Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)
Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)
EAC Rip | FLAC (Tracks) +CUE, LOG | 442 MB | Covers Included
Soul | Label: Dome Records | Catalog Number: DOMECD 303
EAC Rip | FLAC (Tracks) +CUE, LOG | 442 MB | Covers Included
Soul | Label: Dome Records | Catalog Number: DOMECD 303
Honest, sincere, unpretentious, and yes, personal. These are the qualities that make Angela Johnson one of the finest artists-writers-producers to emerge in the modern soul era. For her, making music is about melody and rhythm, hooks and harmonies. Flash, faux-swag, and fads are simply not synonymous with the woman who can move an audience to tears just by singing solo at the piano or summon a crowd to their feet while leading a band in rousing live renditions of her material. Five years since her last full-length solo album, Angela Johnson returns with It's Personal. From the understated sway of album opener "Only One" through the jazz-inflected title track, it is obvious that Angela Johnson is in complete possession of her powers.
Those just discovering Angela Johnson should be forewarned that catching up on her discography before exploring It's Personal might lead to contagious listening. They Don't Know (2002), Got to Let It Go (2005), and her A Woman's Touch (2008) producer project comprise an essential trilogy of soul. While all the albums offer memorable listening excursions, each release marks some kind of growth for Angela Johnson, whether incorporating distinctly Latin stylings into the musical palette, producing other artists, or refining the funk elements from her two albums with Cooly's Hot Box (also must-have's, incidentally). Undoubtedly, It's Personal will be the launching pad for another album in a career that only moves onward and upward.
The album cover of It's Personal is the perfect pathway to the music. In fact, it's the first occasion in Johnson's solo career where she stares squarely into the camera lens for the cover image – not a sideways glance, profile pose, or downward gaze. Tellingly, the confidence in her eyes translates to the grooves. "What you see is what you see," she says on "Indie In Me." That sentiment could easily serve as a caption for both the cover shot and Angela Johnson's singular writing, recording, and production style.
To borrow lingo from another format, drop the needle anywhere on It's Personal and you'll be treated to something good. The first stop for listeners who prefer to approach albums with a personalized sequence is "Better." Released online in 2009, it easily places in the Top Three of "Indispensable Angela Johnson Productions." Her vocal prowess soaks the track, conjuring smokey embers in the verse, then a bell-clear ring in the chorus. The malleable tone of her voice alternately dips and soars. Her beats and keys anchor the production, yielding a funky workout by Jason Kriveloff. Tamar-kali joins Johnson on background vocals, effortlessly navigating the key changes. Add in Tarrah Reynolds on violin and "Better" leads the way in hair-raising soul.
"Hurts Like Hell" transfers some of those quintessential Angela Johnson attributes – multi-layered vocal vamp, jagged yet chunky beats, climbing bass line – to the dance floor. It's six-minutes of rhythmic perfection, embroidered with more originality than most cuts that you'll find in the iTunes Top 10. Angela Johnson does not need a blonde wig, contrived theatrics, and goth eye make-up to make you "just dance."
"Can you play me something I haven't heard before," she queries in the lyrics to "On the Radio." Dedicated to a time and place when radio boasted an embarrassment of riches, the track contains musical elements that haven't been previously deployed on an Angela Johnson album. Key to the song's infectious arrangement is Josh Milan, who produced and co-wrote the track with Johnson. Milan's shifty drum rhythms invite the hips to sway. Just try resisting the urge to move…
"All In Me" suggests a different kind of invitation, one that slows the pace down from "On the Radio" but is no less intense. Indie soul star Darien joins Angela Johnson on a scintillating duet that reveals a natural chemistry just waiting to be explored further on a subsequent album. Once again, Johnson calls upon the talent of Tarrah Reynolds and Marika Hughes to add violin and cello parts, respectively.
One of the wisest decisions Johnson consistently makes throughout It's Personal is the use of authentic strings, horns, and reeds. The title track, for example, benefits from the high-caliber musicianship of Pamela Fleming (trumpet), Jenny Hill (flute, tenor sax), and Lauren Sevian (baritone sax). Esteemed players surface elsewhere on the album. Note Shelton Garner's blistering guitar solo on "Indie In Me" and the vocals of Maysa Elon (Johnson's daughter) on "Day." (Maysa also serves as inspiration in the sweet, heartfelt lyrics of "For You.")
Of course, the voice of Angela Johnson glues all the disparate parts together, making It's Personal, unequivocally, one of the very best albums to arrive in this new decade. "You bring me joy," she sings on "Better." These words are actually the only point of contention I have with the album – it is Angela Johnson that brings us joy!
