Unfortunately, it's this open-ended approach to the music that has pretty much kept him from becoming a household name up to now. Personally speaking, Thompson's the type of artist the music industry should be rallying behind for the sake of preserving whatever credibility it has left as an industry.

As for the meaning behind the title in my review: for anyone who knows how hard it is for a black artist to get anything played on those stations that isn't tailor-made for the musically "dumbed-down" hip-hop/R&B crowd, Thompson's certainly no exception here. Hopefully the day will come when such tight-fisted conservatism is thoroughly vanquished in light of true diversity and freedom of expression in music. In the meantime, treat yourself to some Black Yankee Rock. Just because you never heard of it DOESN'T MEAN IT'S NOT GOOD!
>;-D

Great Discovery!.......2005-10-21

Was urged by a friend to buy it. Didn't know anything about the guy. Though the name was pretentious.Then listen and WAOOOO. Blown away. It is Fantastic, smooth, mature and well balanced. I am now pushing my friends to buy it............

New Discovery.......2005-10-18

I'd heard that Chocolate Genius was great, but never actually heard his stuff until I got a copy of Black Yankee Rock. The album defintely lives up to the expectations! Soulful, passionate and smart - it's definetely worth checking out. I can't wait to hear his other albums.