via NPR Music
NPR Music recently unveiled its selection of the 50 best albums of the year, and Meshell Ndegeocello‘s The Omnichord Real Book was chosen, earning the special crown — a distinction bestowed upon only a dozen albums to signify NPR’s highest recommendation.
The Omnichord Real Book opens with a nod to Ndegeocello’s bass roots on “Georgia Ave,” a major artery in Washington, D.C., and legendary in go-go, a genre she started playing as a teenager. Its lyrics, “Wake up, return, balance, align,” vamp over an omnichord-generated, trancelike beat, with hints of nostalgia weaving effortlessly across progressive musical ideas. The subsequent 17 songs also tap into Ndegeocello’s expansive musical background of over 30 years, each track a sensuous, stand-alone adventure, but better together as a collective work.