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Taken from PauseRecord (May 23-29, 2001)
CDs of the Week
by da Flower Punk
MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD, "STAY HUMAN"
(2001: Six Degrees)
 Like all great art-and make no mistake, this album is great art!-Michael Franti and Spearhead's new record works on a plethora of levels all at once. The collection is bound together by an imaginary pirate radio station broadcast. The time is the present and the pending execution of an activist accused of murder is being used as a tool by a right-wing governor (played by actor Woody Harrelson) seeking reelection. Franti and a female partner play the roles of radio-show hosts as they discuss the framing of Sister Fatima (a medical marijuana supporter), interview the governor, and take listener comments. There is great drama, some humor, and much social commentary in this script. The music they play, a mix of R&B-soul-funk-hiphop-and-more is very, very deep! Franti is often explicitly political, such as on the opening cut. "Stealing DNA samples from the unborn and then you're comin' after us for sampling a James Brown horn?!?!," he sings in a list of such utter contradiction and tragedy that all he can do is exclaim "Oh My God" in the choruses. On another level yet, the music is a kind of history of black music since the 1960s. Franti plays explicit homage to Sly Stone, Gil Scott Heron, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, George Clinton and others with his words in one track, in his music he pays homage to all of them and more as he winds through their styles, often updating them with his own contributions, especially his all-encompassing baritone voice. An absolutely stunning record that will surely be considered among the year's best. INFO
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