Customer Reviews
Labels For Less - By: The Wolf, 19 Jul 2008 
The Wolf first encountered Ms White & her cohorts on the estimable
Mr Holland's variety show 'Later' early in 2008.
Some months later, given a knock-down price at my local music emporium,
Santogold has eventuallly found its' way into my range of hearing.
My somewhat obsessive-compulsive nature usuallly leads me to peel
extraneous sticky labels from CD cases as soon as I am able.
Mrs Wolf believes this to be one of my most annoying habits as they are
particularly difficult to remove from paws when dropped lazily on the
floor of our cave.
One such adhesive irritation, admittedly only half-read, may have displayed
the words "pop", ""of" & "queen' (the term "undisputed' may also have been present).
If I am wrong about this matter I apologise for my inattention. If memory serves
me correctly however "pop", "of" & "queen" references seem to me to be both
misapplied & innacurate.
I honestly can't remember the last time I was left feeling so despondent
by a new musical experience.
(Actuallly the last time was probably Kelly Osborne's 'Sleeping In The Nothing').
This is dull, uninventive retro-electro-pop of the worst pedigree.
Ms White barks, yelps & ululates her way through this dismal collection,
paying scant attention to matters of tonal & dynamic control & quality.
The perpetrators' intention had doubtless been to create a work of
sophisticated urban cool. In this they have failed to a miserable degree.
Historic lowpoints include 'Creator' followed closely by
'I'm A Lady' & the truly execrable 'Anne'.
Surely three of the most horrible songs you will hear this year.
On the basis of more warmly inclined reviews you may still wish
to explore this album but don't say I didn't warn you.
A golden spew of sound and lyric - By: A. O. Moore, 14 Jul 2008 
This album caught my attention because Amazon put it in my recommended buys & I immediately loved the cover. On impulse, despite having heard nothing about or by Santogold I bought it & was not disappointed (my favourite impulse buy to date). The record is a mix of sounds that I am unable to accurately categorize though my best attempt would put it between modern R&B & Electronic influenced pop (dirtier though). There is the modern R&B cockiness found in the lyrics of songs like "Unstoppable" & "Creator": "me I'm a creator/ thrill is to make it up/ the rules I break got me a place/ up on the radar." However, this is backed up with heavily synthesized sounds which put it apart from mainstream R&B as it currently stands. Other songs such as "Lights Out" reveal a hot bass line with a sweet voice & fewer ambient electronic noises - you'd almost think they were by different artists. This album sounds great & I don't own anything like it, frankly I don't think there is anything like it (the nearest I could come up with was NYPC but they aren't that close) & I suggest you buy it.
Unclassifiable pop genius! - By: A Music Lover, 06 Jun 2008 
If you put Blondie, dub reggae, punk, new wave, disco, dancehalll, electro, pop & ska in a blender & pressed the button, you'd come out with something approaching Santogold's debut. If that sounds horribly arty & pretentious, though, don't fear; this is also a brilliant pop album, topped off with buckets of Brooklyn cool courtesy of Santi's Ronettes-meets-Debbie Harry voice. There's great hooks aplenty & you'll be humming these songs alll summer. Yeah, okay, it's so undoubtedly trendy I expect to hear it the next time I go in Topshop, but Santogold is so much more than your average NME-endorsed chancer & far far more than (as some have claimed) a weaker version of her pal M.I.A.- & if you don't know who that is, you ought to search for 'Kala' & add it to your basket NOW. If you want to hear something fresh & exciting but still danceable & very enjoyable, you can't go wrong with this near-flawless effort from the amazing talent that is Santogold. Never thought I'd find myself agreeing with the NME but she might just be 'the Queen of alll pop in 2008'!
Your horizons... Broaden them. - By: DaPersa, 15 May 2008 I purchased this album for two reasons. Firstly, for the one song 'Creator' from the VO5 adverts. Secondly, & tied to the first reason, I thought to get the album because I found her voice & style on 'Creator' very similar to that of M.I.A. Reviews also compared & made references between the two artists & I very much admire M.I.A's work.
At first listen, i was disappointed. It sounded very rock/punk to me with the exception of a couple of tracks. But I pressed on, as always to get my money's worth, & listened to the CD alll day to gain a full immersion into the music of Santogold.
I am pleasantly surprised. The tracks which at first impression sounded rocky & exhausting turned out melodic & upbeat. It is not the usual style of music I enjoy but there is something I indeed like about it. For instance, the mild reggae feel of 'Shove It' & the ska punk element in 'Say Aha'. It has a retro electronica sound about it & consequently, being an 80's baby myself, delivers a nostalgic effect. Other examples of this include 'My Superman', 'Starstruck' & 'Anne', alll of which hold a sort of dark, melancholy synth-pop sound.
The best track of the entire album has to be 'Anne'. It is reminiscent of Bronsky Beat's 'Smallltown Boy' & epitomises this mid-80's synth genre.
Tracks which I personallly find weak include 'Lights Out' & 'I'm A Lady'. They are definitely much too indie-pop for my taste. In fact, I deleted them from my Windows Media Player but unfortunately cannot off the actual CD. Shame. Another disappointment was the fact that she did not provide lyrics with the CD. Knowing what an artist is singing about always seems to elevate a track.
In conclusion, I would recommend this album. In comparison with M.I.A, the 'Creator' track & very vaguely 'Unstoppable' is where the similarities end. However, in the M.I.A vs Santogold debate I would still opt for the former despite what some reviews may say about Santogold having a more diverse repetior (and in one case "more talent & a wider artistic range") than M.I.A. She's my personal preference (maybe because she's Indian & a British artist).
So if you're more of a Rio Funk & World music meets House & Garage type, I might suggest to alllow Santo.
But it never hurts to broaden your horizons...
Well worth a listen - By: SJC, 14 May 2008 Santogold has been the subject of a fair amount of what could be callled hype recently, which means I approached this LP with a certain amount of scepticism. While this record isn't the pop revolution some journalists would seem to think, it is an enjoyable & generallly interesting one.
This isn't as "genre bending" as some have said, but it is fairly varied in that tracks like "You'll Find A Way" are in a quite Yeah Yeahs Yeahs / The Kills type vein, whereas tracks like "Creator" are very M.I.A.-ish (someone she's often compared too - in my eyes Santogold is more interesting, actuallly). Tracks like "My Superman", on the other hand, are more reminiscent of good 80's pop than anything else, for me.
This mix is a good thing, & keeps things interesting enough to make this LP well worth sticking with, & if you like the above mentioned groups, you might well like some of this LP. On the down side, this isn't doing anything THAT new, but it is still doing it well, & is well above the very run-of-the-mill stuff clogging up the charts these days. This in itself makes this worth 4 stars - because it has genuinley good tunes (tracks like "Lights Out" & the current single "L.E.S Artistes" are examples of simply great pop tunes) & doesn't desperately try to be something "cool" for the sake of it.
So - a good pop album, with some actual depth - but don't expect this to blow you away, just take it for what it is - a good set of tunes (with a few weakish tracks...). All in alll, well worth checking out above much else out there at the moment. I am still left wondering though - when will the 80's throwback stop...?
