Dear Friends: An Evening With The Foreign Exchange

by The Foreign Exchange

I've been listening to the CD that came with this CD + DVD package for a while now, but today was the first that I've felt like sitting down and watching the Dear Friends concert, which was recorded in front of a small audience in the intimate Sound Pure Studios back in February.  The concerts consists of ten songs, mostly from the FE catalogue, although there is one from Zo!'s album, another from Nicolay's, and a cover of a James Taylor classic.

Phonte and Nicolay are joined for this concert by vocalists Sy Smith and Jeanne Jolly.  Zo! plays the piano, and there are a couple more guitarists and a drummer backing them.  The music here is as warm and inviting as Phonte's voice and stage manner.  Smith is radiant; I could watch her (and listen to her laugh) all day.  I was quite surprised to realize just how much Phonte looks like the actor Wendell Pierce, from The Wire and Treme.  I kept waiting for Antoine Baptiste to come wandering onto the stage with his trombone, to steal the show.

Strangely, the CD has more banter than the concert DVD, but both are deserving of repeated plays.  I love the hillbilly version of 'Daykeeper', which Phonte explains came out of a desire to keep from getting sick of what is probably their best-known song.

Authenticity

by The Foreign Exchange

There is no need to listen to any kind of pop music other than The Foreign Exchange.  They construct these perfect little songs, which are on one hand completely effervescent and forgettable, and on the other all the more wonderful for that same reason.

I've been listening to Authenticity, their third album, for some months now, and could not, off the top of my head, name a single song, but at the same time, when it's on, I find myself singing along quite easily, which was how I found myself reacting to their last album as well.

It's interesting that the two men at the core of this project, Little Brother's Phonte Coleman and producer Nicolay, are best known for their contributions to the world of hip-hop, because they come across as having such delicate sensibilities here.

The eleven tracks on this album mostly have Phonte singing; he only raps on a couple of occasions.  Nicolay is joined by Zo! on a couple of tracks, and Phonte is backed by Chantae Cann and Yahzarah, who actually finishes the album with a mostly solo track, 'This City Ain't The Same Without You', which is my favourite of the album.

I highly recommend checking this out if you are looking for some lovely, light-hearted music.

Leave It All Behind

by The Foreign Exchange

It's not hip-hop, but it is one of the most beautiful albums of the year. The first Foreign Exchange album is one of my all-time favourite hip-hop albums, largely because of the freedom with which is plays with the genre.

On this album, Phonte and Nicolay give up almost all pretense of rap (Phonte only spits on one track), and instead have created a lush and relaxing album of pop songs. Three years ago, I don't think I would have played this a second time, but now it grows on me more each time I turn it on. Phonte is an incredibly gifted singer (I still like his raps better), and he is well-matched by singers like Muhsinah and Yahzarah. Nicolay's music is fantastic.

My favourite track is the last one - the one from which the album gets its title. Highly recommended.