By Christian John Wikane
Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011
EAC extraction logfile from 15. June 2015, 18:53
Angela Johnson / It's Personal
Used drive : ATAPI DVD A DH16A6L-C Adapter: 2 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "PERFORMER=%albuminterpret%" -T "COMPOSER=%composer%" %haslyrics%–tag-from-file=LYRICS="%lyricsfile%"%haslyrics% -T "ALBUMARTIST=%albumartist%" -T "DISCNUMBER=%cdnumber%" -T "TOTALDISCS=%totalcds%" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%numtracks%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" %source% -o %dest%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
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8 | 31:09.54 | 4:16.12 | 140229 | 159440
9 | 35:25.66 | 4:05.64 | 159441 | 177879
10 | 39:31.55 | 4:13.70 | 177880 | 196924
11 | 43:45.50 | 4:48.40 | 196925 | 218564
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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [C55535A7] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 2
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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [DF84E436] (AR v2)
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Track 3
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Accurately ripped (confidence 6) [CE5EB94B] (AR v2)
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Track 4
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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [0EF14636] (AR v2)
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Track 5
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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [F28D33AC] (AR v2)
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Track 6
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\06 - On The Radio.wav
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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [13B42110] (AR v2)
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Track 7
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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [8066C77B] (AR v2)
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Track 8
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\08 - Get Myself Together.wav
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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [08D91649] (AR v2)
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Track 9
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\09 - For You.wav
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Copy CRC 22EAACBD
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [4112E3A2] (AR v2)
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Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\10 - It's Personal.wav
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Test CRC 1954AC1B
Copy CRC 1954AC1B
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [C6A84537] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 11
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\11 - Days.wav
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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [CE2BA484] (AR v2)
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End of status report
==== Log checksum D43DC2225CCB44303ED814898DD872E90197B9B4EC778A61E377B48CCB69CAA3 ====
EAC extraction logfile from 15. June 2015, 18:53
Angela Johnson / It's Personal
Used drive : ATAPI DVD A DH16A6L-C Adapter: 2 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "PERFORMER=%albuminterpret%" -T "COMPOSER=%composer%" %haslyrics%–tag-from-file=LYRICS="%lyricsfile%"%haslyrics% -T "ALBUMARTIST=%albumartist%" -T "DISCNUMBER=%cdnumber%" -T "TOTALDISCS=%totalcds%" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%numtracks%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" %source% -o %dest%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 4:12.40 | 0 | 18939
2 | 4:12.40 | 6:00.24 | 18940 | 45963
3 | 10:12.64 | 4:10.27 | 45964 | 64740
4 | 14:23.16 | 4:15.03 | 64741 | 83868
5 | 18:38.19 | 4:14.22 | 83869 | 102940
6 | 22:52.41 | 3:55.22 | 102941 | 120587
7 | 26:47.63 | 4:21.66 | 120588 | 140228
8 | 31:09.54 | 4:16.12 | 140229 | 159440
9 | 35:25.66 | 4:05.64 | 159441 | 177879
10 | 39:31.55 | 4:13.70 | 177880 | 196924
11 | 43:45.50 | 4:48.40 | 196925 | 218564
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Test CRC 39BBC4FB
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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [C55535A7] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\02 - Hurts Like Hell.wav
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Test CRC 962430E7
Copy CRC 962430E7
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [DF84E436] (AR v2)
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Track 3
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\03 - Be Myself.wav
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Test CRC 9188766E
Copy CRC 9188766E
Accurately ripped (confidence 6) [CE5EB94B] (AR v2)
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Track 4
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\04 - Better.wav
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Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 399786A9
Copy CRC 399786A9
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [0EF14636] (AR v2)
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Track 5
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\05 - Indie In Me.wav
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Test CRC 24179A7B
Copy CRC 24179A7B
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [F28D33AC] (AR v2)
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Track 6
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\06 - On The Radio.wav
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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [13B42110] (AR v2)
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Track 7
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\07 - All In Mee (ft. Darien).wav
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Test CRC 4E701412
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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [8066C77B] (AR v2)
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Track 8
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\08 - Get Myself Together.wav
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Test CRC E7AC805D
Copy CRC E7AC805D
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [08D91649] (AR v2)
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Track 9
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\09 - For You.wav
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Test CRC 22EAACBD
Copy CRC 22EAACBD
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [4112E3A2] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 10
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\10 - It's Personal.wav
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Peak level 98.8 %
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Test CRC 1954AC1B
Copy CRC 1954AC1B
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [C6A84537] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 11
Filename F:\MUSIC\0\POSTS\Angela Johnson - It's Personal (2010)\11 - Days.wav
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Test CRC 088EF6AA
Copy CRC 088EF6AA
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [CE2BA484] (AR v2)
Copy OK
All tracks accurately ripped
No errors occurred
End of status report
==== Log checksum D43DC2225CCB44303ED814898DD872E90197B9B4EC778A61E377B48CCB69CAA3 ====
Tracklist:
01. Only One
02. Hurts Like Hell
03. Be Myself
04. Better
05. Indie In Me
06. On The Radio
07. All In Me (feat Darien)
08. Get Myself Together
09. For You
10. It’s Personal
11. Days