Sure, we can toss out the fact that second single “L.E.S. Philadelphia must have its own version of KROQ.Īlthough the album itself could lead listeners to inventing some kind of drinking game in finding all of the ’80s pop precedents, that isn’t the best part of the 12 track affair. In this respect, Santogold is probably closer kin to someone like Gwen Stefani, a child of the ’80s raised on new wave, dub and pop. But, the rest of the album has less to do with mimicking a modern sound than celebrating the myriad styles of pop from the ’80s. It seems that most listeners of Santogold’s stunning debut never bothered to listen past its first single release, “Creator.” Yes, Santi White’s twitchy cooing and Missy Elliott style flow over muffled beats and video game keyboards recalls M.I.A., that can’t be denied. It’s just too bad that most who reviewed it got it completely wrong. And, unlike most other acts pigeonholed as `dance music,’ Santi White and John Hill were seeing their debut reviewed by the likes of Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone and, that most revered of music mags, Blender (please read with sarcasm). With her debut Jam cover on Mark Ronson’s Version, a string of heavily played lead-up singles and a host of songs used for adverts, Santogold was seemingly everywhere. But, the reason we missed Santogold couldn’t have had anything to do with obscurity.
On the other hand, the inclusion of these four albums proves that we here at Treble keep our ears to the ground (and to the stereo) at all times, not just for assignments. I don’t know whether or not I should be admitting this, but Santogold’s self-titled album is one of four records in our end-of-year best list that was never originally reviewed.
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