Theesatisfaction
EarthEE (Sub Pop)THEEsatisfaction cultivates a garden of heady, laid-back grooves, but sophomore LP EarthEE is anything but easy listening. The Seattle duo of singer Catherine Harris-White (Cat) and rapper Stasia Irons (Stas) belong in the long lineage of Afro-futurists like Alice Coltrane, Sun Ra, Octavia Butler, and Erykah Badu. EarthEE sounds like an alternate universe where Digable Planets never broke up and continued to evolve, particularly when Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces (formerly Butterfly of DP) is involved. The self-proclaimed “black weirdos” blast cultural appropriation on “Blandland” with Stas rapping that “they take jazz, take soul, take hip-hop” and Butler adding it’s “a story loosely based on us, without no pain and thus the main essence.” It’s a challenging album in both substance and aesthetics, layered and looping sounds colliding with themes of black liberation and environmental justice, all unfolding at a hyper-mellow pace. On “No GMO,” Cat croons, “We drift, where to no one even knows, just sit back and watch us grow.” Fascinating to do just that. (Sat., 9:35pm, Bungalow; 10pm, Mohawk Indoor)
This article appears in March 20 • 2015.
