Planet Shining
m-flo
genre: hip-hop/ R&B/ electronica • release date: 2000
7.7
Planet Shining is one of my favorite albums in recent years. a true gem in the rough. while half of the album doesn’t quite stick the landing, the other half really takes off. under the guise of an interplanetary jetliner, m-flo executes on a refreshing and highly experimental angle. orbiting somewhere around hip-hop, jazz and R&B, the album is a fusion blend of seemingly incompatible genres. the end result is not always a clean delivery, but what comes out the other side is something unique. for all its faults, Planet Shining is a daring effort with results that achieve a greater sum than its parts. a testament to m-flo’s exciting approach and style.
as a concept, Planet Shining is intriguing. from the start, we are introduced to the voice of our flight attendant welcoming passengers to the “Global Astroliner” on its way to “Planet Shining.” the PSA continues in a bilingual blend of Japanese and English, over the sound of some serene harp and violin music, it sets the mood for a more sophisticated travel experience. this flight sounds like a pretty nice one, maybe they’ll offer free peanuts and wine. the last of the “Intro” quickly devolves into a glitchy mess of confused voice-overs and sound effects, giving the notion of something about to become deconstructed. like the album itself, from here, m-flo intends to switch up a lot of uniform ideas, unraveled then raveled again into something new.
English will switch to Japanese, rap will flow over jazzy foundations, R&B and electronica will weave through the fabric of the album. m-flo intends to explore a lot here. some of it will be a messy experience. they will go all out in attempt to forge something new. at least in this aspect, i enjoy m-flo’s ambition to assemble something from a tool set seemingly at odds.
a good half of the album simply doesn’t work. and i would go so far as to categorize some of these tracks as pure noise. “Ten Below Blazing” feels almost like a false start to the album after such a strong start premise. the song comes out the other side okay enough, but i struggle to keep up with the nearly chaotic ensemble occurring over the nearly 5 minute runtime. similarly with “chronopsychology” the song nearly trips up in its delivery. i do see where they are going with it, however, in contrast to the best parts of the album, m-flo struggle to effectively relay their wild ideas. followed up by “Quantum Leap” and “Just Be”, the album seems to try and tell me that more is better, when really it just falls apart into a chaotic mess. somewhere in the middle of the album, between the multitude of conceptual intervals and the more extreme tracks, the album becomes tedious.
it would be around here i’d wash my hands of the album as a fascinating attempt to marry so many styles, and move right along. yet somewhere in here is brilliance. on a level that has brought me back on this interplanetary flight for many repeat trips over this past year. even by association, i’ve come to enjoy some of the milder songs like “Planet Shining” and “Hands.” the sort of middling creations that can be interesting on a good day, and less so on a bad day.
to get to the point, “Come Back to Me,” “L.O.T. (Love or Truth)” and “been so long” are album makers. by album maker, i reference the sports type “play maker” or the team component that score so hard, the rest of the team, floundering in pain, win the game. an “album maker” is a track so strong that it unifies the experience and gets the whole thing over the finish line. paramount of these tracks is “Come Back to Me.” Not only does the song embody the “planetary shining” of it all, but also succinctly streamlines the various elements of R&B and electronica with a dose of natural instrumentation into a complete and awesome piece. the little affects of rising and falling sound layered under singer LISA’s pained performance is so perfect. the little looping guitar, the pounding sub-beat, the meandering violin all ground the song from becoming too lofty. “Come Back to Me” feels so slowed down and intentional from the rest of the frantic album. yet, it’s not a fluke. beyond this “L.O.T. (Love or Truth)” and “been so long” clean up the whole act. deliberate pieces which simultaneously evoke FM-radio futurism and 2000’s retro hip-hop. there’s a truth, a feeling that underline these songs which capture what m-flo are all about. songs so successful, i’ve spent many following hours sifting through their remaining discography.
Planet Shining is an odd album. in a many ways i dislike listening through it in completion, other days i can’t wait to wake up and get right back in to it. the concept, to this day remains astoundingly fresh. urban music elevated and touched on in both interesting and cool ways. i find the greatest examples of this effort to be evocative and downright fun to listen to. i’m convinced m-flo knows exactly what they are making, and while not every idea thrown at the wall sticks, those that do are powerful prospects. when the planets align, the vibes are good and the sound is incredibly clean. it may not be anywhere near perfect, but it feels defining. 25 years later Planet Shining has not only encapsulated m-flo’s sound, but set them up for a fantastic discography for years to come.
it’s time to join the Global Astroliner for some interplanetary jams.
written by
Marcus Landeros
- highlights -
Intro
Planet Shining
Come Back to Me
Hands
L.O.T. (Love Or Truth)
been so long
track list:
Intro
Ten Below Blazing
Announcement - Interlude 2
Planet Shining
Come Back To Me
Guidance - Interlude 3
chronopsychology
Hands
Radio Show - Interlude 4
saywhatchugotta
Just Be
Line Holding - Interlude 5
Quantum Leap
L.O.T. (Love Or Truth)
Deep Within
been so long
Outro
